elf91

Just some details: I left London and joined my fiancee here in October 2017 on a K1 visa, we got married in November and I received my 2 year green card yesterday!

As great as that is I've now got myself all worked up about filing taxes and hopefully someone can help a little.

I think I can choose to file as a resident for the 2017 tax year and that my wife and I can file jointly. I also figure I need to complete an FBAR showing the UK bank accounts I still have as well as premium bonds, anything with an account number.

Beyond that I'm a little lost as to what I'll have to file. I left my previous job in September before I moved and haven't earned income since. Will I still have to file what I earned during the 2017 year in the UK?

Sorry if I've breached etiquette somehow. Not looking for a how to guide or anything, just some pointers if at all possible. Many thanks!

AndyMan74

As I understand it you don't need to disclose premium bonds as they are government tax free BUT you may have to tell them about any BIG wins. If your unsure about your tax position get an expert to run through it the first time as this will be a tricky year given your situation then you can easily do your own from then on.

Cook_County

Premium bonds are FBAR & Form 8938 reportable. Prizes are taxable income.

elf91

Thanks! That much is good to know. As far as I can tell since my assets sum to less than $50,000 I shouldn't need to report with form 8938?

As for prizes... I believe I won £25 once, might not even have been in 2017.

How granular would I need to be with reporting smaller sums like that? For instance there's been a tiny amount of interest earned with my UK ISA account: 9 pence to be exact. I'll put it in the report if need be but can't seem to find anything about a threshold with things like that.

Getting some professional help may well be the best way to run through this one. I'll at least see what I can piece together from the IRS docs in the meantime.

celticgrid

Just beware...

From https://www.nsandi.com/i-live-outsid...nvest-with-nsi

When I advised them of a change of address they insisted I cash them out. I believe the issue is that the US considers them gambling and it it illegal for any correspondence related to gambling to go via USPS, or something like that.

tom169

I reported all of my UK interest after doing a conversion to dollars.

AndyMan74

According to NS&I website Premium Bonds are excluded from the Common Reporting Standard, does this make a difference?

Cook_County

No - the obligations of the payor are unrelated to the obligations of an individual in the United States.

theOAP

Also, the US does not participate in the Common Reporting Standard. If it did, it would have to report on the US bank and other accounts held by persons not resident in the US.

elf91

Makes sense, thanks. Not too difficult, I've already got it all together.

Premium bonds are sounding like too much trouble so I might as well just cash out. If I do that now should the account still go on FBAR since it was active in 2017?

MidAtlantic

I was told exactly the same.

Owen778

Yes, sell them.

Yes, report them, if you held them during the 2017 tax year and your total foreign assets are above the reporting limit. "Active" is not a word I'd use with FBAR (or FATCA). They are about the assets that you hold, not about money coming and going in and out of accounts.