turbo tax

[DaveNot 55]

I'm filing taxes for the first time and there is a question asking if I have earned income in ANOTHER STATE. Yes and no answers. If I check YES there is an option for FOEIGN or us possession. does this pertain to foreign income? I had worked early in the UK before I was married last year.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Sometimes you have to trick TurboTax into moving on. (I highly recommend that you buy the software instead of online. I just bought TurboTax Deluxe for $29.99 at Amazon. ) With the software you can do numerous returns to try joint, separate, etc, and bail out of that question and answer thing when you just want to look at the forms. And you can print a nice paper return.

So for the purpose of that question, You can say no. As a new immigrant you are declaring yourself as a resident for all of 2015. It won't mess up your taxes to say no, you only lived in the state where you are now. Later when it asks if you earned income in another state or country, the answer is yes because your money earned in the UK must be reported.

When you get to the income part it will show common US things...w2, 1099, social Security. Choose to see more until you find a list LESS COMMON INCOME is where TurboTax hides foreign income. Go down the list of Less Common until you see Foreign Income. Go through the the questions there. One asks how your income is reported. Just pick

"A statement from my foreign employer (could be cash)" whether you have one or not. That is not essential to calculating your taxes properly. All of those questions are written to US people who may have worked abroad. It still works for you despite TurboTax not catering to British person who moved mid year with the questions they pose.

Go buy the software and I can help a lot better.

[DaveNot 55]

Thank you Nich-Nick. I have been using the online version, business and office, or something. This is because my wife is self-employed. However, I've not seen a single question referring to me as an immigrant or resident yet, and it is a little bothersome. So, I'll look on amazon as you suggested and try to wrap my head around it. My other half is getting frustrated with me too, because I'm very detail-orientated and want to know what everything means lol.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Thank you Nich-Nick. I have been using the online version, business and office, or something. This is because my wife is self-employed. However, I've not seen a single question referring to me as an immigrant or resident yet, and it is a little bothersome. So, I'll look on amazon as you suggested and try to wrap my head around it. My other half is getting frustrated with me too, because I'm very detail-orientated and want to know what everything means lol.

My husband is also self-employed. I have used the cheapest version (Basic) to do the schedule C and Schedule SE for him in previous years. Was waiting on it to go down from $29.99 everywhere, when I noticed Amazon has a step up Deluxe for the same price as Basic so I ordered that. All versions keep saying do you want to pay more and upgrade to whatever or get somebody to look over it? I decline. It reminds me of fast food places that have to say "do you want fries with that?" to try to increase the sale.

[DaveNot 55]

Installing it now, so, it won't be long before I spam you . Yeah, that's been a strange adjustment for me with all the advertising, but kinda just overlook it now, but it was becoming very popular too in the EU too

Edited February 1, 2016 by DaveNot

[swashbuckler-27 0]

Would people recommend turbotax for USC citizen living abroad filing previous years late? Any info would be appreciated.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Would people recommend turbotax for USC citizen living abroad filing previous years late? Any info would be appreciated.

Well I would because I use it every year. But what you may not realize is a new version of the software comes out each year. I purchase a new disk every Jan/Feb. Not sure where you would buy former years. I've never looked. Could be dirt cheap or at a premium price because they know you're desperate.

The IRS website has all the forms with instructions for previous years. You could tackle it by hand. That's what I would do. How many years are you needing?

Your first step is determining for each year, how much she earned in the UK (gross before taxes held out) from Jan-Dec. Did she have a job? Also any interest, dividend, tips ...any other money she may have received. For the Foreign Income Exclusion form, you will need to know the date she became an eligible resident of the UK as well as the dates of any trips to the US. If there was a year she worked both in the US and the UK, you need to know the US income and how much was held out toward for taxes. A W2 would have been sent by the US employer and would simplify that part if she has one.

Edited February 2, 2016 by Nich-Nick

[swashbuckler-27 0]

It's the previous 3 years so 2015, 2014, 2013. I think we will be able to just file the 2555EZ as we only have income to exclude and are filing 'married filing seperately' thanks for the tip on needing different versions for different years, I'll make sure I find them or using the IRS forms/guidance for those years.

It's the previous 3 years so 2015, 2014, 2013. I think we will be able to just file the 2555EZ as we only have income to exclude and are filing 'married filing seperately' thanks for the tip on needing different versions for different years, I'll make sure I find them or using the IRS forms/guidance for those years.

[thespoons 33]

When we filed using turbo tax it only asked when I arrived here in CA and that was the date considered as residency start date. It never asked about any election statement that we need to include and husband said its ok if we dont submit it as it didnt ask for it. We did report my foreign income but since its too small (a little bit over 5k) to make a diff on the refund, we didnt file for an exemption. I am a little bit concerned about not sending the election letter even if they accepted the efile without problem. Crossing my fingers it will be a smooth one. Lol sorry for hijacking your thread...

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

When we filed using turbo tax it only asked when I arrived here in CA and that was the date considered as residency start date. It never asked about any election statement that we need to include and husband said its ok if we dont submit it as it didnt ask for it. We did report my foreign income but since its too small (a little bit over 5k) to make a diff on the refund, we didnt file for an exemption. I am a little bit concerned about not sending the election letter even if they accepted the efile without problem. Crossing my fingers it will be a smooth one. Lol sorry for hijacking your thread...

. Yes, to file jointly the IRS says include a statement. TurboTax will not give you all the explanations that IRS publications give you. I learn about taxes from reading IRS, not Turbotax. It just neatly puts everything in the right place and does the math.

It sounds like your tax return was correct and IRS doesn't have time to check every small individual so they will not likely even notice no statement. I personally wouldn't worry about it.

[MariaR323 199]

When we filed using turbo tax it only asked when I arrived here in CA and that was the date considered as residency start date. It never asked about any election statement that we need to include and husband said its ok if we dont submit it as it didnt ask for it. We did report my foreign income but since its too small (a little bit over 5k) to make a diff on the refund, we didnt file for an exemption. I am a little bit concerned about not sending the election letter even if they accepted the efile without problem. Crossing my fingers it will be a smooth one. Lol sorry for hijacking your thread...

This might trigger an inquiry, especially on the California State return side. They will look for and want a nonresident tax return for the period before the resident start date.

I say "might" because as Nich-Nick also mentioned, they don't always "check" everything. But this might come back and bite you later since I also know they aren't very current with their verification process. It might take a couple months or even a year for them to send you a "demand for tax return" type letter.

Also, just to throw it out there, turbo tax might not have applied the benefits accordingly if it used a different start date for residency... for ex:

resident start date: 8/1/15

less tax for 8/1/15 thru 12/31/15

more tax for 1/1/15 thru 7/31/15

So you might not be receiving the full benefit of the MFJ as U.S. residents all year vs. MFJ one U.S. resident all year, one U.S. resident partial year.

[thespoons 33]

. Yes, to file jointly the IRS says include a statement. TurboTax will not give you all the explanations that IRS publications give you. I learn about taxes from reading IRS, not Turbotax. It just neatly puts everything in the right place and does the math.

It sounds like your tax return was correct and IRS doesn't have time to check every small individual so they will not likely even notice no statement. I personally wouldn't worry about it.

Its exactly what my husband said and techinically we paid them more tax for not doing the exemption and for the IRS it is good. Lol he was just not worried about it and I was that he gave me that look because i wouldnt stop talking about it. hahahahaha!

[thespoons 33]

This might trigger an inquiry, especially on the California State return side. They will look for and want a nonresident tax return for the period before the resident start date.

I say "might" because as Nich-Nick also mentioned, they don't always "check" everything. But this might come back and bite you later since I also know they aren't very current with their verification process. It might take a couple months or even a year for them to send you a "demand for tax return" type letter.

Also, just to throw it out there, turbo tax might not have applied the benefits accordingly if it used a different start date for residency... for ex:

resident start date: 8/1/15

less tax for 8/1/15 thru 12/31/15

more tax for 1/1/15 thru 7/31/15

So you might not be receiving the full benefit of the MFJ as U.S. residents all year vs. MFJ one U.S. resident all year, one U.S. resident partial year.

Yeah i think my husband is not very into details when it comes to getting credits that I had to point out that we can get a $120 credit just because we rented a place last year lol. So yeah I am pretty sure we didnt get all the benefits that even turbotax had laid out for him.

I am not sure about the demand for tax return you mentioned as ive said we included all my foreign income, even allowances I got from my previous employer in the federal and state returns so yeah, we technically paid twice the tax for that small salary (PH tax and US tax) so i dont know, i am crossing my fingers that they dont send us any demands after a year.