Foreign earned income exclusion a lower income taxpayer, even if the taxpayer is in a higher tax bracket. Foreign earned income exclusion The United States taxes citizens and residents on their worldwide income. Citizens and residents living and working outside the U.S. may be entitled to a foreign earned income exclusion that reduces taxable income. For 2017, the maximum exclusion is $102,100 per taxpayer, $103,900 for 2018 (future years indexed for inflation). In addition, the taxpayer may exclude housing expenses in excess of 16% of this maximum ($44.19 per day in 2015) but with limits. The exclusion is available only for wages or self-employment
Income tax in the United States direct tax on the basis of the source of the income. The Amendment removed the need for the income tax to be apportioned among the states on the basis of population. Income taxes are required, however, to abide by the law of geographical uniformity. Some tax protesters and others opposed to income taxes cite what they contend is evidence that the Sixteenth Amendment was never properly ratified, based in large part on materials sold by William J. Benson. In December 2007, Benson's "Defense Reliance Package" containing his non-ratification argument which he offered for sale on the Internet, was ruled by