Hello,
I am a permanent resident of Germany and am trying to do my US taxes for the first time. I am technically self-employed as a teacher, but work only for the Volkshochschule here. I read that if I declare my taxes as being self-employed, I would need to pay self-employment taxes and need to get a Certificate of Coverage from the German Spitzenverband here to avoid doing so (I am paying both Rente and Krankenversicherung here). However, I am having a hard time finding out where to obtain this. The office suggested on the IRS website does not respond to calls. Do I need this or can I go ahead and either file as being employed by the VHS or file as being self-employed and then hope that I am not asked to pay self-employment tax? Also, since this is my first time filing, what forms do i need apart from the 1040? Any help would be much appreciated.