I am really panicking. The US accountant has decided all of a sudden he doesn't want to deal with expats/understand tax treaties, etc. That leaves me without a US accountant.

He has, however, prepared my US 2015 tax returns in the normal way. I haven't signed or submitted them yet because I am not sure what FBAR is or what to do with it. He was going to handle it all but now I am left in the lurch.

I haven't contacted HMRC about 2015 taxes yet because I have had below £3000 in income and I don't think you pay taxes at that level. (Only recently started to collect pension and have not been working. That will change soon, though.)

Can someone please advice what to do re FBAR and taxes. (I thought UK taxes were to be declared as a tax credit on the US return but if I haven't paid any and UK taxes are prepared a year behind ....?)

What to do?

Did the sum of all your foreign accounts go over $10k last year? Don't include final salary pension plans.

I can't remember when you came back to the UK, but as it was sometime in 2015, you won't meet the bona fide resident test, but likely will meet the physical presence test by the time your 2015 return is due in June (the extension is automatic, but any tax due must still be paid by the April deadline). See https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Inte...-Presence-Test. You should also look at Publication 54 and the UK-US Tax Treaty. The Treaty is not an easy read, and it's very confusing, but some things are better understood if you at least read it.

BEWARE the US accountant who completes a 1040 'in the normal way'. You may pay tax you don't owe, or owe tax on income that either wasn't declared properly. Any income you earned during 2015 from whatever source of course must be reported, including interest on UK accounts (if any). If the 'pension' you mention is your US Social Security, and you began receiving that AFTER you returned to the UK, then it is ONLY subject to UK tax; it's not US taxable at all under the treaty. Other pension income (including the UK state pension) is treated differently. Look carefully at what the accountant did w/r/t pension income. There are additional forms that can also come into play when you no longer live in the US, and the accountant who decides he doesn't want to deal with expats/tax treaties could easily decided to ignore those forms.

FBAR - now called FinCen - is NOT filed with your tax return. It's only filed on-line and goes to the Treasury Department, and you may not need to file. FBAR is a report of your foreign financial accounts, and comes into play if the sum of said accounts exceeds $10K during the tax year in question. For most of us, a financial account is a bank account, ISA or similar, and it's both accounts that you 'own' or accounts that you have 'signature authority' - say a relative's account or a work account. Anyway - the quick and dirty test to see whether you need to file is to list all your accounts, and the highest value (in US$) for each account at whatever point in 2015. Add those up - if over $10K, then you need to file a FBAR. It's an easy form, and takes only a few minutes in most cases.

One thing to watch w/r/t the $10K threshold - say you had the equivalent of $5001K in an account in Bank A, but decided to move the funds to another account, whether same bank or different bank. Let's also assume that was the maximum value for said account for all of 2015. You move the funds, so AC #2 automatically has a value of $5001. As far as FBAR is concerned, you were over the $10K threshold even though you actually only had $5001. Really silly, but that's the way it works.

For the UK 2015-2016 tax year, if you had foreign income (including pensions) you will likely need to register for self-assessment. I seem to recall doing that on-line with HMRC, but my memory may be playing tricks on me.

Vadio, thanks for replying in detail.

I returned in July 2015. I collect a small UK state pension and a small US company pension. Both of these were reported to my US accountant for prep of 2015 returns.

I do not collect US social security. I am trying to leave that at least until 66. I m 63 now. I am returning to lecturing so will be working for a while yet.

The US accountant gas uploaded the 2015 returns to a secure site so I will have a look and see what he did re extra forms for the UK state pension. He was made aware of all sources of income which is merely what I have stated. My finances were almost wiped out by trying to withstand the downturn in the Midwest economy far too long but I am ever so grateful I moved home only to find my credentials are intact here and my skills very much needed so I will soon have a chance to get on my feet.

Re FINCEN, the total is under under 10k do it looks like I don't need to file it. Won't they wonder if I have just forgotten to file rather than don't need to file?

Re UK self-assessment I think I will phone HMRC tomorrow to find out exactly what I need to do every year because I just don't know.

When do I file UK tax returns for 2015?

Isn't there a UK tax credit that had to be applied to my 2015 US tax returns do I pay no tax there? I do have some 2015 income from the US and already will be receiving a refund. I am confused about the UK tax credit thing, though.

Many thanks for all the help.

Just to reemphasize, the FBAR total is met if the total of ALL overseas accounts => $10k USD. Once you hit that mark, you must report ALL accounts, so something like:

Account 1 - $9,000
Account 2 - $1,500
Account 3 - $1.53
Account 4 - .04¢

You must report EVERY account 1-4 as you have crossed the 10k barrier.

Just wanted to mention that for future readers of the thread.

Also be careful of FATCA, which is when you have more than $50k in an account overseas while living in the USA ($250k if living overseas). I think FATCA can include some retirement accounts in the calculations, though FBAR does not usually if I remember properly.

I was wondereing how you were getting on and have only just seen this.

Congratulations. It's so good to be in control of your own life. You would have hated Pension Credit (if you could have claimed it) with all it's restrictions, such as having to tell the benefits agency if you go abroad for any reason including going to Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands.

Make sure your US accountant understands the implications of your UK residency....and make sure you meet the physical presence test before you file. Your US accountant needs to use FEIE and FTC to offset your US taxes. Is that being done?

Thank you, Formula! I am glad, too. Things are beginning to look up.

I asked him how he reported my UK pension on the return and he said he put it on line 16a of page one of the 1040. He told me no special form is required unless I was taking a foreign tax credit.

Is this correct?

Re physical presence test I have been in UK since mid-July.

All he has done is file my 2015 state and federal tax returns for the US.