# 1040NR Final Return after Renunciation



## Same Boat

Hello
I am glad I found this forum and am looking to see if anyone has any definite information for me. Like many others here, I am in the Same Boat with the perils and jargon of the US tax system

I was a dual citizen that renounced my US citizenship last year and am looking to do my own final tax return. I have foreign wages that will exempt under the foreign earned income exclusion and I have some other passive foreign income that will need reporting. I am sure I will have more questions but to start, I wanted to ask about the dual status return and particularly the form 1040NR.

I understand I have to file a dual status return 1040 statement and a 1040NR for the reminder of the year after renunciation which was in June 2016. I can't wrap my head around how the two returns are supposed to tie in together.

My form 1040 has foreign wages zero because of the foreign earned income exclusion and some passive income that I have enough passive tax credits to zero out anyway. so tax liability zero on the form 1040.

For the form 1040NR period, i have no US source income. So is the form 1040NR supposed to be all zero? 

I paid for a consultation with a tax advisor which was a reputable firm and am none the wiser afterwards. I was told to bring forward from line 37 from the form 1040 onwards on to the form 1040NR and write 1040 next to this. But I can't see anywhere that it is written that this needs to be done this way. The only example I could find are the other way around and it was only US source income that was reported on the 1040NR. My form 1040 is all foreign income during my US citizen period of the year.

Has anyone done this that can give me some advise on what exactly goes on the form 1040NR and where?
Any help is greatly appreciated. I know about the form 8854.
thank you.


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## iota2014

Hi SameBoat. 

There's an entry in Phil Hodgen's renunciation blog covering this.

https://hodgen.com/your-expatriation-tax-return-when-u-s-income-is-zero/

I renounced last year and found it impossible to make sense of the instructions about 1040/1040NR, even after poring over Hodgen's explanation. Since I owed no tax and had no US income, I decided I would just send the 1040 covering the year up to R-day - plus the 8854.

In the end it all seemed too pointless, so I just sent the 8854. Never heard anything.


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## Same Boat

Thank you so much for replying Iota2014 and for the useful link which seems to back up the information about the dual status return.

I am very tempted to do the same as you.

However I am trying to be logical, i would have thought that the 1040 is like any other schedule if it's a statement. so if there was no tax liability on it, then nothing would be reported on the form 1040nr except the zero.

I have to wonder if a form 1040NR is really necessary if there is nothing to report except we are told numerous places that the renunciation year, the taxpayer has to make a dual status return.

I think what i was going to do was fill out the form 1040NR with all Zeros, Fill out the form 1040 as normal which will have a zero tax liability. Include an explanation sheet between the two tax returns explaining where the income came from, in other words, show the form 1040 income per-renunciation, then show the zero income post-renunciation.

And maybe on the line 60 under other taxes in the form 1040NR, write zero there and form 1040 on the line next to it. and be done with it.

The whole thing is an absolute joke. I just did my spouse's self assessment online for the deadline Jan 31st and it took me all of 15 minutes compared to this nonsense. It's almost purposely misleading.

Thank you again.


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## iota2014

Same Boat said:


> The whole thing is an absolute joke. I just did my spouse's self assessment online for the deadline Jan 31st and it took me all of 15 minutes compared to this nonsense. It's almost purposely misleading.


Personally I doubt if it's deliberately misleading - it's just that non-covered expatriates with no US income are not of interest, so they haven't bothered to cover the situation. Is my guess.



> Thank you again.


You're welcome.


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## Same Boat

Thank you and you are probably right that it's not deliberate, but it almost helps if you have US source income in the second half of the year because then the form 1040NR has some purpose.

I have looked online and found some good examples and have not seen a single 1040NR with foreign income reported on it. For example, i found an example of a person that became a US resident in October. before that date, they had foreign interest but it only started being reported from October, not before. So I would think the reverse applies. while I was a US citizen, everything is reported. Once I changed to non resident alien, nothing is reported that is foreign.

This is where I got the idea to use line 60, other taxes, i saw one where the form 1040NR tax was added there for the form 1040 and Form 1040NR written on the line, so assume the reverse is true but I can write zero to tie the returns together.

It hurts my head even writing this out and not even sure anyone can follow this. Thanks so much again. This forum looks to be a great resource for information.


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## iota2014

Same Boat said:


> Thank you and you are probably right that it's not deliberate, but it almost helps if you have US source income in the second half of the year because then the form 1040NR has some purpose.
> 
> I have looked online and found some good examples and have not seen a single 1040NR with foreign income reported on it. For example, i found an example of a person that became a US resident in October. before that date, they had foreign interest but it only started being reported from October, not before. So I would think the reverse applies. while I was a US citizen, everything is reported. Once I changed to non resident alien, nothing is reported that is foreign.
> 
> This is where I got the idea to use line 60, other taxes, i saw one where the form 1040NR tax was added there for the form 1040 and Form 1040NR written on the line, so assume the reverse is true but I can write zero to tie the returns together.
> 
> It hurts my head even writing this out and not even sure anyone can follow this. Thanks so much again. This forum looks to be a great resource for information.


No need to over-worry. Line 60 sounds perfectly sensible to me. 

When I sent my 8854, I used the Royal Mail international recorded service, and was thus able to get tracking proof of receipt. Costs a bit, but it's nice to see it get there, and not have anything left to worry about.


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## Same Boat

iota2014 said:


> No need to over-worry. Line 60 sounds perfectly sensible to me.
> 
> When I sent my 8854, I used the Royal Mail international recorded service, and was thus able to get tracking proof of receipt. Costs a bit, but it's nice to see it get there, and not have anything left to worry about.


Maybe I should start a different thread for this but since you are someone who clearly filed a form 8854 I thought I would ask if you remember what you did.

For the dates on top of the form 8854 that start with "For calendar year 2016 or other tax year beginning with blank spaces. did you write dates in there? January 1st to your renunciation date? The accountant that checked my form didn't mention this but I saw somewhere else that someone filed a form 8854 with January 1st and then their renunciation date in those spaces. I don't see instructions to this affect anywhere.

Also did you include the value for any personal belongings? I wasn't going to but the accountant said you can write a figure for that on line 19 of the asset sheet but all my stuff is very old and there are no antiques or anything like that. 

Thank you for any insight to this.


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## iota2014

Same Boat said:


> For the dates on top of the form 8854 that start with "For calendar year 2016 or other tax year beginning with blank spaces. did you write dates in there? January 1st to your renunciation date? The accountant that checked my form didn't mention this but I saw somewhere else that someone filed a form 8854 with January 1st and then their renunciation date in those spaces. I don't see instructions to this affect anywhere


Yes I did. Jan 1st to the day before R-Day. No idea whether I needed to, but I reasoned that it could do no harm, and it gave me some satisfaction. 



> Also did you include the value for any personal belongings?


Absolutely not. There are limits. 

The market value of my personal belongings would never tip me into covered expatriate status, so it's none of the IRS's business. That was my reasoning.

My main concern with the 8854 was to make sure I got proof of posting and proof of receipt. Being no longer a US citizen, and well below the thresholds, I didn't think my 8854 would be of much interest to the IRS, but I did want to be anle to prove I'd sent it.


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## Same Boat

Thank you iota, this forum has been a godsend for me.

I will do the same as you for the dates but the person who wrote the dates i think wrote Jan 1st and then R day (not the day before) but R day you cease being a US citizen so I would imagine that the tax year is the 1st to the day before.

For personal belongings I am going to leave that out too. I agree 100%, there is no gain there anywhere and there has to be limits.

One more question, did you send a copy of the CLN as well with the form 8854? 

For mailing, i was going to send royal mail tracked. however I saw somewhere that someone had couriered it to the street address in market street.

Thank you so much again!


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## iota2014

Same Boat said:


> One more question, did you send a copy of the CLN as well with the form 8854?


No. In theory the State Dept sends them a copy of every CLN. I don't know if they bother to tie up CLNs with 8854s. I get the impression they just use the CLNs to generate the Quarterly List of expatriates.



> For mailing, i was going to send royal mail tracked. however I saw somewhere that someone had couriered it to the street address in market street.


 Oh yes, was that on Phil Hodgen's blog? I saw that but went with Royal Mail because it was cheaper. 



> Thank you so much again!


Pleasure. Congratulations on crossing the finish line.


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## Same Boat

iota2014 said:


> Pleasure. Congratulations on crossing the finish line.


Thanks Iota, yes nearly there. What a stressful experience and I also tend to overthink things.

Sorry for so many questions but I just noticed something else on the form 8854, it says Mailing address and telephone number where you can be reached after expatriation

I have entered an address and now I see they want a phone number. Did you write a phone number there too? Not sure i want them having that.

Thanks so much for all your kind help.


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## Bevdeforges

There is no obligation to give them a phone number. If they have a problem, they can send you a letter. (Anymore, in the US, anyone who calls and says they are "from the IRS" is a scam.)
Cheers,
Bev


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## iota2014

Same Boat said:


> I have entered an address and now I see they want a phone number. Did you write a phone number there too? Not sure i want them having that.


Yes, I supplied my address and also phone number. I don't think it's ever likely to be used, or even noticed. I don't think they waste much time on 8854 forms from those of us who are nowhere near "covered" status.



> Thanks so much for all your kind help.


You're welcome.


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## Same Boat

Firstly thank you all for the wonderfully helpful website and forum and to Bev and Iota for helping me specifically. I think I best put the phone number on since they are clearly asking for it even though I like Bev's answer. I don't want to look for trouble. Maybe someone having a bad day may pick up on the fact that the phone number isn't there.

I am not covered but I am also not in the category of way way under either but far enough under not to have undue scrutiny if I don't give them something to scrutinize like a missing phone number. 

Actually it has to be said that 2 million dollars in today's world is not particularly wealthy. Maybe 2 million without counting your principle residence is considered a bit more well off but not with counting your principle residence. I consider myself fortunate to have gotten out while I still could.


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## iota2014

Same Boat said:


> Actually it has to be said that 2 million dollars in today's world is not particularly wealthy. Maybe 2 million without counting your principle residence is considered a bit more well off but not with counting your principle residence. I consider myself fortunate to have gotten out while I still could.


The very process of calculating net worth is pretty arcane. The instructions are vague, and the guidance impenetrable. You're told to count assets if they would have been subject to the gift tax if you had given them away the day before R-day. Eh? 

I didn't count anything I couldn't have given away, such as my pensions.


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## Same Boat

iota2014 said:


> I didn't count anything I couldn't have given away, such as my pensions.


Yes I was a bit confused about the pensions. Social security for sure would not need to go on there. I am not at an age that I can collect that yet but I included my work place pension. I rang the provider and they said that I can name a beneficiary on my work pension so if I can will it, I assume it needs to be on there. Plus there is a line for pensions for services performed outside the US.

I did call the IRS international helpline once for guidance on the 8854 form and maybe I was unlucky but was told that they receive no training on this form. So frustrating so thankfully found this forum.

So you've said a copy of the CLN does not need to be filed with the form 8854 and I assume the same is true with a tax return. The copy of the CLN does not need to be filed at all with the final dual status filing 1040nr/ 1040 forms either. 

I will be so relieved once it's all filed and going to try to get it out by the end of this month.


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## iota2014

Same Boat said:


> Yes I was a bit confused about the pensions. Social security for sure would not need to go on there. I am not at an age that I can collect that yet but I included my work place pension. I rang the provider and they said that I can name a beneficiary on my work pension so if I can will it, I assume it needs to be on there. Plus there is a line for pensions for services performed outside the US.


Yes there is a line for pensions in 8854 Schedule A, but there is no statutory connection between what is listed in Schedule A and the calculation of net worth. I left the pensions line blank.



> I did call the IRS international helpline once for guidance on the 8854 form and maybe I was unlucky but was told that they receive no training on this form.


I'm not surprised. I have a notion that they're pretty careful about how they use 8854, lest it ends up in court and the whole pernicious "tax-citizen" fiction falls to bits. Also, they must be nervous that it could all get changed yet again.



> So you've said a copy of the CLN does not need to be filed with the form 8854 and I assume the same is true with a tax return. The copy of the CLN does not need to be filed at all with the final dual status filing 1040nr/ 1040 forms either.


No. The value of the CLN - to me, and I imagine to most renunciants - is that it proves non-USness to an FI, if you should want to open a new financial account. It's not the job of the IRS to require a former citizen to supply proof that the DoS has confirmed loss of nationality. They get notified by the DoS, via the CLN copy, and it's up to them to check it against the tax record if they want to. That's my understanding, at least.



> I will be so relieved once it's all filed and going to try to get it out by the end of this month.


It's great when it's all done. I celebrated with enthusiasm.


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## Same Boat

iota2014 said:


> No. The value of the CLN - to me, and I imagine to most renunciants - is that it proves non-USness to an FI, if you should want to open a new financial account. It's not the job of the IRS to require a former citizen to supply proof that the DoS has confirmed loss of nationality. They get notified by the DoS, via the CLN copy, and it's up to them to check it against the tax record if they want to. That's my understanding, at least.
> 
> 
> 
> It's great when it's all done. I celebrated with enthusiasm.


Thank you again and yes I would rather not send them anything extra that they don't need. 

However I did do a fancy diagram chart of how my Form 1040NR and Form 1040 tie together. I actually found a link to an IRS processing manual about dual status returns and explains for IRS employees how to handle processing. Things like if the numbers are the same on form 1040 and 1040NR do not duplicate, if the numbers are not the same etc or which return to process. but what i can tell from this is that they are expecting to see numbers on the main tax return so maybe the accountant who checked my tax return was actually correct in how to transport them. But it looks like they will pass them anyway in other formats.

I did want to ask a question about the name on the form 8854. It might sound a silly question but my CLN states my full name written out including my middle name. (not a middle initial). Did you write your name on the form 8854 exactly how it was written on the CLN? For example if your name was Jane Ann Doe (Ann is the middle name), and this was how it was written on the CLN, did you write Jane Ann Doe on the form 8854?

Thank you once again.


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## iota2014

Same Boat said:


> I did want to ask a question about the name on the form 8854. It might sound a silly question but my CLN states my full name written out including my middle name. (not a middle initial). Did you write your name on the form 8854 exactly how it was written on the CLN? For example if your name was Jane Ann Doe (Ann is the middle name), and this was how it was written on the CLN, did you write Jane Ann Doe on the form 8854?


No. It's not even the same surname. When I renounced, my ancient expired US passport still had my birth surname, while my UK passport of course had my current surname. They renounced me using the surname on the US passport (despite me pointing out to them that that was not actually my legal name.)

So my CLN shows my birth surname but the 8854 shows my current legal surname.


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## Same Boat

Thanks Iota, you have been such a support to me in this. Funny that you should mention the surname business. I am getting married in the summer so my surname will technically change but I am probably going to keep everything in my maiden name anyway. 

My future spouse was pretty adamant that I renounce before we got married. We've lived together in the UK for years so it's not me just following orders on a whim. We are starting a business together too so it makes sense. Plus I am finding it increasingly difficult to have any sort of normal financial life. It was not something I did lightly but it is something that now that it's done is a huge relief. 

I am giving myself one more week (this week) to check and then I will file next week otherwise I know I am going to continue over thinking things.


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## iota2014

Congratulations! A good time to renounce US citizenship, then, and be free to start both marriage and business without the hassle of filing US tax returns and being restricted in your financial activities.

I've been over here so long, by now I'm more English than American, so renouncing US citizenship wasn't stressful for me, once I learned how to do it. Dealing with the IRS forms was the stressful part. Once that was done, the anxiety receded. I hope you find that's the case for you also, once you've sent it on its way.


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## Same Boat

iota2014 said:


> Congratulations! A good time to renounce US citizenship, then, and be free to start both marriage and business without the hassle of filing US tax returns and being restricted in your financial activities.


Thank you iota and yes looking forward to my wedding after a nerve-wracking past 12 months. 2016 was pretty much taken up with this whole process but I did benefit from Brexit exchange rates.

I was just finalizing everything this weekend and I actually have another question. You wouldn't happen to know what "gross income from all other sources" under point 9 of Schedule B of Form 8854 means? Or anyone else reading this thread?

I have no US source income so I assume that that means income from everything else, your foreign source income from the 1st of the year to your renunciation date. but it says gross so I assume they mean gross before using the foreign earned income exclusion, personal exemption, any other deductions. I didn't take the standard deduction anyway since I was filing dual. 
Can you remember how you interpreted this line to mean?

I tried calling up the IRS again last week and got the same reply, we have no training on this form so it wasn't a case of being unlucky the first time. They sure don't want to make anything easy. 

Thank you so much.


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## iota2014

Same Boat said:


> I was just finalizing everything this weekend and I actually have another question. You wouldn't happen to know what "gross income from all other sources" under point 9 of Schedule B of Form 8854 means? Or anyone else reading this thread?
> 
> I have no US source income so I assume that that means income from everything else, your foreign source income from the 1st of the year to your renunciation date. but it says gross so I assume they mean gross before using the foreign earned income exclusion, personal exemption, any other deductions. I didn't take the standard deduction anyway since I was filing dual.
> Can you remember how you interpreted this line to mean?


I assumed it meant gross income as defined in the 1040 instructions under "Who must file":


> **Gross income means all income you received in the form of money, goods, property, and services that isn't exempt from tax, including any income from sources outside the United States or from the sale of your main home (even if you can exclude part or all of it). Do not include any social security benefits unless (a) you are married filing a separate return and you lived with your spouse at any time in 2016 or (b) one*half of your social security benefits plus your other gross income and any tax*exempt interest is more than $25,000 ($32,000 if married filing jointly).


So for instance I didn't include my pensions which were exempt from US tax by treaty.



> I tried calling up the IRS again last week and got the same reply, we have no training on this form so it wasn't a case of being unlucky the first time. They sure don't want to make anything easy.


And in return, I took the view that if they can't be bothered to state clearly what they want, there's no need to worry about it. I don't think they're interested in this bit. Covered expatriates have to give far more, absolutely excruciating details of their income elsewhere, so this bit is irrelevant in those cases. Non--covered expatriates are presumably only asked for it because it's (pointlessly) required by statute (6093G, is it?).


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## Same Boat

Thanks Iota
Yes I can see maybe how pensions would be excluded but I am sure they mean to include foreign wages before the FEIE because if we didn't have to include that in gross income then most of us wouldn't have to file at all because our gross income would be below the filing threshold.

i will just include gross of everything since i don't receive pensions, it's basically wages and some bank interest.
thank you so much again.


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## iota2014

Same Boat said:


> Thanks Iota
> Yes I can see maybe how pensions would be excluded but I am sure they mean to include foreign wages before the FEIE because if we didn't have to include that in gross income then most of us wouldn't have to file at all because our gross income would be below the filing threshold.


Yes, wages aren't exempt by treaty; your salary is part of your gross income on the 1040. Logically, as I see it, what you list in Part V of the 8854 should reflect what you reported as your gross income (before deductions, FEIE, etc) on your 1040.



> thank you so much again.


You're welcome.


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## Same Boat

Yes my gross income on the form was the same if you added it all up without exemptions on what's reported on my form 1040.
I basically have the FEIE prorated to the days I was a citizen in 2016 and the personal exemption. I did not take the standard deduction. It's pretty clear everywhere that the standard deduction can't be used on a dual status year but one can use itemized deductions but I didn't bother. so without FEIE and the personal exemption, that's what I reported.

The only reason I got confused is because I saw online somewhere where someone interpreted gross income to mean excluding their exempt foreign wages and then I saw online where someone answered the question to someone else and said exactly what we discussed here, match your 1040 before exemptions, FEIE.

Everything is open to interpretation though and if the IRS is not going to help, they can hardly blame us for interpreting our way. and the form 8854 isn't really a tax form so I feel pretty safe just having it match up to my tax return.

Thanks again for all your kind help.


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## iota2014

Same Boat said:


> Yes my gross income on the form was the same if you added it all up without exemptions on what's reported on my form 1040.
> I basically have the FEIE prorated to the days I was a citizen in 2016 and the personal exemption. I did not take the standard deduction. It's pretty clear everywhere that the standard deduction can't be used on a dual status year but one can use itemized deductions but I didn't bother. so without FEIE and the personal exemption, that's what I reported.
> 
> The only reason I got confused is because I saw online somewhere where someone interpreted gross income to mean excluding their exempt foreign wages and then I saw online where someone answered the question to someone else and said exactly what we discussed here, match your 1040 before exemptions, FEIE.


I think part of the confusion is due to the inconsistent way the IRS uses terms like "exempt", "personal exemption", "exclude", etc.

Some income is exempt from US taxation by law or by treaty. It doesn't have to be reported at all. Both my pensions happen to fall in this category. Other kinds of pensions might not.

Everything else is gross income, and does have to be reported on the 1040 and, it appears, on 8854 Section V Schedule B.



> Everything is open to interpretation though and if the IRS is not going to help, they can hardly blame us for interpreting our way. and the form 8854 isn't really a tax form so I feel pretty safe just having it match up to my tax return.


I agree.



> Thanks again for all your kind help.


You're welcome.


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## Same Boat

iota2014 said:


> I think part of the confusion is due to the inconsistent way the IRS uses terms like "exempt", "personal exemption", "exclude", etc.


For sure, exemption, exclusion, deduction. it's confusing to say the least.

Also I wanted to check i have this final part right. on the instructions for Form 8854, it says "Also send a copy of your Form 8854, marked “Copy,” to the address under Where To File, later.

I assume this means my original Form 8854 goes with my tax return, signed and dated. and then I make a scanned copy to send to the Philadelphia Office.
Mark Copy, I assume means just write Copy on top of the second Form 8854

I don't know any other way to mark something as a Copy.

Let me know if you agree with this.

thanks so much


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## iota2014

Same Boat said:


> Also I wanted to check i have this final part right. on the instructions for Form 8854, it says "Also send a copy of your Form 8854, marked “Copy,” to the address under Where To File, later.
> 
> I assume this means my original Form 8854 goes with my tax return, signed and dated. and then I make a scanned copy to send to the Philadelphia Office.
> Mark Copy, I assume means just write Copy on top of the second Form 8854
> 
> I don't know any other way to mark something as a Copy.


I didn't file a 1040, since most of my income was exempt, so I just sent the 8854 to Philadelphia. If I had been required to file a 1040, I'd have done as you've outlined - send the original with the 1040, and send a copy to Philadelphia, writing "Copy" at the top of each page.


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## Same Boat

Thanks for everyone's help especially Iota. 

I filed now. what i did in the end was follow the instructions as they want them to be followed. my dual status tax return went by Private Delivery Service using one of the approved carriers designated and approved by the IRS to Austin, Texas includes original form 8854.
The copy form 8854 to the Philadelphia office by royal mail tracked. so as far as I am concerned, i have done the best of what has been required of me.

also from reading online, it is clear that there have been some very sloppy filings, thinks like AGI for total gross income and prorated the standard deduction and these returns all passed so i doubt mine which was an extremely conscientious effort (and good faith) will get any scrutiny. the problem is that there is so little real guidance on people with dual status based on citizenship not residence.

I was so happy I found this place to get advice. hopefully won't need anymore just yet but if I do, i know where to come. Thank you again!


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## iota2014

Same Boat said:


> i doubt mine ... will get any scrutiny.


Very unlikely any non-HNW 8854s get looked at, IMO. If I were renouncing today I wouldn't bother with filing any tax forms. Renounce, get the CLN, done and dusted. 



> the problem is that there is so little real guidance on people with dual status based on citizenship not residence.


The problem is badly-written legislation that requires the IRS to do the impossible and enforce the unenforceable. Fortunately, it's a problem for the IRS, not for those renouncing.


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## obg

Hi all. Just joined. This looks like a very useful forum and I hope you can answer a seemingly simple question. I haven't found the answer anywhere.

I renounced US citizenship last June 20 and am now preparing my final return:
-- 1040 covering Jan 1-Jun 19
-- 1040NR covering dividends from US stocks during the rest of the year

Can my 1040 use the IRS average exchange rate for 2017 or should I get the average rate for just the period covered? 

Thanks


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## Bevdeforges

It really shouldn't matter - the rates don't change that much across the year. Use the average exchange rate as published by the IRS.
Cheers,
Bev


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## obg

Thanks Bev. Another question: On my 1040 I claimed the $4,050 personal exemption. That was more than my taxable income. Per Publication 519 I did not claim the standard deduction.) What about the 1040NR which just covers 3 US dividends received after renunciation?

-- Do I claim the full $4,050 exemption, or
-- Do I claim the unused portion of the $4,050 from 1040, or
-- Can't use exemption on both forms?


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## JustLurking

obg said:


> What about the 1040NR which just covers 3 US dividends received after renunciation? ...


According to this page it seems that you actually get another $4,050 for the part of the year after renunciation.

But... any US dividends you receive as a non-resident alien belong somewhere along line 1a of the 1040NR Schedule NEC. The US tax liability on these eventually flows to line 54, which is below the point at which the exemption is applied. So getting another $4,050 gains you nothing here, unfortunately.


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## Bevdeforges

obg said:


> Thanks Bev. Another question: On my 1040 I claimed the $4,050 personal exemption. That was more than my taxable income. Per Publication 519 I did not claim the standard deduction.) What about the 1040NR which just covers 3 US dividends received after renunciation?
> 
> -- Do I claim the full $4,050 exemption, or
> -- Do I claim the unused portion of the $4,050 from 1040, or
> -- Can't use exemption on both forms?


As I understand it, you don't get a personal exemption, nor do you get a "standard deduction" on the 1040 NR forms. As a non-resident/non "US Person" you are taxed only on your US source income and therefore not entitled to any of the "resident" deductions or credits.
Cheers,
Bev


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## JustLurking

Bevdeforges said:


> As I understand it, you don't get a personal exemption, nor do you get a "standard deduction" on the 1040 NR forms.


Non-resident aliens do get a personal exemption for 2017 and earlier. It is usable against Effectively Connected Income, which would include US pension payments. However, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed in Dec scrapped personal exemptions for 2018 and later.

They (we!) don't get a standard deduction though, and never have done. Which means that the Tax _Cuts_ and Jobs Act's doubling of standard deduction in exchange for scrapping the personal exemption may be a tax _cut_ for many Americans but it is an effective and potentially large US tax _increase_ for some non-resident aliens.


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