islandwoman120

Your reporter will post her report in a few minutes, Mr. Impatience! It is all good....

Fish n Chips 56

JJ, thats Brilliant.

Lets hope they catch the thief, if Google Earth could produce the Licence plate number it sure would help, the 4x4 is a Vauxhall Frontera, not the most popular vehicle sold in the UK, if the police could find this guy they could watch him and who knows what they would find.

Fish n Chips 56

JJ thats alot of money just to fill in some forms.

windsong

Ha ha ha, Bee!!! I think we all want to be in the UK by yesterday so we can't stop talking about it

dunroving

Crikey, that amount is unbelievable. It seems this stuff should be easier to deal with, without having to bankrupt yourself to sort it out. I used to use Turbotax in the US, which cost about $40 a year - unfortunately, it doesn't help much with these multi-country situations. The problem is, if you try to do it yourself and mess up, you can be liable for fines, etc. It's one thing for international millionaires to have to deal with this, but for us mere mortals on a living wage, it shouldn't be so complicated.

sallysimmons

Glad someone else enjoyed it.

I was just developing a bit of a crush on Steve Coogan so it's probably as well it's over

Re: character homes, I was watching an episode of Grand Designs last night where this couple took on a derelict Georgian house in London and renovated it.

They did all the work themselves so it has taken years and it's still not finished, but what they have done is so beautiful.

They found layers and layers of wallpaper and were able to get all the way back to the very first wallpaper ever put up. (They left a piece of it up and painted round it). The husband built a custom kitchen using Victorian shelving from the old shop that was once below the home. They stuck together hundreds of pieces of an original marble fireplace to make it almost as good as new - oh the whole show was just wonderful!

I would love to do something like that but the only problem is that I can't even bang a nail in the wall without hiring someone to do it for me!

J.J

Indeed, we previously used TurboTax is USA and will attempt it again this year. Alternative is TaxAct.com but we never used them.
I found this on TurboTax site

Buyer's Guide - If you live and work in a foreign country
Updated: 10/27/2010
Article ID: GEN12399

Any product in the TurboTax line will handle reporting of foreign income. While you must convert your foreign earnings into U.S. dollars for income tax reporting, TurboTax will help you complete Form 2555 to take the foreign earned income exclusion or the foreign housing deduction. Or, if you prefer, you may take the foreign tax credit for any taxes you paid to the foreign country on the same earnings the United States also taxes you on.

For best results, however, use TurboTax Deluxe. With Deluxe, you're walked through every possible deduction or tax credit that could apply to your financial and tax situation to make sure you don't miss out on anything. Deluxe provides additional focus on all deductions and tax credits, so if you're considering whether to take the foreign tax credit or the deduction for foreign income taxes, Deluxe is the product for you. With its expanded summaries and deduction analysis, you'll quickly see which option is better for you.

The Deluxe version suggested is $60. We will start with this and resort to the 'expert' if we cant see a way through with TurboTax.

sallysimmons

That really is incredibly expensive. I hired an accountant to give me an assessment of UK versus US taxes for my business and it cost me £400. Another firm quoted £500. In a way, my request was more complicated than an actual tax filing because I had a lot of questions about collecting VAT etc. And for that fee, she calculated both our US and UK taxes. I can't find her website now though.

£1,000 seems very high.

Taffy Duck

Thanks Denise for the banking info...in my case I'll be returning back to Canada after the first visit for a couple of months which I think will be more than enough time to close things out. Since Canada has a tax treaty with the uk you have to severe all ties to qualify you as a non-resident..so when your pension is sent to your uk account it has no tax taken away as you will only pay uk tax on income so consequently you never have to fill a Canadian tax return as long as the CRA (canada revenue agency ) has proof of non-residency..however you may still keep your RRSP ( 401K in the USA ) in Canada if you desire as it is sheltered from the tax system until you withdraw it at a later date and there are two ways to do that. One way is monthly where you don't pay canadian tax only uk income tax...the other way is to withdraw it as a lump some and pay a one time " with holding tax " to Canada. I know this has no bearing on your situation being a US citizen and now a full time Brit. congrats...but maybe it'll help other Expats in Canada thinking of returning....congrats to your husband and good luck on your job hunting...

cheers....Taffy

DDL

Thanks, Taffy!

It's always interesting to read all the various rules from one country to the next.

jasper123

Save a seat for me Don, I love street parties, how ya doing Me old mate, well here I am been home in England for all of 7 days now, and I love everything I have seen, no negatives to report at all ---- sorry,
Rodney.

DDL

Rodney, I haven't posted for almost a month (other than a few recent posts) so I haven't had a chance yet to say WELCOME HOME!

islandwoman120

Hi everyone. I went to Frome on Monday, and returned last night. It was a lovely little town, with all the basic amenities. The people I met were friendly - only problem, when I was talking to the older folks, I could hardly understand them. In fact, the first man who gave me directions sounded like he was in a 'Two Ronnies' skit, as the only thing I understood was his hand waving in the air and 'bump'. That was to tell me that Catherine Hill was around the corner and over the hill...

I stayed in The Blue Boar Inn, which is a pub that leases a Grade 2* building on a nearby street, and rents rooms as a B & B. I stayed in a room with 4 single beds and a shower room the size of a regular bedroom. It was clean, but not in the least bit elegant - £40 per night, including English breakfast and 'entertainment' provided by the cook who was also the Publican. She was a local person and gave me lots of tips for living in the area.

I saw two places to rent - one was a house share with the nicest artist, and we made friends but decided not to be housemates. Instead, I took a small studio flat, complete with a decent kitchen and a shower room. It is on the main road unfortunately, but is in a 17th century building, has a nice aspect to the rear of the building, lots of light, electric heating/shower, fully furnished, and is very close to town and the Public Library. I move in next Wednesday, December 15th. The Lettings Agent will meet me and all my many bags at the railway station - Frome or Bath, whichever I choose to use, and take me to my new place. How's that for service. Of course, I had to pay a Lettings fee, so I am capitalising on that fact with the extra service!

The two days were very cold and damp ones, and it snowed a little bit overnight on Monday night, so the roads were slick. Bee had already told me that the cobbled streets are lethal in the wet weather, and she is not wrong. Which is one of the reasons I chose not to have the house share - it is in the historic part of town, up a little hill, and a slip and slide event. I took about 150 photos, most of which are being loaded onto Flickr as we speak, and will be accessible to anyone who wants to look at them in about a half hour.

Frome is a small town, a market town, with a thriving artists colony of sorts. Theatre, music, painting, pottery, galleries. There is an Arts Festival each year. I brought back many leaflets to look at over the next few days. The buildings are unreal - nothing is straight! There are some newer buildings dotted about, and apparently, whenever a new development goes in, a percentage of the buildings have to be available as rentals. There is local work in the hospital, a community college, cleaning firm and other sorts of stuff. In the town I could see Solicitors, many independent stores, a real greengrocers, a bakers, tea rooms, cafe, The George which does meals at reasonable prices, and also has an hotel side to it.

That about sums it up - I got what I went for, and more. A place to live for the next 6 months at least, a decent community - and best of all, I got the feeling on Monday night - that I did not want to leave. Hopefully - I have found my home.

jasper123

Hello Trotty,
Thanks for posting all those names, I wish I could save it or print it but I am at the library these days until I buy a lap top which should be very soon,
UK ----- FANTASTIC, GREAT TO BE HOME, me and Mum getting on great,
first three days were snowed under, since then very cold but sky has always been clear and blue with sunshine every day,
Scotland and up north are really suffering with the very very cold temps like minus 18 in some places, and in Scotland lots of snow too, poor Ed/pegie
My Son made a surprise quick visit yesterday afternoon for a whole 10 minutes, he was stone cold towards me, he's 36 years old and he knows the whole story of how and why I left him and his Mother to go over to America when he was a baby --- but yesterday he comes out with this --- he suddenly says why did you abandon me all those years ago? I was kind of speechless really, I mean we have gone through this so many times over the years, so I just said well maybe when you have more time we can sit down and I can explain it again to you, we talked a few more minutes and he got in his car and he was off, Oh well as long as my Daughter still loves me and my Mum --- Ill be alright,
I have Just heard that my Sister who lives in Plymouth who has COPD --- lung decease, now also has a tumor, she has cancer, and apparently has got very thin lost a lot of weight and is not expected to live too much longer, Me and Mum are going up there this Saturday just for a day and night and then again at Christmas for a week, she is only 3 years older then me --- 68,

I was walking up the high street today and I passed by a Barber shop and the prices are quite high really but then I scrolled my eyes down the price list and there was a special price for old age pensioners --- and thats me £4.95 for a haircut, any style I want, thats not bad is it,
Tonight me and Mum are having our first Fish & Chip dinner, we have the very best one in Portsmouth just up the top of our road, I am really going to enjoy that !!!
OK so far I have opened a bank account at Lloyds, that was easy no problem at all, I have joined the library, also no problem,
Today I registered with my Mums Doctors office, I showed my British Passport and they needed to see something with my name on and Mums address where I am living, I showed them my Bank letter from Lloyds --- name & address at top of page, thats it !!!
I have a Doctors appointment for tomorrow, first I see the nurse and she is going to give me a flu shot, and then in the afternoon I see the Doctor, I got in right away cause I have bad Excima --- skin problem on my feet, Im hoping he will refer me to a dermatologist
take care,
Rodney.

islandwoman120

Here are the photos I took of Frome, Somerset: http://www.flickr.com/photos/islandwoman/sets/