I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

Hi everyone!! Nice to meet you. I am a EU national that resided in the UK for the last 6 years and then moved to the US last month under a spousal visa.

My god I still have so many questions.... Im sorry if what I am asking is obvious, I have read the wiki and last pages but still so many doubts...

1. So I am still employed by my UK employer for the next 5 months. I submited my P85 without the P45 and noting the reason. My understading is that hmrc will either give my employer a NT code or I will be taxed normally if I go above the allowance. I then will have to submit a self assessment for next year ( wich i cannot do online) and claim relief under double taxation treaty. Did I understand this correctly?

2. What happens with NI? Do they stop as part of the P85? (I see many of you do voluntary contributions, I will need to read on this later).

2. My employer is paying me in pounds in a uk bank account. And I am not self employed. How do I go about paying IRS? Should we increase the contributions of my spouse( we will file jointly) to avoid penalties and then at the end of the year I declare my pounds to the IRS?

3. This is more of a rant than a question. Ive just finally managed to get my resume to american standards after many attempts. But the jobs im interviewing for offer 10 days of leave. 10...miserable days.
I knew it was bad here but I was hoping 15-20 days was becoming more the norm for skilled labour. I know this is super personal and there is no right answer but in your experience do you suggest I bite the bullet for few years until I have US experience under my belt and then shop around? Or should i try negotiate? Or should I accept reality?

Thanks everyone!

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

Woops I forgot the most important question. I miss clotted cream, help me what do I do???

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

The best thing for you to do is get off the UK payroll and work for them as a contractor. That way you'll receive payment in USD and can report it on your tax return. Your spouse doesn't have to change anything.

10 days of PTO is pretty normal for a new job. I doubt you can negotiate. You will also probably get 8 days off as paid holiday per year, so that's not bad. Perhaps vacation days will increase the longer you are with the company. I've been working for the same company 30 years and I get 5 weeks a year.

Rene

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

Buy online?

Rene

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

Yeah they dont really do the contractor thing so im stuck with what I have. So how do i deal with the tax thing?

Ughh seems I must learn to accept the reality of 10 days... (I am too european yet to treat paid bank holidays as a perk and not a minimum human right lol! ). Maybe i need a part time job but I dont see many.

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

Everything I see has bad reviews from British people. Any recomendation?

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

What industry are you in? In mine, 15 is a starting point, and usually comes with other freebie days. In white collar jobs it is common to 'accrue' vacation days after certain milestone periods of employment (e.g. 5 years gets you an extra paid week). Also, unpaid vacation can be requested. TBH if you are moving here, i wouldn't let any of that bother you or it will simply wear you down. Work around it and don't just take the first job you are offered.
Also get used to 'at will' employment, which is employment without a contract, which in most white collar roles sounds way worse than it is.

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

You give me hope, thanks so much! And is great to hear that unpaid leave is acceptable and they will not only sack me for asking. I am in engineering but my experience is a bit strange, ive moved industries several times and ended up being a sort of technical project manager meets (non IT) systems engineer. So I am looking in construction, engineering and "county council" type of jobs.

Yes the at will thing sounds terryfiying lol!
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Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

No, sorry... I'm not British and don't know where one would get clotted cream.

Rene

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

You will report your income in USD when it comes time to file a US tax return. There is a form to fill out so you don't get double taxed, but I'll let more knowledgeable folks give details.

Rene

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

Clotted cream is the easiest thing in the world to make. One ingredient. One dish. 12 hours in the oven at 180f.

Which industry are you in? I started at 17 days PTO and am now at 25. I work for a company that is headquartered in Europe. That may or may not have an impact on the PTO offerings.

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

Sorry I was not clear, my question is:
Do I need to report to IRS in installments (monthly, quarterly) to avoid getting fined even if im not self employed since my employer will not be making monthly payments to the IRS. And if yes, what is the best way to do it if im not self employed.

Ta!

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

I have found it sometimes in Cost Plus/World Market .... other sort of european market stores or "upperscale" food stores; even specialty cheese stores may carry it. I think I once saw it in Whole Foods but don't hold me to that!

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

I pay quarterly estimated payments to the IRS on my UK income. (April 15th, June 15th, September 15th and January 15th are the dates payments are made)

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

Do you use the same process as if you were self imployed? Or how do you go about it?

Thankyou!

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

This is what I do. I’m retired on UK and US pensions. I use the IRS published average to convert to $s when doing my IRS taxes since the payments are regular monthly payments.

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

Most people in the US file a tax return, it’s not like the UK. I was commuting to the UK for a while and had UK income to declare on my US returns. The DTA likely means you won’t have much US federal tax to pay after you get the credit for the UK tax you pay. The biggest question is where are you living in the US? If you have state and city tax to pay them that comes out of pocket and you can’t use the UK tax paid as a credit. The other complicating factor is that the UK and US tax year is different, you need to keep good records and be exact on when it was paid to you/tax was withheld so you declare it on the correct US tax year... if it’s after 31 Dec it’s the next US tax year even if the UK have it on the P60/P45 etc so keep all your UK payslips.

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

you'll need an EAD to work on a spouse visa, that would be the first port of call on the road to employment.
you'll also need an SSN, applied?
that takes a While, between that approval / receiving time and landing a U.S job you could arrange yourself a few months off, beat that for a first years vacay allowance.

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

I believe that you are considered self-employed, in the eyes of the USA, because the employer is not making the necessary tax payments. This is going to cause you a problem in that you are going to be responsible not only for your income tax but that additional amount of tax the employer normally pays the US government, i.e. the self-employment tax. This means your final take-home income is going to be reduced. Most people who continue to work for UK employers do so as a contractor and have the employer "gross up" the amount of the payment to cover the US self-employment tax so you are not losing money.

Because you are not doing regular withholding, you will need to make quarterly estimated tax filings.
Because your employer is not making their payments, you will also need to assess yourself a self-employment tax.

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

Check various supermarkets. Trade Joe's will have it and Stop 'N Shop on the east coast does as well.

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

welcome to America.
After 12 years here this is the one thing that made me want to go home the most often. 10 days is so rubbish (but normal - 20 days VACATION... ha ha, maybe after 10+ years service - really - unheard of outside tenured academic jobs), and sometimes they say 15 days PTO, which includes sick time. So if you get the flu or something that requires any length of time off, or if you have a lot of dental work or something that requires many appointments, you're out of holiday time. PTO is more inhumane than small amounts of vacation. The week to week productivity expectations are also much higher in the US than the UK in my experience, and I learnt to live with and even enjoy that before kids (you can't easily work full time in a professional jobs and have children here unless you never want to see them and never see your family abroad), but the vacation leave is brutal and almost ubiquitous. You are expected to be wedded to your job in a way you only see in the high echelons of an organization in the UK. But it is what it is, it won't change and so you have to suck it up, with a smile, DO NOT suggest you are unhappy with this and it's better in Europe. People hate that!! However, if you want to move fast in your career, this is the place to do it IMO. Driven people really thrive and have so much more freedom to make things happen than in the UK. Sadly, Im not that person. I wish I was!

Clotted cream - whole foods, but it's almost $10

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

This is incorrect, spousal visa does not require ead, thats fiance visa. I have everything, took 2 weeks to arrive to the mail.

​​​​​​Defenetly considering taking few months to make up for the no travel during the pandemic!

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

Wegmans supermarkets here in the North-East carry it. I think Parkers of Buffalo stock it, and they are pretty good at shipping stuff in styrofoam boxes with icepacks.

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

So I understand I need to do a tax return at the end, the complicated part for me is how I do tax payments before that ( if I need to do them) if I am not self employed.

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

Huh that stinks. Ok sounds like I need to talk to a tax advisor or someone in the irs because this is more complex than what I initially though. Thanks a lot for your input!

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

Thanks mate. Its going to be a struggle. Im not that person either...
Ill check whole foods, i will also try to make it myself but my electricity bill might be more than the $10...

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

You don't have to be self-employed to file quarterly estimateds. All the form (1040-ES) needs is your social security number and the amount you are paying. That then goes towards your annual tax obligation. File estimateds both to the IRS and your state tax authority (presuming you live in a state with income tax).

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

The US and the UK have a “totalization agreement.” You may need to consult with a tax professional on this. This most commonly a “certified public accountant.” In addition to CPA’s there are “enrolled agents” and attorneys who specialize in taxation.

BTW, paid leave is not a legal requirement, but rather a matter of custom and practice. It can vary a lot.

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

is there anything Wegmans doesn’t carry? I wish we had them in CA.

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

Amazing!! Thank you for confirming!!!

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

It is possible you are going to be disappointed. You can only get it in jars in the US, and my personal experience is it doesn't taste good. I'm from Cornwall and for me it's Roddas or nothing! I did a little research on the topic a while ago, clotted cream is made from unpasteurized milk, which something that is not really easily available in the US, so anyone making clotted cream is started from pasturized milk and as such it's never going to be the same, and the stuff in jars is just not great, in my opinion. I get my clotted cream fix when I go to the UK!

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

what visa number do you have?

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

She (I’m assuming...) has already confirmed that she has a spousal visa so it’ll be an IR-1 or CR-1 depending on how long she was married on the day she arrived. Not that it matters because the visa becomes invalid upon arrival (it’s a single entry visa) and her status immediately changed to LPR. So, right now, she doesn’t have any visa. She’s a permanent resident.

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

Make it at home from good quality cream. Chef John has a good “recipe” (although it’s more a one-line instruction than an actual recipe).

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

ok, no longer a visa holder then. makes sense

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

apologies I misread the spouse part as a non-immigrant type visa.

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

yes but you need to keep good records, e.g. you may get a refund in the UK if you stop working for a UK employer mid year, you may already have claimed that tax as a credit on US taxes, so if you then get a refund you have to declare that again on your next US tax return because taxes are generally done on a cash basis.

Is the state you live in one with its own income tax, that will have the biggest impact on what you end up paying.

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

The process to pay quarterly estimated taxes is the same for those who need to do so. I pay mine online. All details are on the IRS web site. Fortunately I get the same money each month, so set it up so the IRS take the amount I specify directly from my bank account each quarter. If you get differing amounts each quarter you would need to estimate the amount of Federal tax due for each quarter. My State has income tax, so I pay that the same way, through their online system.

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

I also get 10 days and 2 sick days - that is just how it is here

Re: I moved last month and I have still so many questions
 

No, you don't need to make monthly or quarterly payments to IRS. Even if you did get hit with a penalty, it's so low that it won't really affect you. My self employed husband never paid in quarterly, and the penalty was never more than a few dollars.

Rene