tom169

Hi all,

I'm finally getting on with the move to the US permanently next week on the K1 visa.

In my spare time i'm trying to untangle my tax liability for this year

For my back story - I've not accrued substantial time in the US across any year. I've never held a US visa before this. I fly over on the November 15th and we plan to wed on the 16th. We aim to file for AOS within a couple days.

Up to now I've been working full time in the UK for the entire year. I've accrued a modest income.

The other half has full time employment with good pay.

I won't be working at all for this year in the USA.

I've seen multiple things knocked around, like 1st year election and dual status returns.

Couple of questions if anyone could contribute please?

• Will I even need to file federal and state at all for this year? I highly likely won't have a green card this year. Not sure if this has baring.
• I get paid for the last time on the 27th November. I will be in the US at this point. I won't be working while I am in the US, it's just the payroll dates. Will this complicate matters?
• If I do need to file taxes, does anyone recommend any tax software? It seems TaxAct supports dual status generation if that is the best path (though without e-file).
• If I do need to get an accountant to handle this stuff, does anyone know a vague ballpark? We talking hundreds, thousands $$?
• If I elect to be a tax resident for the entire year, I guess I will face penalty for not having health insurance? Even though I was living in the UK?

Thanks. Appreciate it.

tom169

Currently leaning to being able to federally file non resident for the entire year.

So far it doesn't seem that AOS has baring on this until I actually have a green card.

Noorah101

Your wife will have 2 choices on the 2016 tax return.

If she chooses "married filing separately", then you won't have to do a 2016 tax return yourself, because you were only here for a short time, and not at all as a PR.

If she chooses "married filing joint", then she includes your UK income on the tax return and you can be considered resident for tax purposes. There are some tax breaks for married filing joint, but the best thing to do is work it out both ways to see which is more beneficial financially.

Important....if you get married in 2016, she can NOT file the 2016 in the "single" category.

Rene

tom169

Thanks, Rene.

Is the amount of days that you mention the substantial presence test?

I doubt married filing jointly will give us much benefit. Will be a lot more work too to dig out the pay slips from the UK, interest and whatnot.

She will go MFS this year, then next year it looks like i'll elect to be a tax resident for the entire year and MFJ.

As it seems I don't need to complete a tax return, do you know if this will mean I don't need to complete FBAR/FATCA? I've held more than $10k in GBP bank accounts this year.

Noorah101

I'm sorry, I don't know anything about how it relates to UK requirements. Hopefully someone else chimes in.

Rene

Owen778

OK. It will depend on when your green card comes through. If it's in 2016, you will have to file, be that dual status or making the election to count as resident for the full year so that you can file as married filing jointly. More info on this this here: https://www.irs.gov/individuals/inte...-as-a-resident . If it's in 2017, then you are non-resident in 2016, but you can still make the election for this year if you choose to. You will file as resident for the full year in 2017.

On the FBAR and FATCA, non-residents (for taxation purposes) are not required to file. I believe that if you elect to count as resident in order to file as MFJ, then you will need to file them, as long as your accounts qualify.

tom169

Firstly thanks for the help.

Am I therefore right in thinking that given I won't earn enough money (in the USA as a nonresident) this means I won't need to file at all?

Noorah101

Arriving on a K-1 visa and marrying in mid-November makes it highly unlikely he will receive a green card before December 31, 2016.

Correct.

Rene

tom169

Thanks all. Saves a job for this year.

Next year it should be straight forward and no foreign bank accounts with $10k in it.