Hi,

Can someone tell me if I'm working in Australia and being taxed their if I'm sending money to the US, do I have to file a tax return here in the US to get double taxed?

If you are a US citizen and you derive you income from a foreign source, sorry but the answer is yes.

You will have to file a U.S. income tax return if you are either a U.S. citizen or a resident alien on ANY income earned ANYWHERE in the world.

Now, whether you have to pay taxes is another issue, as you will be able to claim a Foreign Tax Credit for the income taxes you paid to Australia.

I believe Australian income tax rates are somewhat higher than U.S. tax rates. If so, it is likely that the tax credit will completely offset any tax liablity you may have.

It does not depend upon if you send money to the U.S. or not. Yes, if you are a U.S. citizen or resident, you must file the U.S. return and disclose your world wide income. You may get earned income exclusion of up to $85,000 and/or foreign tax credit for taxes paid in the foreign country. If you are maintaining house in the U.S. and your family is in the U.S. you can get house exclusion.

There was a nasty surprise in how the Foreign Income Exclusion is calculated starting with the 2006 returns.

You STILL get to exclude $85K of your foreign earned income, but the amount OVER that $85K is taxed at the marginal tax rate that would be in effect if the $85K was NOT excluded.