A reminder for US taxpayers to pay attention to a few noted items for filing US tax:

1. Special tax concessions for US soldiers.
   Combat pay can be partially or entirely tax exempt. Support for theater service personnel also meets this condition.


2. How to avoid delays of tax refunds, it is recommended to plan early.
   Taxpayers must ensure that all tax filing information are prepared, such as forms of W-2, 1099, etc. Taxpayers should also have the 2015 tax return records ready when preparing the 2016 tax return.


3. Self-employed and the sharing economy.
   The essence of this category is that the income is generally taxable, even if forms of W-2, 1099, etc. and other income documents are not available, but some or all of the expenses of the company can be tax deductible. There are some simplified tax deductible items of company expenses. For taxpayers who provide services to customers, such as private car carrying passengers, housing rental, etc., are part of the sharing economy. People involved in the sharing economy in the year need to pay the estimated amount of tax to fulfill the tax duty.


4. Charitable donations.
   Charitable donations, whether giving money or gifts, the tax filing of which must be completed by December 31, so as to offset the 2016 federal income tax. Taxpayers must use form 1040 Schedule A, so that the charitable donations can be deducted. If using the standard form for tax deduction or 1040A or 1040EZ to file for tax, charitable donations cannot be deducted.

Because the income tax filing season of Taiwan begins in May, it is not easy for the US taxpayers living in Taiwan to do early planning for filing US tax. For those who want to apply for tax rebates in any case need some patience. But, it is still possible to get other information in advance even if you cannot get the Taiwan income tax return notice early (e.g.: itemized deduction, W-2 form, 1099 form, withholding statement, etc.). For those who may need to pay taxes, if the income of this year does not change much from the previous year, the tax return on the previous year can also be used to estimate the taxes that need to be paid this year to pre-pay taxes. As such, you can save for the interest and fines that may need to be paid later.