How to properly report income on 1040 form for seasonal work in New Zealand?

Hey everyone, I'm pretty lost when it comes to reporting my foreign income on my taxes. I spent about three months working a seasonal job in New Zealand last year, and now I have no clue how to handle this on my 1040 form. Taxes are still a complete mystery to me since I'm only 23. I have a few questions that would really help me figure this out: 1. What's the proper way to calculate and report my New Zealand earnings? Do I need to submit some kind of official documentation from my NZ employer, or can I just add up all the deposits that show up on my bank statements? 2. I found a downloadable 1040 PDF online - if I bring this to a tax preparer, would they be able to handle everything for me? Or do I need additional forms for foreign income? 3. For the work I did in the US before going to New Zealand, I'll need to fill out a separate W-2, right? Or does everything go on the same form? Sorry if these are super basic questions! I'm completely out of my depth here and would really appreciate any guidance. Thanks in advance!

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18 comments

Sofia Price

•8M

You've got a few things mixed up, but don't worry - foreign income reporting is confusing for everyone! Here's some clarification: First, you don't fill out your own W-2. Your US employer provides that to you. They report your US wages and withholding on it. For your New Zealand income, you'll need documentation showing what you earned there. Ideally, you'd have a foreign equivalent of a W-2 (New Zealand has what's called a "Certificate of Earnings" or similar summary document from your employer). Bank statements alone aren't sufficient for tax filing purposes. The 1040 is the main US tax return form everyone files. For foreign income, you'll also need to complete Form 1116 (Foreign Tax Credit) if you paid taxes in New Zealand, or Form 2555 (Foreign Earned Income Exclusion) if you qualify to exclude some of your foreign earnings. A tax preparer familiar with international situations would definitely be helpful here. Bring all documentation from both your US and NZ employers, plus proof of any foreign taxes paid. They'll sort out the correct forms for your situation.

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Sofia Price

•8M

Yes, you can generally claim a credit for income taxes paid to a foreign government, which can reduce your US tax bill. This is done through Form 1116 (Foreign Tax Credit). The US-New Zealand tax treaty helps prevent double taxation. If you don't have a formal earnings summary, contact your New Zealand employer and request one. Most countries require employers to provide some form of annual earnings statement. Alternatively, bring your final pay stubs showing year-to-date totals and any tax withholding. Your tax preparer can work with these, though it's not ideal. Make sure you have documentation of the exchange rate at the time you were paid as well.

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Owen Jenkins

•8M

After struggling with almost the exact same situation (seasonal work in Auckland), I found this amazing tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that literally saved me hours of confusion. I was completely lost with all the foreign income forms and currency conversion calculations until I tried it. What's cool is you can upload whatever documents you have - even if they're not perfect like your NZ pay stubs - and it helps identify what forms you need and walks you through the process. It was particularly helpful for figuring out how the Foreign Tax Credit works with the 1116 form, which I had no clue about before.

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Owen Jenkins

•8M

It handled the currency conversion really well. You can either let it use average exchange rates for the period you worked there, or you can enter specific rates if you have record of the exact dates and amounts. It was much easier than trying to do all those calculations manually in a spreadsheet. Regarding your skepticism, I was initially doubtful too, but it actually worked perfectly. I had already paid taxes in New Zealand, and the tool correctly applied the Foreign Tax Credit, which reduced what I owed to the IRS. I ended up getting a small refund because my US withholding plus the credit for NZ taxes exceeded my total US tax liability. The best part was that it explained everything in plain English as it went along.

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Jackson Carter

•8M

Just wanted to update everyone - I decided to try taxr.ai despite my initial skepticism, and wow, it actually worked amazingly well for my foreign income situation! It correctly identified that I needed Form 1116 for my Canadian work income and guided me through the whole process. What impressed me most was how it explained the tax treaty provisions in terms I could understand. The document processing part was super helpful since I had a mix of Canadian T4 forms and some irregular freelance payments. It parsed everything correctly and even caught a reporting error I would have missed. Definitely made the foreign income reporting much less stressful than last year when I paid an accountant $350 for basically the same result.

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Kolton Murphy

•8M

If you're having trouble getting your documents or info from your New Zealand employer, you might want to try Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). When I worked in Japan last year, I had similar issues and couldn't get through to their tax office for weeks. Claimyr got me connected with an actual IRS agent who explained exactly what alternative documentation I could use. They have this cool demo video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. Basically saves you from waiting on hold forever. The IRS agent I talked to explained that pay stubs showing year-to-date totals can work if you can't get the official foreign equivalent of a W-2. She also walked me through how to document the exchange rates properly.

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Kolton Murphy

•8M

It's not a phone bot - it's a legitimate callback service. They use technology to navigate the IRS phone tree and stay on hold in your place, then when they reach an actual IRS agent, they call you and connect you. No more waiting on hold for hours. For me, it took about 45 minutes total - much of which I spent doing other things since I wasn't actually on the phone. I had tried calling the IRS directly three times before that and never got through after waiting more than 2 hours each time. The IRS agent I spoke with was super helpful about the foreign income reporting requirements, and actually saved me from making a mistake on my foreign tax credit form.

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Alice Coleman

•8M

I need to eat my words! After reading about Claimyr here, I tried it yesterday when I was at my wit's end with my NZ income reporting questions. Got a call back in about an hour with an actual IRS agent on the line. She confirmed I could use my final pay stubs with year-to-date totals and didn't need to track down my former employer for an official document. She also walked me through the exact exchange rate documentation needed (either the rate on the date paid or annual average rates from the IRS website), and explained how Form 1116 would help me avoid paying taxes twice on the same income. Honestly wish I'd known about this service months ago instead of stressing and procrastinating on my return!

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Julia Hall

•8M

Yes, you absolutely must report all foreign income regardless of whether you'll owe US taxes on it. The IRS requires full disclosure of worldwide income even if it's ultimately excluded or credited. Failing to report foreign income can result in severe penalties, even if you wouldn't have owed any tax on it. For US tax purposes, you report income in the tax year you received the payment, not when the work was performed. So if you got paid in 2024 for work done in 2023, it goes on your 2024 return. Don't worry about New Zealand's tax year - just focus on when you actually received the money according to US calendar year (January through December).

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