# Filing US taxes abroad with children



## CorkyScotland (May 12, 2016)

Hello,

I’m a US citizen residing in the U.K. with my British partner and our two children who are under 5 and were born here in the U.K. 

I need to file my 2017/18 US taxes but I have been putting it off since my children were born in these years and I’m not sure if I can file without them having Social security numbers? Do I need to claim them in anyway or am I ok just to file?

Just to note I made approximately between $10-$14k each of those years and I have no major assets or anything like that.

Thanks for any advice!


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

In order to claim the children, they're going to have to have US SS numbers. Though, with the new tax laws in the US, there is no more "personal exemption" so you don't really "need" to claim them for anything unless you're going for the Child Tax Credit.

This gives you all the details of the credit: https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-972

One thing to note, however, is that the children must be US citizens (which they are if they are your kids and you meet a couple other requirements regarding how long you lived in the US after the age of 14) and they must have a US SSN. To claim as dependents, you must also be providing at least one half of their support.

However, you mention your "partner" - if you're not married, then you can file as "single" in which case, you have no obligation to file at all if you make less than $12,000 in a given year. (The exact amount varies a bit.) If you are married, then your choice is between filing "married filing separately" - in which case the threshold is only $5 - or filing "married filing jointly" in which case you have to include all your partner's income and get him or her a taxpayer i.d. number. But the threshold for filing is $24,000.

As tempting as the child tax credit may be, you may want to think about staying off the radar altogether if you can, whether due to your income being insufficient for having to file or just by laying low.


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## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

If your kids are born in the UK, and have UK citizenship, I think it would be very wise to keep them out of the US tax system. Without a US birthplace they will be able to conceal US citizenship from banks and live without FATCA reporting or any restrictions on their ability to open accounts or use other financial services - which can be a huge problem for US citizens in certain countries. 

You said that the children do not have SSNs. This is a good thing. Have you registered their births with the consulate, or obtained passports, or otherwise informed the US government of their existence?

Depending on your income, it's possible that you can claim the child tax credit and earn free money, up to $1400 per year per child. (I don't know the details.) But the children need to be US citizens with their own SSNs for this to happen. If you qualify, it's potentially a nice lump of money that can be saved for their educations, but it comes at a cost - their names will be known to the IRS, though of course in future it will be very easy for them to drop back off the US radar with their UK identities. 

I'd say do a little more research and decide whether you want to "declare" these children or not. There's money to be had, but - like Facebook - nothing is really free if you give up personal information in return.

As to whether you yourself should continue filing, that's another question.


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