# **urgent* u.s citizen living in the u.k - do i need to file a u.s federal tax return?



## Rachealohh (Jan 8, 2016)

Hello,

I am a U.S citizen living in the U.K for the past 2.5 years on a Spouse Visa. I have made ZERO income in the United States and I've read that because I made no income in the U.S...that I did not have to file my 2017 U.S tax return. Is this true?!

(My joint sponsor which is my father is well over the 125% requirement for income and him and my mother are the main source of income. BTW.)

Or was I suppose to file still? I only made £4,700 in 2017 and even less the year before. Originally I've read multiple things now on how I was exempt! But now I'm reading that I was suppose to! 

My husbands interview is in 11 days and we are now panicking. Any help is greatly appreciated. 

-Racheal


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Rachealohh said:


> Hello,
> 
> I am a U.S citizen living in the U.K for the past 2.5 years on a Spouse Visa. I have made ZERO income in the United States and I've read that because I made no income in the U.S...that I did not have to file my 2017 U.S tax return. Is this true?!


US taxes are based on your worldwide income - not just on "US source income."



> (My joint sponsor which is my father is well over the 125% requirement for income and him and my mother are the main source of income. BTW.)
> 
> Or was I suppose to file still? I only made £4,700 in 2017 and even less the year before. Originally I've read multiple things now on how I was exempt! But now I'm reading that I was suppose to!


You're not exempt from filing, but you don't need to file unless your worldwide income exceeds the filing threshold for your filing status.



> My husbands interview is in 11 days and we are now panicking. Any help is greatly appreciated.


Given that you are married (I assume to a "non-resident alien" NRA), your filing status would normally be that of "married, filing separately" - for which the filing threshold is something around $3500 to $4000 (varies by year, but the $4000 is for 2017). 

It's difficult to e-file if you are in the married, filing separately status. (The IRS system very often rejects attempts at e-filing if your NRA spouse doesn't have a SSN or an ITIN.) You have until June 15th to file "on time" for 2017. Ideally you should have the transcripts, but if you get the forms in the post by the due date, they may accept a photocopy of what you are filing for the current year. 

Unfortunately, it seems to be the case that even if you were not required to file, when it comes to sponsoring a spouse for a visa, it's usually necessary to file the back returns if only to "prove" that you weren't required to file. If you were filing before your arrival in the UK, you should be able to get transcripts of those earlier returns on the IRS website.

Make a good faith effort to get transcripts for those years that you have already filed, and then file the more recent years, retaining copies to bring to your husband's interview. 
Cheers,
Bev


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## Rachealohh (Jan 8, 2016)

Thank you for the reply.

My main concern now is, will this have any negative effect on my husbands Visa Interview?

I have not yet filed my taxes because I knew/know I am flying home June 22nd and will be filing then.

My income isn't the financial source when it comes to sponsoring my husband, it's my fathers. Who makes well over the 125% requirement. 

Is the officer going to not accept this even though my income has nothing to do with supporting my husband, since I am living in the U.K and haven't made any U.S income to support him.

Legally, I haven't been yet required to file my taxes because I have not made enough money to owe taxes back to the U.S government. The deadline for citizens who OWE money back is April 2017.

In addition, I have a professional certified accountant/business who is providing me with a formal letter to confirm that I did hire them to file my taxes when I arrive in the U.S and they are responsible for doing this.

I am hoping that as long as there is an income that is supporting my husband, that the officer will not care I haven't yet filed because my income isn't relevant to supportting my husband anyways. I am not committing a crime or me not filing isn't hiding that I cannot sponsor my husband because there IS no income!


****AND in reply to you stating "If you were filing before your arrival in the UK, you should be able to get transcripts of those earlier returns on the IRS website."*
- I couldn't of filed for my 2017 taxes before I arrived in the U.K because I arrived in the U.K over 2 years ago! I have not yet filed because I haven't physically been in the U.S in 2018 yet!


Any feedback, please let me know.

Cheers
-Racheal & Dean


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

I think the usual case is that they want to see your US tax filings for either 3 or 5 years prior to the point where you are "sponsoring" your husband for a visa. Regardless of who is providing the actual financial support in the sponsoring process, you are considered the primary sponsor, and your parents (or whoever) are the co-sponsors.

I don't think your lack of tax filings will cause your husband's visa application to be rejected, but don't be surprised if you are asked to provide your most recent tax returns separately.



> Legally, I haven't been yet required to file my taxes because I have not made enough money to owe taxes back to the U.S government. The deadline for citizens who OWE money back is April 2017.


Being required to file has nothing to do with whether or not you owe taxes. The rule is that you are supposed to file for any year in which your worldwide income (i.e. not just your US source income) exceeds the filing threshold - which for married, filing separately, is in that $3500 to $4000 range.


> In addition, I have a professional certified accountant/business who is providing me with a formal letter to confirm that I did hire them to file my taxes when I arrive in the U.S and they are responsible for doing this.


That's nice - but the due date for a timely filing is June 15th, if you were living outside the country on April 15th. The saving grace here is that the penalty for late filing is a %age of the tax due, which if you owe no taxes, is 0. Having hired someone to do your taxes is not any kind of defense if you were supposed to have filed. Actually, what that tax professional needs to do ASAP is to file for an extension until October 15th. It's almost automatically granted, given that you have been living outside the US.


> I am hoping that as long as there is an income that is supporting my husband, that the officer will not care I haven't yet filed because my income isn't relevant to supportting my husband anyways. I am not committing a crime or me not filing isn't hiding that I cannot sponsor my husband because there IS no income!


You're not committing a crime - but you should have filed taxes in the prior years if your income was above the filing threshold for the year. (Many people over here have no inkling they are supposed to be filing.) The officer at the interview will explain the situation to you and explain what you need to do. I don't expect it will lead to a rejection of your husband's application, but you may have to back file for a few years.
Cheers,
Bev


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## VCSTER (Jul 5, 2018)

To be fully tax compliant - you will need to consider FATCA filing requirements.

If you have any foreign financial assets (deposits or funds etc), you may have FBAR filings (if aggregate value of financial accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year) and/or Form 8938 filing (value of assets was more than $200,000 on the last day of the tax year).


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