Many Americans working overseas may experience higher tax bills under the new law signed by President Bush. In some cases, overseas taxpayers could face tens of thousands of more dollars in taxes.

Those most affected will likely be those living in high cost areas, such as Hong Kong and Singapore. Those whose companies don't help cover the additional tax burdens of living abroad may suffer the highest increases. For companies with special relief packages for taxes, the additional costs could mean that fewer workers will be working abroad.

Under the old law, Americans working overseas could exclude up to $80,000 of foreign-earned income for 2006. Under the new law, the figure rises to $82,400. But the rate after that level is now higher than before. The new law also reduces the amount of housing costs that can be excluded or deducted.

The provision is expected to raise an estimated $2.1 billion in revenue over the next 10 years.

It is unclear how companies will react to the new law. The additional tax burden is expected to "significantly affect the cost" of overseas assignment, according to an Ernest & Young report.

In some areas of the world, American workers can expect to have as much as $20,000 in additional taxes for this year.

Martin Lukac (http://www.MartinLukac.com), represents http://www.RateEmpire.com and http://www.1AmericanFinancial.com, a finance web-company specializing in real estate/mortgage market. We specialize in daily updates, rate predictions, mortgage rates and more. Find low home loan mortgage interest rates from hundreds of mortgage companies!