# US tax help!



## shan2218 (Jan 6, 2014)

Quick rundown of my situation. 

I am a US citizen in the UK still on my marriage visa waiting to hear about spouse visa. Married in October 2014 in UK. 

I had no income for 2014 and am currently not working. My husband is a UK citizen and works. No joint bank accounts or responsibilities yet. 

I have US student loans being paid and can claim interest paid on them. 

Do I need to/should I file a US tax return? If yes, how do I go about it? 

We are completely lost and confused! Thanks!


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

You do not need to file a U.S. tax return if you did not meet the filing threshold for your filing status, presumably Married Filing Separately. For tax year 2014 the Married Filing Separately filing threshold is $3950. So if your total worldwide income in 2014 was less than that amount, there's no requirement to file. This is exactly the same rule as if you were living in the U.S. -- it doesn't change.

Just as in the U.S., even if you don't meet the filing threshold you still ought to file if you can claim a refundable tax credit. The Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) is probably the most common refundable tax credit for those living overseas. If you had a U.S. citizen child -- doesn't have to be your own child -- under the age of 17 for the entire tax year living with you, likely you could claim that tax credit and get some free money from the IRS. The American Opportunity Tax Credit is another possibility if you spent some money on qualified educational expenses in 2014. (I don't think student loan interest counts, but please check that.)

There are a couple other filings that you _might_ be required to file, and their requirements to file are determined separately from your tax return since they're entirely separate reports:

1. FinCEN Form 114. If you had "signature authority" over foreign financial accounts that were worth, in total, at any time, $10,000 or more, you need to file this electronic form by June 30. Your husband's individual accounts over which you have no signature authority do not count toward this threshold.

2. IRS Form 3520 (or 3520-A) if you had a reportable "foreign trust." That's very unlikely from the description you give, but I mention it for completeness.

When living overseas you're somewhat more likely to need to file either or both of these reports. But certainly you could be a U.S. resident and also need to file either or both. (Did I mention filing obligations don't change? )

Hope that helps.


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## shan2218 (Jan 6, 2014)

BBCWatcher said:


> Hope that helps.


Thanks so much! One more question. Do I just do federal or do I need to do state as well?


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Given that you're clearly resident in the UK, I wouldn't bother with the state filing. Some states are stickier than others about giving you up when you move overseas, but unless you have property or other financial interests in the state where you were living immediately prior to your move to the UK, I'd just skip it.

Start with this page: U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad - Filing Requirements And for future reference, you may want to take a look at IRS Publication 54, which explains most of the detail considerations for filing from overseas.
Cheers,
Bev


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

I'm going to disagree with Bev about the state return. If you meet your former state's filing threshold you'd presumably file your last (2014) tax return with that state as a part year resident, up until the time you moved to the U.K. (in October, 2014, or a bit before that I presume). This'd be a great year to "check out" of state residency with a part year resident filing, as I assume you'd be able.


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## shan2218 (Jan 6, 2014)

Okay, I'll look into it. I came over in August and am still on my 6 month marriage visa waiting for a decision on spouse, so I suppose part year would be alright


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