File Guam Taxes and Get Your Tax Refund Faster

People living in Guam, be they citizens of the United States, citizens of Guam or neither, will usually file only one tax return, either with the U.S. or Guam, depending on their specific circumstances. The chief concern regarding with whom a resident will file his or her taxes is whether or not the person is a bona fide resident. There are three criteria that govern bona fide residence:

• The presence test
• Having a tax home outside of Guam
• Having a closer connection to the United States

Passing the "Presence" Test

To pass the presence test, a person must have resided within Guam for at least 183 days or not have spent more than 90 days in the United States. Additionally, a taxpayer can fulfill the obligation by having been in Guam for a total of 549 or more days over the course of the present tax year and the two proceeding years. In any of those years, the taxpayer must have spent at least 60 days in Guam. A taxpayer also qualifies if he or she had no more than $3,000 of income in the United States or had no significant connection to the United States at all during the tax year in question.

Bona Fide Residency

Taxpayers still qualify for bona fide residency if the permanent home they own in the U.S. is a rental property in which they have not lived for more than 14 days or 10% of the number of days the property was rented.

A person is deemed to have a significant connection to the United States if he or she:

• Has a permanent home in the U.S.
• Has registered to vote in the U.S.
• Has a spouse or underage child living in the U.S., except in cases of child custody as part of a divorce agreement or if the child is a student

Military Tax Exceptions in Guam

If a taxpayer is also a member of the military, his or her residency is not compromised by being absent as long as the absence is due to his or her military commitments. Conversely, if someone's being in Guam is in fulfillment of military commitments, he or she does not automatically receive bona fide residency.

Further Research and Specific Cases

All taxpayers in Guam are encouraged to download and read IRS Publication No. 570, which is available in full from the IRS website. This document covers almost all possible contingencies and provides useful contact information to get needed answers should one's contingency not appear in the document.

Note: States & U.S. territories may make changes to their tax laws with little notice. We do our best to keep this information up-to-date, but it is provided on an "AS IS" basis. For more see our terms.