# Question about Line 36, Federal Income tax withheld



## MIAMINAT (May 31, 2014)

Hi everyone,

I am a bit confused about filing US tax information. 

Some background in case it helps: I moved to the UK in 2008 on a student visa, got married to a British citizen in 2011, and I am applying for ILR this year. I am now trying to get all my ducks in a row with both countries and I want to file taxes for the first time on my own (before I moved to the UK my dad took care of the household tax filing and I would have counted as one of his dependents). 

I have a few questions to anyone (Bev the friendly tax expert?) who can answer them:

1. Is it better to start at 2013 and work backwards, or should I start from 2008? I am wondering because of the change in my status (single to MFS). Actually in 2008 my income would be nowhere near the threshold, unless I have to include my student loan…

2. Do I need to declare my student loan from Sallie Mae as part of my gross income? 

3. I am currently filling out the 2013 1040A, but I am a little stuck on line 36, "Federal income tax withheld from Forms W-2 and 1099." Since I am not using a W-2 or 1099 (I am using the UK's P60), I am not sure if I need to enter the UK tax here, or $0, since I did not have any AMERICAN tax withheld, since I had no American income…? 

Thanks,
Nat


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Actually, this is easier than what it at first appears to be. 

If your income is not above the filing threshold, then you don't need to file. A loan (student or otherwise) is not income. So do your 2013 return first so you can get it in by the filing deadline (June 15th - and it has to be in Austin, TX by that date).

Your filing threshold will fall quite a bit once you are married (2011, I guess) if you're filing separately. But get the current year filed first, then go back 3 years to see what you need to file and what you don't need to file.

To answer your Q3 - you probably need to be using form 1040 (i.e. the "long form") at least if you're planning on taking the FEIE (Foreign Earned Income Exclusion). You won't have any W-2's for income earned in the UK, you have no income tax withheld for the US. I find it easier to fill out form 2555 (or more likely, 2555-EZ) first. You fill in your earned income (i.e. salary income) and then exclude it from taxation. The form tells you what line to put your "exclusion" on - as a negative number - and then you fill in the long form 1040 from there.

As a US citizen, you have an obligation to report your worldwide income - but if you have no US income, you'll have no W-2s nor 1099s. You don't need to produce any documents to support your UK income, but you should keep a copy of what you file, along with the backup supporting how you arrived at the numbers you used. (BTW, you can't use your UK income document, because the UK tax year runs April to April, whereas the US tax year is a calendar year. You may need to add up your gross income from your payslips from January to December of 2013 to get your earned income for the year.)
Cheers,
Bev


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