Trouble obtaining UK Tax records from USA

[blk 87]

Just now, corvusheart said:

His last employer was the Carers allowance he was a carer for a family member. It counted as a benefit that was taxable. I just hope we don't have to wait for another letter that takes a month to get here. Since we just want to be done with this.

Yep dealing with the a UK Gov departments can be frustrating to say the least.

I hope that you get it sorted asap.

 

Brian

[Wuozopo 4,291]

4 hours ago, corvusheart said:

I appreciate your reply but I read if you file taxes jointly with us citizen spouse you are considered a resident for tax reasons even though he wasn't an actual us resident yet meaning his worldwide income had to be declared.

What you said is correct. Don't get further confused by someone who didn't follow the precise IRS instructions when you file jointly. However you can see that he filed  for 2013 and nothing has happened to him which is precisely what would happen to you if you didn't amend. Nothing. 

 

You do not need UK tax records, which would be April to April and not state a calendar year anyway.  You self-report the income and send no documentation with it. Not required by the IRS. You know approximate earnings, so go with that. 

Edited May 24, 2017 by Wuozopo

[corvusheart 163]

39 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

What you said is correct. Don't get further confused by someone who didn't follow the precise IRS instructions when you file jointly. However you can see that he filed  for 2013 and nothing has happened to him which is precisely what would happen to you if you didn't amend. Nothing. 

 

You do not need UK tax records, which would be April to April and not state a calendar year anyway.  You self-report the income and send no documentation with it. Not required by the IRS. You know approximate earnings, so go with that. 

We know right around $3000 could be a little more or less. I would think the IRS would want accuracy.

[Wuozopo 4,291]

1 hour ago, corvusheart said:

We know right around $3000 could be a little more or less. I would think the IRS would want accuracy.

 Of course they would, but not enough to ask you to send documentation of the foreign income with the return. They are not God, all seeing, all knowing and watching your every move.  If you can't even find out, then how the heck could the IRS know his income?  I made up something eight years ago and it was 15-20 times more income than your husband's. I haven't been contacted by the IRS and I got my citizenship just fine. I made the best guesstimate I could. I have nothing on paper to back it up. 

 

If you were a billionaire with suspected elaborate business schemes abroad trying to hide hundreds of thousands of dollars every year to avoid taxes, then they might assign an agent to actually look at your case.  

Edited May 24, 2017 by Wuozopo

[aless02 9]

I agree. I'm American living in the UK (not for long, though!) and I've been reporting foreign income for 10 years. I have to manually calculate using payslips and P-60s and some dodgy math...it's never been an issue, plus currency fluctuations also give some leeway. Income is self-declared. On the 0.004% change you get audited, you can worry about the paper proof from the UK at that point in time.

[trudi 1,317]

If he had carers allowance as his sole income then he can call DWP and request a copy of his payments.

For the electronic registration with the Tax office I used my passport and national insurance no ( I'm amazed he didn't know it, its like SS number here, gets engraved on your brain lol )

But the tax office is one level below unhelpful, I am still arguing that I no longer work for my former U.K. employer and that they should not be taxing my remaining UK income as it is below the tax threshold - they send letters to me here in the US and yet still insist I live in the U.K. *sigh*

 

But as has been said you don't have to be exact in the amount you declare, due to the difference in financial year dates and ever changing exchange rates it's almost impossible to be 100% accurate.

[corvusheart 163]

 The UK government website only requested his name, national insurance number and birth date to view tax records online. We put all those things in and it said unable to verify identity. Which doesn't make much sense. Would it be better to call the DWP for payment records or just the tax office? Also will they be willing to fax? It took a month to get his national insurance number. We called our tax place and they said they need the actual document.

Edited May 24, 2017 by corvusheart

[Wuozopo 4,291]

38 minutes ago, corvusheart said:

We called our tax place and they said they need the actual document.

 

Then that is your tax place request, and not an IRS mandate to submit documentation. 

[trudi 1,317]

9 hours ago, corvusheart said:

 The UK government website only requested his name, national insurance number and birth date to view tax records online. We put all those things in and it said unable to verify identity. Which doesn't make much sense. Would it be better to call the DWP for payment records or just the tax office? Also will they be willing to fax? It took a month to get his national insurance number. We called our tax place and they said they need the actual document.

DWP should be able to give him a copy of payments issued, I don't rate your chances of getting them faxed but it's worth a try.

 

Did he send the U.K. tax man a P85 when he left the U.K., if he didn't then their archaic system won't know he's left the country...

Edited May 24, 2017 by trudi

[corvusheart 163]

He didn't. Was he supposed to? Is he going to be in trouble since he didn't?

1 hour ago, trudi said:

DWP should be able to give him a copy of payments issued, I don't rate your chances of getting them faxed but it's worth a try.

 

Did he send the U.K. tax man a P85 when he left the U.K., if he didn't then their archaic system won't know he's left the country...

 

[yuna628 9,652]

2 minutes ago, corvusheart said:

He didn't. Was he supposed to? Is he going to be in trouble since he didn't?

 

P85 is generally important in telling HMRC ''hey I'm leaving and I'm not coming back okay?" and ''give me back the taxes you took from me''. Seriously, some people get to snag a nice amount back into their accounts. Don't know about getting in trouble, but you're supposed to send it in. I think they finally let you electronically send it instead of snail mail.

[corvusheart 163]

1 minute ago, yuna628 said:

P85 is generally important in telling HMRC ''hey I'm leaving and I'm not coming back okay?" and ''give me back the taxes you took from me''. Seriously, some people get to snag a nice amount back into their accounts. Don't know about getting in trouble, but you're supposed to send it in. I think they finally let you electronically send it instead of snail mail.

He said he notified DWP that he was moving out of country so he would stop receiving carers allowance before he left. Last month when he contacted national insurance number enquiries to get his number posted out he said he had moved here and needed his number mailed here. Neither party made mention of this form. What will happen now since he didn't fill one out?

[trudi 1,317]

7 minutes ago, corvusheart said:

He said he notified DWP that he was moving out of country so he would stop receiving carers allowance before he left. Last month when he contacted national insurance number enquiries to get his number posted out he said he had moved here and needed his number mailed here. Neither party made mention of this form. What will happen now since he didn't fill one out?

 

Hes not in any trouble so don't worry but none of the systems are linked in the U.K. so the tax man thinks he still lives there, he would probably be better off giving them a call and speaking to a real person, they can be quite helpful

[yuna628 9,652]

Yep, I'd give them a call possibly. But then I'd also fill one out and maybe see if you get anything back.

[corvusheart 163]

Well we may get audited when we amend our 2014 taxes since we are reporting his foreign income that he didn't report before. Another reason we want to be accurate.