RainyDays

First of all, apologies for asking a question I'm sure has been asked before. I've just spent an hour or so trying to find an answer to my tax question on the board, but everyone's situation is just a little bit different.

Like many, we have only just discovered that my USC husband should have been filing a tax return in the US for the last 14 years. Now we're trying to put that right. Fortunately, he hasn't earned enough to have any tax liability in the US. We tried using Turbotax online to back file for 2015, but it said we needed to upgrade to the Deluxe version due to his expat status. I know it's not a lot of money, but I'd sooner avoid paying anything to file a tax return! So, does anyone know a simple/free way to file?

Secondly, perusing the boards suggests that three years is the most we'll need to worry about. Is that right?

Finally,am I correct in thinking we'll need evidence of his tax filing for the second stage of the IR-1 visa application?

Thanks in advance.

lansbury

Free you can file the paper forms. Three years are what you will need for the visa application.

Noorah101

As evidence, make sure to keep a photocopy of the entire tax return. The photocopy will be used as evidence when the time comes.

Rene

quiltman

Am I being thick? I thought all USCs knew they had to file US taxes no matter where in the world they were as they are taxed on worldwide income, less any tax paid in their country of residence. I know this, and I'm not a USC.

md95065

As a non USC you almost certainly know more about both US immigration and US taxation than most USCs do.

Why? Precisely because you started out knowing that you knew nothing about either and proceeded to learn about both subjects.

Since most USCs never even leave the US let alone move to another country it isn't surprising that they don't know about the fact that the US requires it's citizens to file tax returns even if they are not resident in the US and there is nothing that would necessarily alert them to this fact if they move to another country.

Pulaski

Everything Md95065 said plus: I suspect that a minority of USCs who leave the US as children and reach adulthood outside the US never complete tax returns, and especially if their parents are not USCs.

As a somewhat comparable situation, we hear even here on BE of people born as USCs, but growing up overseas as dual citizens who enter the US on their foreign passport having applied for ESTA. They just don't know any better.

quiltman

I stand corrected! Obvious when you think about it.

steveq

Boris Johnson...

sir_eccles

Isn't that sort of language against site rules?

Pulaski

Idolatry?

theOAP

Unfortunately, most 'accidental Americans' are learning of their obligation to file a tax return not from the IRS, their local embassy, or the US Government, but from their local (UK) bank or building society who have now become the unofficial arm of the IRS abroad.

RainyDays

Thanks for the advice - much appreciated.

rpjs

We were in a similar position and we found the guide on the Wiki here at British Expats very useful: Taxes filing with the US IRS in London : British Expat Wiki

I think it's a bit out of date in that I understand the IRS office at the London Embassy has now closed. but it should cover the fairly simple filing most US ex-pats have to do.

RainyDays

Thank you for pointing me in the right direction - very helpful!

RainyDays

One follow-up question: as a USC living in the UK, should my husband file 1040 or 1040NR? (It doesn't seem that 1040EZ or 1040A will be appropriate as he has both employed and self-employed income, will be filing married filing separately and claiming two children as dependants.

That Wiki is really helpful btw. Thanks for the link.