A new and very convincing attempt to permit identity fraud is doing the rounds by email.
Aimed at US citizens living abroad, it purports to be from the US Internal Revenue Service. It requires non-domiciled US citizens to complete the form (which is designed in the same style as the usual IRS forms) in order to renew their US non-resident tax status.
The form demands sufficient information (Social Security number, bank details etc etc) for the fraudsters to perpetrate an identity fraud and access funds from the disclosed bank account.
Do not be conned!. The appropriate forms for claiming the non-resident deduction (US citizens pay tax on a world income basis, with a non-residence test based mainly on physical presence), which is currently $87,600, are forms 2555 or 2555EZ. These are sent with the package of forms for completing the form 1040. This package is sent annually to all registered US citizens living abroad. Normally, US citizens MUST file a tax return annually unless their income is less than the minimum amount (currently less than $9,000 for a single person).