It's $80k/year. Anything over that is taxed, but at the higher bracket. That is, if you make $85k, the $5k isn't taxed at the 0-25k (or whatever it is) bracket, but the one that $85k is in.
If you would still have to pay after this deduction you can forfeit the $80k deduction and use some other form. I don't know much about the other form, only that it's incredibly complex and changes enough every year that if you live in a foreign country you'll simply have to pay a tax guy to fill it out. I've been making over $100k/year since I left the states (a year after that, actually) and I haven't owed any U.S. taxes yet.
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It's $80k/year. Anything over that is taxed, but at the higher bracket. That is, if you make $85k, the $5k isn't taxed at the 0-25k (or whatever it is) bracket, but the one that $85k is in.
If you would still have to pay after this deduction you can forfeit the $80k deduction and use some other form. I don't know much about the other form, only that it's incredibly complex and changes enough every year that if you live in a foreign country you'll simply have to pay a tax guy to fill it out. I've been making over $100k/year since I left the states (a year after that, actually) and I haven't owed any U.S. taxes yet.