# US expat living in UK, help first time filing



## leom (Oct 18, 2012)

Hi all!

I've been living in the UK for about 2 years now, and after paying about $600 for HR Block to file my return last year, I think I want to try filing them on my own this time around.

However, I've never self-filed before and I'd love some advice on where to start.

I'm married to a UK citizen who's not filing US tax returns, and we have no children. I have received all my wages from a UK company, with no US income. My wife and I just purchased a house however, and we have some small investments here in an ISA. 

I'd imagine this isn't too uncommon a situation - can anyone give me some hints on what forms I might need to file?

I gather I need to file a 1040 (I don't qualify for the EZ, regrettably) but I get extremely confused as to whether I should file the FEIE (Form 2555) or the tax credit (Form 1116) or a combination of both? I'm *guessing* a combination of both would be helpful, but again nothing but questions!

Thanks so much in advance
leo


----------



## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

For "self-filers" the best approach (at least for the first time) is to go with one of the tax preparation softwares. Unfortunately, TurboTax doesn't seem to work very well for overseas filers like yourself (and it's no longer on the list of e-filing software that "works" for overseas taxpayers). 

TaxAct and Tax Slayer are both available in free editions, regardless of your income level and could be worth a try. (Try their regular website first - not through the IRS "free file" page.) If you get really stuck, you could consider paying for the paid version, but many folks find the free version works just fine. (You might dig out your returns from last year to use for reference.)

As to the 2555 and/or 1116 question - it depends. But the tax program questionnaires can generally guide you.
Cheers,
Bev


----------



## leom (Oct 18, 2012)

Ah perfect, I'll happily use tax preparation software! I wasn't sure which would work for overseas filers though, as looking through the forum a bit I saw a handful of posts about software that didn't work - like TurboTax for instance.

I will look at both TaxAct and Tax Slayer this coming weekend.

Thanks so much for the guidance Bev!


----------

