Hi, I'm filing for the first time for income overseas. I need my taxes filed a.s.a.p. for a visa I'm applying for my foreign wife. Ive lived in Australia for since March 2007 and worked from September 07 until present. I earned almost $6000 in foreign income from Sept. 07 until Dec 31 2007. I Did not work in the states at all in 2007 and I plan on filing as married separately. And I do not have any deductions to speak of.
What forms do I need to file?
Am I exempt due to the low amount of foreign income earned? And what do I attach to the form in place of a W-2 as proof of foreign income earned and foreign taxes paid?
Am I exempt because I lived overseas since March of last year(13 months now)? And what proof would I need for that?
Do I get credit for paying any foreign income tax to the Aus. Government? Or am I expected to pay income tax twice (to Aus. And the U.S.) for the same income?
Can I e-file all forms?
Any info regarding this would be extremely helpful :)

If you are a U.S. citizen or resident, you must file the tax return if you income meets the filing requirement. For single or MFS, the filing requirement starts with $8,750. For MFJ, it is $17,500.

Filing in the U.S. does not necessarily mean that you will be paying taxes in US also. You will get credit for taxes paid in the foreign country. Read: Your U.S. Tax Return: U.S. Citizen or Resident with Foreign Income (http://taxipay.blogspot.com/2008/03/us-citizen-or-resident-with-foreign.html)

You are not exempt from filing because you are overseas. You are subject to the normal filing rules. However, since your income is so low in 2007, you may not need to file. For 2008, if your income is higher, you will need to file Form 1040 and you may be able to claim the foreign earned income exclusion (Form 2555). You may also be able to claim foreign tax credits for the taxes paid to Australia (Form 1116). Form 2555 is much simpler to complete than Form 1116.

If you have signature authority over or a financial interest in a foreign financial/bank account that has a balance of $10,000 or more at any point during 2007, then you would need to file Form TD F 90-22.1.

Thanks for the help :)
So I should file form 1040 and file it as if I had a w-2 from my foreign employer? Most of the questions on the 1040 are directed at people who have a w-2 on hand so I'm quite confused(basically I'm wondering how I would file form 1040 without having a w-2 to refer to). What do I attach to form 1040 since I don't have a w-2? And if I do qualify as exempt, am I still obligated to file form 1040 anyway? Also, I'm still unsure as to what proof I would need to show I'm exempt for either my low foreign income or my 13 months overseas. Thanks again.

You report foreign income even if you don't get W2. It is reported on the same line as W2 wages.

For foreign income or for excluding foreign income on Form 2555, you don't attach any proof. It may be needed only when IRS has an inquiry.

IntlTax is exactly right in his answer and you should be careful to pay attention not only to the tax filing requirement but the foreign bank account requirements.

You should also look into the PFIC rules because if you have investments in Australia in mutual funds etc then you may have an issue there.

Furthermore, you may need to file a return for immigration reasons even if you don't need to file for tax reasons.