The Treasury Department is doing the right thing to correct course of the damage an earlier tax change caused on American expatriates. The complete list of new housing deduction or exclusion limits can be found in Treasury's notice here.

Unfortunately, I will not personally benefit ... I cannot imagine why no China city is on the list. Maybe it is time to push KPMG to send a formal comment to Treasury.

Some Americans working in countries with high housing costs have won a partial reprieve from a recently enacted tax increase.

The Treasury Department issued a notice Friday that raises the amount of housing costs that some Americans working and living abroad may deduct or exclude when they are filing their U.S. income-tax returns. As a result, although numerous U.S. expatriates still face significantly higher taxes for this year, the increase won't be as steep as initially feared for workers in some places, such as Hong Kong and Singapore.

The new Treasury notice also included revised housing-cost numbers for many places in Europe. But these changes may be less significant for many U.S. workers there because of high taxes imposed by numerous European nations.

The housing-cost numbers, which are based on a complex formula, vary widely from place to place. For example, the maximum amount of housing costs that an American working in Hong Kong may exclude for this year works out to $101,116, according to one Washington tax specialist. Previously, American expats in all overseas locations were allowed to exclude just $11,536. The Treasury says its table will be updated annually.