Filing U.S. Taxes from Korea — Form 2555 (FEIE), Form 8938, FBAR Guide for English Teachers

U.S. citizens (and resident aliens for tax purposes) are required to file an annual Form 1040 reporting their worldwide income, regardless of where they live or where their wages are paid. Living in Korea does not exempt you from filing — it changes which forms attach. The IRS allows U.S. citizens abroad an automatic 2-month extension to June 15, with an additional extension to October 15 available via Form 4868. The U.S. tax obligation is separate from your Korean tax exemption under the U.S.–Korea treaty (which only addresses Korean income tax, not U.S. tax).

• Form 1040 reports worldwide income — Korean salary, U.S. dividends, savings interest, freelance income, etc.
• Automatic 2-month extension for U.S. citizens abroad: June 15 (interest still accrues from April).
• Extension to October 15 via Form 4868 — available, but you must still pay any tax owed by April 15 to avoid interest.

Source: U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad — Tax Filing Requirements — Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

The most common tax-saving form for English teachers in Korea is Form 2555, which lets you exclude a sizable amount of foreign-earned wages from U.S. taxation. To use it you must have foreign-earned income, your tax home must be in a foreign country, and you must meet either the Bona Fide Residence Test or the Physical Presence Test (at least 330 full days outside the U.S. in any consecutive 12-month period). The exclusion amount is indexed annually — confirm the current limit on the IRS Form 2555 page before filing. Wages above the exclusion can sometimes be further reduced via the Foreign Tax Credit (Form 1116), but with Korean wages already exempted by the U.S.–Korea treaty during the 2-year teacher window, most teachers in year 1–2 lean primarily on Form 2555 plus the treaty position.

• Eligibility: foreign tax home + Bona Fide Residence OR Physical Presence Test (330 days abroad in 12 months).
• Excludes foreign earned income up to the annual indexed limit (check IRS Form 2555 page each year).
• Excludes wages and self-employment income — does not exclude passive income (dividends, interest, capital gains, rental income).
• Form 2555 is filed as an attachment to Form 1040.

Source: Form 2555 — Foreign Earned Income — Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

If you have a Korean bank account (or any foreign account) you may have two separate reporting obligations: Form 8938 (filed with your tax return under FATCA) and FBAR (FinCEN Form 114, filed separately with the U.S. Treasury). Threshold and form differ. The most common mistake is assuming a low Korean balance means nothing has to be filed — the FBAR threshold is aggregate $10,000 across all foreign accounts at any time during the year, including joint accounts. Penalties for non-filing are substantial.

• FBAR (FinCEN 114): file if the aggregate value of all foreign accounts exceeded $10,000 at any time during the year. Filed via the BSA E-Filing System, separate from your tax return. Due April 15 with automatic extension to October 15.
• Form 8938: filed with Form 1040 if specified foreign financial assets exceed FATCA thresholds. Thresholds differ for unmarried-filing-abroad, married-filing-jointly-abroad, etc. — check the IRS Form 8938 page.
• Both can apply to the same account — Form 8938 does not replace FBAR.
• Failure to file FBAR can result in significant civil penalties; willful non-filing escalates further.

Source: Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR / FinCEN 114) — FinCEN — U.S. Department of the Treasury

The U.S.–Korea Income Tax Treaty (signed 1979, in force) contains a teacher article that exempts certain wages from Korean tax for the first 2 years — this is what your school applies after you submit IRS Form 6166. The treaty does not exempt your wages from U.S. tax. For U.S. taxes you separately use Form 2555 (FEIE) or the Foreign Tax Credit. To request Form 6166 from the IRS, you file Form 8802 and pay the user fee. See the dedicated Korvia residency-certificate guide for the Korean side of this process.

• Treaty exempts qualifying wages from Korean income tax for the first 2 years from arrival.
• Treaty does NOT exempt your wages from U.S. income tax — that's what FEIE / FTC are for.
• Form 8802 (with fee) → IRS issues Form 6166 → you submit to your Korean public school.

Source: Korea Tax Treaty Documents — Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

It is common for teachers to discover, mid-contract, that they should have been filing Form 1040 (and possibly FBAR / Form 8938) every year. The IRS publishes a Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedure — both a Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedure (for non-resident U.S. taxpayers like teachers in Korea) and a Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedure. Eligibility, scope, and required forms are detailed on the IRS page below. This is a structured catch-up process, not a defense against a willful violation; use a qualified U.S. tax preparer if your situation includes significant unreported income.

• Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedure: for non-residents (e.g., teachers living in Korea) catching up on prior years.
• Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedure: for U.S.-resident taxpayers with foreign accounts.
• Both require certifying non-willfulness and filing 3 years of returns + 6 years of FBAR.
• Penalty is reduced or waived for non-willful failures.

Source: Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures — Internal Revenue Service (IRS)