Tax Guide  
for Individuals  
With Income  
From U.S.  
Possessions

This Act was signed into law too late in 2009 to be included in the 2009 Publication 570. It applies to the 2009 tax year as well as subsequent years.

Under MSRRA, the civilian spouse who accompanies an active duty member of the U.S. Armed Forces (servicemember) to a new military duty station in one of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, or a U.S. possession may choose to keep his or her prior residence or domicile for tax purposes (tax residence).

Making this choice may affect the individual income tax return filing requirements for those who claim the benefits of its tax provisions. For more information, see chapters 1, 2, and 3.

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.

If you have earned income from work you may be able to take this credit. It is 6.2% of your earned income, but cannot be more than $400 ($800 if married filing jointly). Bona fide residents of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) will receive this credit from their territorial governments.

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 (EIC).

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).

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.

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 on this page, 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 on this page 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 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.

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 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. (The asterisk must be included in the address.) Please put "Publications Comment" on the subject line. You can also send us comments from www.irs.gov/formspubs/index, 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.

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

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 earlier 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.