# 8854 Dual Status



## Sergioo (Mar 21, 2016)

Hello everyone

I am a little bit confused on what to do , i have renounced my citizenship on march of last year (dual citizen from birth) 
I will have to file 8854 , but should i file the 1040 and 1040NR along with it ? I have made around 1800 dollars in the first two months of 2015 which is well below the filing limit threshold and have no income in the US.

Thank You best wishes


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## iota2014 (Jul 30, 2015)

Sergioo said:


> I am a little bit confused on what to do , i have renounced my citizenship on march of last year (dual citizen from birth)
> I will have to file 8854 , but should i file the 1040 and 1040NR along with it ? I have made around 1800 dollars in the first two months of 2015 which is well below the filing limit threshold and have no income in the US.


I didn't. I renounced last October. I was below the filing threshold, but did have bank accounts over the FBAR threshold. I filed five prior-year FBARs, then filed 2015 FBAR, then filed 8854. Haven't heard from them so far.


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

Sergioo said:


> I have made around 1800 dollars in the first two months of 2015 which is well below the filing limit threshold and have no income in the US.


It's not quite that simple. That level of income is above the standard filing threshold for IRS Form 1040 _if you were self-employed_.

My understanding is that a dual status alien (your status in 2015) must file a tax return in his/her dual status year if _either_ the 1040 or 1040NR "who must file" set of instructions indicates that you must file. So take a look at both "who must file" sets of instructions. For example, in the instructions to IRS Form 1040NR you can find them on page 5 in Table A. If either set of instructions indicates you must file, then your dual status tax return would consist of a 1040NR with a 1040 attachment/exhibit (since you ended 2015 as an alien).


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## iota2014 (Jul 30, 2015)

If I'm not mistaken, in the case of a renunciant, the 1040NR is only needed to help the creaking IRS systems cope with a part-year 1040 filed by a non-US-citizen. If the 1040 isn't required, the 1040NR isn't required, since post-renunciation the OP is no longer a US citizen and has no US income to report.


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

iota2014 said:


> If I'm not mistaken....


No, you're mistaken. 

Just read the instructions and follow them. Form 1040 has "when to file" requirements, and so does Form 1040NR. They're all explained there. If any "when to file" requirement is triggered, in either set, then you file the pair (1040NR as primary, 1040 as exhibit -- you've got that backwards, actually). It's really just that simple as I understand it.

There are a couple occasions when you're required to file 1040NR even without U.S. source income. I'll let the 1040NR instructions speak for themselves.


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## iota2014 (Jul 30, 2015)

BBCWatcher said:


> ...(1040NR as primary, 1040 as exhibit -- you've got that backwards, actually).


??

I don't think one needs to worry about the jargon. What matters to a renunciant is whether or not they owe any tax and whether they need to file a 1040, for the part year up to renunciation. Because they have to be able to certify compliance on the 8854.

Phil Hodgen has a useful blog piece on this:


> The reader had no income from U.S. sources. At all. All of her income was from sources outside the United States. Here is how it works:
> 
> From January 1 through the day before renunciation, income received is reportable to and taxed by the U.S. The fact that the income was from foreign sources is irrelevant. The power to tax this income is based on the taxpayer’s status as a passport or green card holder.
> 
> From the date of renunciation until the end of the year, only income from U.S. sources is reported on Form 1040NR. Since the reader had no income from U.S. sources—at all—the Form 1040NR will be reporting zero income for that time period. Essentially, the Form 1040NR is only there as a carrying mechanism to transport the income information to the IRS for the time period of January 1 through the day before renunciation. See IRS Publication 519 for how that’s done.


HodgenLaw PC - International Tax

Of course even if there's no requirement to file the 1040 (+ 1040NR) for the part year, one might choose to file it anyway, just to dot the i's and have the paper trail. I chose not to, being thoroughly fed up to the back teeth with the IRS and not inclined to jump through any further hoops once renounced.


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