Help! Filing taxes in US with some working hours in UK

[JNC09 5]

Hey! I recently got my W2 from work so i am worrying about how to file my taxes with my husband here in the US.. I worked about 3 months part time in UK this year and apparently i have to show my hours in England when i file my taxes here in US.

I probably had whatever documents I need and left them in UK and lost them.. Does ANYONE know how i get this form, or if it is even necessarily needed to file my taxes? I would rather just not add it in there, i assume it helps me more but I was a student whilst working a few months in UK and it was only part time so it wasn't many hours at all...

SO CONFUSED!

Thank you

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

if you file a joint return, then worldwide income is reported. That means any money you earned in the UK from Jan 1-Dec 31, 2015 is reported on Line 7 of the Form 1040 added to your husbands income and your US income. (Convert it to US dollars.) It is self reported so you won't need a W2 type document showing your UK income.

You also file form 2555 or 2555EZ to exclude the foreign income. Your exclusion amount from Form 2555 goes on the 1040 tax form as a negative number on Line Line 21.

[JNC09 5]

Thanks for the reply! Wow this sounds complicated, i will perhaps need to hire someone to help me with this!

I have one of my p45 forms, but i also worked for my university and got paid monthly, so i assume i got a p45 for that job too and misplaced it. I emailed the University and asked for a summary of earnings which by law they need to send to me back. Will this be ok, if i add this amount to my other job earning in 2015? Since you said it is self-reported i assume they don't need to see additional documents?

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Thanks for the reply! Wow this sounds complicated, i will perhaps need to hire someone to help me with this!

I have one of my p45 forms, but i also worked for my university and got paid monthly, so i assume i got a p45 for that job too and misplaced it. I emailed the University and asked for a summary of earnings which by law they need to send to me back. Will this be ok, if i add this amount to my other job earning in 2015? Since you said it is self-reported i assume they don't need to see additional documents?

Well my husband said he had no clue what he earned in 2008, the year he came and I figured all this tax thing out. He worked from Jan to Sept 30 in the UK. He had nothing on paper. So I told him surely he knew approximately what his yearly salary was or could look online at bank deposits. So he came up with a good guess of nine months income. I converted to dollars and reported it. Was trying to be as honest as possible, even though likely inaccurate. I haven't heard from the IRS. I don't think they have to resources to go after small taxpayers just to check up on you for accuracy. Do the best you can and forget about it.

Try TurboTax. It asks you questions to guide you and fills out the 2555. If you don't know how to answer, ask me and I will try to help. I buy the Basic edition currently 29.99 and install it on my PC. I probably can't help with the online version as well because it is set up a little differently and we wouldn't be looking at the same thing. Places like H&R Block for tax prep often don't know the special circumstances of immigrants and reporting worldwide income.

Edited January 10, 2016 by Nich-Nick

[JNC09 5]

Well my husband said he had no clue what he earned in 2008, the year he came and I figured all this tax thing out. He worked from Jan to Sept 30 in the UK. He had nothing on paper. So I told him surely he knew approximately what his yearly salary was or could look online at bank deposits. So he came up with a good guess of nine months income. I converted to dollars and reported it. Was trying to be as honest as possible, even though likely inaccurate. I haven't heard from the IRS. I don't think they have to resources to go after small taxpayers just to check up on you for accuracy. Do the best you can and forget about it.

Try TurboTax. It asks you questions to guide you and fills out the 2555. If you don't know how to answer, ask me and I will try to help. I buy the Basic edition currently 29.99 and install it on my PC. I probably can't help with the online version as well because it is set up a little differently and we wouldn't be looking at the same thing. Places like H&R Block for tax prep often don't know the special circumstances of immigrants and reporting worldwide income.

Thanks so much! Yes it is difficult to know exactly, because on my p45 it says the income i made from both 2014-2015 so i don't know exactly how much of this is from 2015 so i will make a decent estimate thanks for your help, you have put me at ease about stressing so much about it!