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Publication 570 - Introductory Material

Table of Contents

What's New

Future developments. The IRS has created a page on IRS.gov for more information about Publication 570, at www.irs.gov/pub570. Information about any future developments affecting Publication 570 (such as legislation enacted after we release it) will be posted on that page.

New Form 8938. If you had financial assets in foreign jurisdictions valued above certain threshold dollar amounts, you may have to file new Form 8938, Statement of Foreign Financial Assets, when you file your U.S. income tax return with the IRS.

  • Bona fide residents of American Samoa or Puerto Rico who have foreign financial assets valued above certain threshold dollar amounts are only required to file a Form 8938 in instances when they are required to file an income tax return with the IRS.

  • Bona fide residents of Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, or the U.S. Virgin Islands who correctly report, source, and pay their income tax liability to their respective possession taxing authority, and therefore do not have to file a federal income tax return with the United States, are not required to file a Form 8938 with the IRS.

See Instructions for Form 8938, as well as T.D. 9567, issued by the IRS on December 14, 2011 and found in the IRS's information page on Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) at www.irs.gov/businesses/corporations/article/0,,id=236667,00.html, for more details for when individuals, including bona fide residents of U.S. possessions, are required to report their foreign financial assets to the IRS on Form 8938.

Reminders

Individual taxpayer identification numbers (ITINs) for aliens. If you are a nonresident or resident alien and you do not have and are not eligible to get a social security number (SSN), you must apply for an ITIN. For details on how to do so, see Form W-7, Application for IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, and its instructions. Allow 6 weeks for the IRS to notify you of your ITIN (8-10 weeks if submitted during peak processing periods (January 15 through April 30) or if you are filing from overseas).If you already have an ITIN, enter it wherever your SSN is requested on your tax return.

An ITIN is for tax use only. It does not entitle you to social security benefits or change your employment or immigration status under U.S. law.

Earned income credit (EIC). Generally, if you are a bona fide resident of a U.S. possession, you cannot claim the EIC on your U.S. tax return. However, certain U.S. possessions may allow bona fide residents to claim the EIC on their possession tax return.To claim the EIC on your U.S. tax return, your home (and your spouse's if filing a joint return) must have been in the United States for more than half the year. If you have a child, the child must have lived with you in the United States for more than half the year. For this purpose, the United States includes only the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Special rules apply to military personnel stationed outside the United States. For more information on this credit, see Publication 596, Earned Income Credit.

Change of address. If you change your mailing address, use Form 8822, Change of Address, to notify the Internal Revenue Service and U.S. possession tax administration, if appropriate. Mail Form 8822 to the Internal Revenue Service Center or U.S. possession tax administration for your old address (addresses for the Service Centers are on the back of the form).

Photographs of missing children. The Internal Revenue Service is a proud partner with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Photographs of missing children selected by the Center may appear in this publication on pages that would otherwise be blank. You can help bring these children home by looking at the photographs and calling 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) if you recognize a child.

Introduction

This publication discusses how to treat income received from the following U.S. possessions on your tax return(s).

  • American Samoa.

  • The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico).

  • The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).

  • Guam.

  • The U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI).

Unless stated otherwise, when the term “possession” is used in this publication, it includes the Commonwealths of Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands.

Chapter 1 discusses the requirements for being considered a bona fide resident of the listed possessions.

Chapter 2 gives the rules for determining if your income is from sources within, or effectively connected with a trade or business in, those possessions.

Next, chapter 3 looks at the rules for filing tax returns when you receive income from any of these possessions. You may have to file a U.S. tax return only, a possession tax return only, or both returns. This generally depends on whether you are a bona fide resident of the possession. In some cases, you may have to file a U.S. return, but will be able to exclude income earned in a possession from U.S. tax. You can find illustrated examples of some of the additional forms required in chapter 5.

If you are not a bona fide resident of one of the possessions listed earlier, or are otherwise required to file a U.S. income tax return, the information in chapter 4 will tell you how to file your U.S. tax return. This information also applies if you have income from U.S. insular areas other than the five possessions listed earlier because that income will not qualify for any of the exclusions or other benefits discussed in chapter 3. These other U.S. insular areas include:

  • Baker Island,

  • Howland Island,

  • Jarvis Island,

  • Johnston Island,

  • Kingman Reef,

  • Midway Islands,

  • Palmyra Atoll, and

  • Wake Island.

If you need information on U.S. taxation, write to:

 
Internal Revenue Service 
Philadelphia, PA 19255-0725 
 

If you need additional information on your tax obligations in a U.S. possession, write to the tax department of that possession. Their addresses are provided in chapter 3 under the individual headings for each possession.

Comments and suggestions.   We welcome your comments about this publication and your suggestions for future editions.

  You can write to us at the following address:

Internal Revenue Service 
Individual and Specialty Forms and  
Publications Branch 
SE:W:CAR:MP:T:I 
1111 Constitution Ave. NW, IR-6526 
Washington, DC 20224

  We respond to many letters by telephone. Therefore, it would be helpful if you would include your daytime phone number, including the area code, in your correspondence.

  You can email us at taxforms@irs.gov. Please put “Publications Comment” on the subject line. You can also send us comments from www.irs.gov/formspubs/. Select “Comment on Tax Forms and Publications” under “Information About.”

  Although we cannot respond individually to each comment received, we do appreciate your feedback and will consider your comments as we revise our tax products.

Ordering forms and publications.   Visit www.irs.gov/formspubs/ to download forms and publications, call 1-800-829-3676, or write to the address below and receive a response within 10 days after your request is received.

Internal Revenue Service 
1201 N. Mitsubishi Motorway 
Bloomington, IL 61705-6613

Tax questions.   If you have a tax question, check the information available on IRS.gov or call 1-800-829-1040. We cannot answer tax questions sent to either of the above addresses.

You can get the necessary possession tax forms at the tax office for the appropriate possession. The office addresses are given in chapter 3.

Useful Items - You may want to see:

Publication

  • 54 Tax Guide for U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad

  • 514 Foreign Tax Credit for Individuals

  • 519 U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens

Form (and Instructions)

  • 1040-PR Planilla para la Declaración de la Contribución Federal sobre el Trabajo por Cuenta Propia (Incluyendo el Crédito Tributario Adicional por Hijos para Residentes Bona Fide de Puerto Rico)

  • 1040-SS U.S. Self-Employment Tax Return (Including the Additional Child Tax Credit for Bona Fide Residents of Puerto Rico)

  • 1116 Foreign Tax Credit

  • 4563 Exclusion of Income for Bona Fide Residents of American Samoa

  • 4868 Application for Automatic Extension of Time To File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return

  • 5074 Allocation of Individual Income Tax to Guam or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)

  • 8689 Allocation of Individual Income Tax to the U.S. Virgin Islands

  • 8898 Statement for Individuals Who Begin or End Bona Fide Residence In a U.S. Possession

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