This is the Political Action letter
to your Congressional Elected Officials

Address them individually

This letter was designed to be sent by those who have read our Gross income article and think that we are WRONG.

This letter was designed to be sent by those who have read our Gross income article  and are certain that all U.S. Citizens living and working in the U.S. ARE in fact earning gross income from U.S. Sources and are therefore subject to the income tax.

If we are all subject to the income tax then sending this Political action letter is an important part of the American people getting fair treatment under the law.

What we are specifically writing about is the fact that when a U.S. Citizen leaves this country to pursue business in another country (under the protection of the U.S. State Department and the omnipresent vigilance of the U.S. Military) the Citizen is given an exemption of the first $70,000 of earnings. While at the same time, the Citizen sticking it out in America is stranded here, paying on every dime and only given a pittance in exemptions for him/her self, spouse, and a token amount per child (which does not even begin to pay the cost of feeding and clothing and raising).

The political 'forcing' of the facts into the face of the Congress will give the American people, who have always lived and worked in the U.S., ample opportunity to press their right to an equivalent exemption.

We believe the People of America deserve this, as we are the ones who make up this economy, and we make up this government which so plainly supports these foreign ventures.

So send this letter to your elected officials in Congress and get the exemption you deserve, you have worked for it, and stayed here, as you believed in America.

Your Name
Your Street Address
City, State, ZIP

Certified Mail #                                                                  Date

Senator or Congress Person
Street Address
Washington, D.C.

Senator (or Congressperson):

I have recently read an article on the Internet, posted at Taxgate.com, regarding Gross income. I must say that I do not agree with their legal position taken in their article, but I did learn, through their offer to help me take political action, of the fact that I, as a U.S. Citizen, am only entitled to a miniscule exemption for my living expenses in comparison to that of a U.S. Citizen living and working abroad.

This is evidenced by 26 U.S.C. § 911 reproduced here in part:

Sec. 911. Citizens or residents of the United States living abroad

(a) Exclusion from gross income

At the election of a qualified individual (made separately with respect to paragraphs (1) and (2)), there shall be excluded from the gross income of such individual, and exempt from taxation under this subtitle, for any taxable year--

(1) the foreign earned income of such individual, and

(2) the housing cost amount of such individual.

(b) Foreign earned income

(1) Definition

For purposes of this section--

(A) In general

The term "foreign earned income" with respect to any individual means the amount received by such individual from sources within a foreign country or countries which constitute earned income attributable to services performed by such individual during the period described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of subsection (d)(1), whichever is applicable.

(B) Certain amounts not included in foreign earned income

The foreign earned income for an individual shall not include amounts--

(i) received as a pension or annuity,

(ii) paid by the United States or an agency thereof to an employee of the United States or an agency thereof,

(iii) included in gross income by reason of section 402(b) (relating to taxability of beneficiary of nonexempt trust) or section 403(c) (relating to taxability of beneficiary under a nonqualified annuity), or

(iv) received after the close of the taxable year following the taxable year in which the services to which the amounts are attributable are performed.

(2) Limitation on foreign earned income

(A) In general

The foreign earned income of an individual which may be excluded under subsection (a)(1) for any taxable year shall not exceed the amount of foreign earned income computed on a daily basis at an annual rate of $70,000.

(B) Attribution to year in which services are performed

For purposes of applying subparagraph (A), amounts received shall be considered received in the taxable year in which the services to which the amounts are attributable are performed.

(C) Treatment of community income

In applying subparagraph (A) with respect to amounts received from services performed by a husband or wife which are community income under community property laws applicable to such income, the aggregate amount which may be excludable from the gross income of such husband and wife under subsection (a)(1) for any taxable year shall equal the amount which would be so excludable if such amounts did not constitute community income.

(c) Housing cost amount

For purposes of this section--

(1) In general

The term "housing cost amount" means an amount equal to the excess of--

(A) the housing expenses of an individual for the taxable year, over

(B) an amount equal to the product of--

(i) 16 percent of the salary (computed on a daily basis) of an employee of the United States who is compensated at a rate equal to the annual rate paid for step 1 of grade GS-14, multiplied by

(ii) the number of days of such taxable year within the applicable period described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of subsection (d)(1).

(2) Housing expenses

(A) In general

The term "housing expenses" means the reasonable expenses paid or incurred during the taxable year by or on behalf of an individual for housing for the individual (and, if they reside with him, for his spouse and dependents) in a foreign country. The term--

(i) includes expenses attributable to the housing (such as utilities and insurance), but

(ii) does not include interest and taxes of the kind deductible under section 163 or 164 or any amount allowable as a deduction under section 216(a).

Housing expenses shall not be treated as reasonable to the extent such expenses are lavish or extravagant under the circumstances.

I think I have played by these present rules long enough, and I think that I have paid more than my fair share over the years, as those Citizens abroad have not had to endure the same tax burden that I have. It is time to create the Domestic Tax Credit for myself and other hard working Americans so that we are given the same break these U.S Citizens have been given.

What kind of home could I have, neighborhood could I have lived in, what kind of schooling could I have received from my parents (or provided to my children), how much time could I have spent being with my family as opposed to barely making ends meet?

Now that I see how the rules have really been against me I demand JUSTICE by a truly FAIR and JUST system of taxation. If these people have been given a $70,000 annual exemption plus a 100% housing exemption since 1954, I want, and I think the people of America deserve the same exemptions for the next 44 years before a new tax plan is adopted.

It is only FAIR, if all are expected to pay their FAIR SHARE!

I expect a timely and on-point answer from you regarding the above, and please immediately inform me of the action you are personally taking to obtain my annual $70,000 and 100% housing exemption for me, and when I should expect the enactment of this law to equalize this veiled injustice.

Sincerely,

Your Name

Cc: Your Congressperson (or Your Senators)