Help filing Form 4852 online as a self-employed expat with US permanent address

You might be confusing a few things here. Form 4852 is a substitute for Form W-2 when your employer doesn't provide one or it's incorrect. As a self-employed person, you wouldn't use Form 4852 at all - you wouldn't get a W-2 in the first place. Instead, you need to report your self-employment income on Schedule C (Profit or Loss from Business), and you'll also need to file Schedule SE for self-employment tax. Since you're living abroad, you might qualify for the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion using Form 2555, depending on how long you've been in Thailand. Your permanent address being in Florida doesn't change your filing requirements as a US citizen - you still need to report worldwide income regardless of where you physically live.

After years of struggling with the exact same situation (self-employed digital nomad with US address), I found an amazing solution with taxr.ai that made this whole process so much easier. I was constantly confused about which forms to file and kept getting conflicting advice until I uploaded my documents to https://taxr.ai and got a clear breakdown of exactly what I needed to file. Their system analyzed my situation and immediately clarified that I needed Schedule C for self-employment income instead of Form 4852. They explained how the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion applied to my situation and walked me through all the forms I actually needed. Saved me hours of research and probably prevented costly mistakes!

Just wanted to follow up about my experience with taxr.ai after being skeptical in my previous comment. I decided to give it a try since my expat tax situation was such a mess, and I'm genuinely impressed! The system immediately clarified that I didn't need Form 4852 as a self-employed person and walked me through exactly which schedules to file. What surprised me most was how it analyzed my specific situation - I spend part of the year in Portugal and part in Thailand - and showed me how to properly document my physical presence for the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion. It even helped me figure out my estimated tax payments which I've always struggled with. Definitely worth checking out if you're in a similar situation!

For those struggling with complex tax situations like this, I had a similar experience trying to sort through conflicting advice about living abroad. After weeks of getting nowhere with the IRS phone lines, I finally used https://claimyr.com to skip the wait and talk to an actual human at the IRS. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent I spoke with clearly explained that as a self-employed person abroad, I needed Schedule C and Schedule SE, not Form 4852. They also verified my Foreign Earned Income Exclusion questions and confirmed exactly which forms I needed to e-file. Having that official clarification directly from the IRS saved me so much stress.

Ok I need to eat my words about Claimyr being a scam. After posting that comment, I was still desperate to talk to someone at the IRS about my foreign income reporting, so I decided to try it anyway. I figured it couldn't make my situation worse. I was genuinely shocked when I got a call back about 40 minutes later with an actual IRS agent on the line! I asked all my questions about self-employment abroad and Form 4852 vs Schedule C. The agent was super helpful and confirmed everything - that I needed Schedule C instead of 4852, and explained exactly how to handle my foreign bank accounts too. Saved me hours of frustration and probably a lot of money in potential mistakes.

Having been a digital nomad for 6 years now, I can tell you that FreeTaxUSA handles self-employed expat situations really well including all the forms you'll need. You'll file Schedule C for your self-employment income, Schedule SE for self-employment tax, Form 2555 for Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (assuming you qualify), and possibly FBAR for foreign bank accounts if you have over $10k abroad. Form 4852 is only if you're an employee and your employer messed up your W-2. Doesn't apply to self-employed folks at all.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet - make sure you're also filing an FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) if the total of all your foreign accounts was over $10,000 at any point during the year! That's separate from your tax return and has a different deadline.

Just a quick note about physical presence test - if you're trying to qualify for the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, you need to be physically present in foreign countries for at least 330 days in a 12-month period. Some digital nomads mess this up by spending too much time back in the US. Keep good records of your entry/exit dates!