First time doing taxes question from UK

[Vik77 3]

I asked in another forum and thought to try here also. Me and my wife are about to do taxes together as a married couple for the first time. 

Me and my wife will be using turbo taxes for our taxes as alot of people have mentioned it's easy and gives you a step by step guide 

I moved in May 2017 on a k1, we got married and I filed AOS, after receiving my ead I started working in November 2017 in the US. 

A few questions that hopefully someone may be able to answer I'm intrigued by number 3 hopefully someone else who was a prior student may be able to chip in with some advice? 

1. In terms of filing as I have not received my green card yet, is my status a non-resident alien for tax purposes? We plan on filling married joint. 

2. Am I correct as a new resident apart from the taxes the other forms to do are FBAR and foreign income exclusion, can the fbar be done on turbo tax or does it take you to an external site to complete?

3. In terms of foreign earned income exclusion I understand all money earned from my job in the UK for the year 2017 to be reported.

If I received a small bursary each month for University in the UK due to my household income being low this was to help cover  public transportation  cost and supplies  does this get reported or no? (We dont pay tuition fees in my country so I had no student loans) 


4. I believe I saw a diagram previously explaining UK pension plans and what gets reported. Am I correct in saying if my employer auto enrolled me in a employer based plan where a few pounds gets taken out from your pay check and put into a pension plan. Does this get reported or no as it's employer based and not a government entity pension plan...? 

[payxibka 10,047]

There are two tests for resident alien tax status.

 

1) Green card test

2) Substantial presence test.  Were you in country for more than 183 days?

 

Even if you fail both of the above you can always elect to be treated as a resident alien for tax purposes

[payxibka 10,047]

Turbotax or other e-file software cannot do an FBAR because it must be submitted via BSA e-filing system

[Vik77 3]

22 minutes ago, payxibka said:

There are two tests for resident alien tax status.

 

1) Green card test

2) Substantial presence test.  Were you in country for more than 183 days?

 

Even if you fail both of the above you can always elect to be treated as a resident alien for tax purposes

1- what is the GC test?

2- Unsure of this also but from my POE I would of been present for over 7 months in 2017 

[payxibka 10,047]

Just now, Vik77 said:

1- what is the GC test?

2- Unsure of this also but from my POE I would of been present for over 7 months in 2017 

If you received your GC then you automatically pass.  You don't so you fail this test

 

You count the number of days you were present in country.  If the sum is more than 183 then you pass.  I suspect you pass this test

 

If you pass either of the above you are automatically a resident alien for tax purposes

 

 

[Wuozopo 4,293]

1 hour ago, Vik77 said:

In terms of filing as I have not received my green card yet, is my status a non-resident alien for tax purposes? We plan on filling married joint. 

Non-resident aliens can not file joint returns. Because you married a US citizen, you can file jointly and be a resident alien for tax purposes even if you hadn't spent one day in the US. SO...you are a resident alien and should ignore everything that refers to non-residents. Answer TurboTax as a "resident". People fall back on thinking of their immigration status and answer things wrongly. Immigration and taxes are separate issues.

 

1 hour ago, Vik77 said:

. Am I correct as a new resident apart from the taxes the other forms to do are FBAR and foreign income exclusion, can the fbar be done on turbo tax or does it take you to an external site to complete?

FBAR has never been a part of TurboTax (or filed with taxes), but they will kindly remind you of the need to file it. It goes to the US Treasury, not to the IRS folks. 

 

1 hour ago, Vik77 said:

In terms of foreign earned income exclusion I understand all money earned from my job in the UK for the year 2017 to be reported.

Yes. Then excluded using  tax form 2555. TurboTax won't have the 2555EZ.

Your bursary is similar to student financial aid which may or may not be taxable. Read here on the IRS site and try to figure out what US example it is most like. https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/do-i-include-my-scholarship-fellowship-or-education-grant-as-income-on-my-tax-return

The bad news is it's complicated and confusing. The good news is the IRS has no idea you got that money unless you tell them. 

 

 

1 hour ago, Vik77 said:

I believe I saw a diagram previously explaining UK pension plans and what gets reported. Am I correct in saying if my employer auto enrolled me in a employer based plan where a few pounds gets taken out from your pay check and put into a pension plan. Does this get reported or no as it's employer based and not a government entity pension plan...? 

Your gross income before deductions is reported as your income.

Your pension plan is not income, but it is a financial account and would be reported on FBAR as one of your accounts, just like a bank account.

[Vik77 3]

2 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

Non-resident aliens can not file joint returns. Because you married a US citizen, you can file jointly and be a resident alien for tax purposes even if you hadn't spent one day in the US. SO...you are a resident alien and should ignore everything that refers to non-residents. Answer TurboTax as a "resident". People fall back on thinking of their immigration status and answer things wrongly. Immigration and taxes are separate issues.

 

FBAR has never been a part of TurboTax (or filed with taxes), but they will kindly remind you of the need to file it. It goes to the US Treasury, not to the IRS folks. 

 

Yes. Then excluded using  tax form 2555. TurboTax won't have the 2555EZ.

Your bursary is similar to student financial aid which may or may not be taxable. Read here on the IRS site and try to figure out what US example it is most like. https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/do-i-include-my-scholarship-fellowship-or-education-grant-as-income-on-my-tax-return

The bad news is it's complicated and confusing. The good news is the IRS has no idea you got that money unless you tell them. 

 

 

Your gross income before deductions is reported as your income.

Your pension plan is not income, but it is a financial account and would be reported on FBAR as one of your accounts, just like a bank account.

 

Thank you so much for all your assistance you have been extremely helpful! 

 

So for my employer based pension even though it's a small amount and j stopped paying into it the only place I've to note it is on the fbar. 

 

The other thing is tax free as it was used for textbooks for school so I don't need to out anything down then. 

 

So for the foreign income I just add the total amount of all my pay checks that was paid to me and convert that to the rate listed on the treasury site? 

 

Many Thanks

[Wuozopo 4,293]

18 minutes ago, Vik77 said:

So for the foreign income I just add the total amount of all my pay checks that was paid to me and convert that to the rate listed on the treasury site? 

Yes. And the IRS requires no documentation of it, but save your paychecks in a file with you 2017 tax stuff just in case you need them again. My wife uses a big 9x12 white envelope to save all the details of the tax return each year...the print out from TurboTax, the financial forms that list interest and dividends, W2s, etc. She has a box full all labeled by year. Slim chance you will need your paychecks again, but stash them away.