Back Taxes Owed?

[oscarpower 0]

Hi there,

I posted here a few months ago about the moral quandry I had between renewing my temporary green card in the wake of a divorce or simply to give it up. I ultimately ended up filing a I-407 form to relinquish it and ultimately am a lot happier for the decision. But now my new partner has raised an important issue to me. Do I still owe any taxes for this financial year? When I was in the US, my ex-wife filed for us jointly, with the last filing being in late January last year. However, with our marriage collapsing in early February of last year, that meant any income I earned between that filing and when I left the country on the 7th of May 2018 remains in a kind of grey zone to me. Do I owe tax on this? How would I pay it or file it? How do I inform the IRS? Do I need to? I have zero tax paperwork, from either my ex wifes prior tax fillings or from my paystubs from my previous American jobs. Do the UK jobs I has between arriving home and relinquishing my green card count towards my US tax papers? I just don't want to get in trouble in future if I ever want to travel to the US again for having back taxes owed.

[milimelo 4,477]

Yes you do. Google IRS and former lpr designation. It’s for couple of years. 

[Ben&Zian 4,398]

Whatever work you did between last years filing and when you left should have been taxed before you were paid. Meaning any federal, state(if applicable), Social security, ect. should have been removed before you saw the remainder so no, you shouldn't owe anything unless your company messed up. As for UK jobs and US taxing before relinquishing of the GC, that I can't say for certain how that would affect anything... That might be something you need to contact a tax specialist about.

[oscarpower 0]

So I may have to file a 8854 tax form then by the looks of things? I'm happy to do that if that's all that's required, but the form itself may be a difficulty if I don't know my gross or net incomes, especially as my US bank accounts are now closed, as would be any online paystubs deleted from my job accounts

[Ben&Zian 4,398]

Most companies keep financial records for so many years as required by law. My company rents a storage unit literally just for filing paperwork. If needing them could contact them and bet they can pull it up.

[oscarpower 0]

Luckily I was never rich enough to fall under of those 'expatriation tax' clauses on that link. But now I'm confused even more. I don't even fall under the definition of 'long term resident' under the tax form that i might have to fill out 
 

Quote

You are an LTR if you were a lawful permanent resident of the United States in at least 8 of the last 15 tax years ending with the year your status as an LTR ends.

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i8854.pdf
And given I was a lawful permanent resident for barely even two years before emigrating back I'm not sure where that puts me.

[Wuozopo 4,293]

2 hours ago, oscarpower said:

Hi there,

I posted here a few months ago about the moral quandry I had between renewing my temporary green card in the wake of a divorce or simply to give it up. I ultimately ended up filing a I-407 form to relinquish it and ultimately am a lot happier for the decision. But now my new partner has raised an important issue to me. Do I still owe any taxes for this financial year? When I was in the US, my ex-wife filed for us jointly, with the last filing being in late January last year. However, with our marriage collapsing in early February of last year, that meant any income I earned between that filing and when I left the country on the 7th of May 2018 remains in a kind of grey zone to me. Do I owe tax on this? How would I pay it or file it? How do I inform the IRS? Do I need to? I have zero tax paperwork, from either my ex wifes prior tax fillings or from my paystubs from my previous American jobs. Do the UK jobs I has between arriving home and relinquishing my green card count towards my US tax papers? I just don't want to get in trouble in future if I ever want to travel to the US again for having back taxes owed.

 

From the IRS:

Nonresident at End of Year

You must file Form 1040NR, U.S. Nonresident Alien Income Tax Return or Form 1040NR-EZ, U.S. Income Tax Return for Certain Nonresident Aliens With No Dependents if you are a dual-status taxpayer who gives up residence in the United States during the year and who is not a U.S. resident on the last day of the tax year. Write "Dual-Status Return" across the top of the return. Attach a statement to your return to show the income for the part of the year you are a resident. You can use Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return as the statement, but be sure to mark "Dual-Status Statement" across the top.

Statement

Any statement must have your name, address, and taxpayer identification number on it. You do not need to sign a separate statement or schedule accompanying your return, since your signature on the return also applies to the supporting statements and schedules.

 

Also refer to Publication 519 https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p519.pdf

See Chapter 6, page 32-35.  Dual-Status Tax Year

[oscarpower 0]

OK, thankyou so much, I'm really grateful for all of this, this whole process is hardly straightforward(!) that makes things a lot less confusing for me. So I'll file a 1040NR-EZ, with a normal 1040 tax return form. Should I also post a 8854 tax form just to make it clear to the IRS they can stay away from me for the time being? Also, I'm going to mark myself out as a real idiot here, but if you could be patient with me that would be great, how would I find out my taxpayer identification number? If I manage to get W2's from my two prior employers that I was with for that brief period between January and April 2018, would it be on there? Thankyou so much

[Wuozopo 4,293]

8 minutes ago, oscarpower said:

OK, thankyou so much, I'm really grateful for all of this, this whole process is hardly straightforward(!) that makes things a lot less confusing for me. So I'll file a 1040NR-EZ, with a normal 1040 tax return form. Should I also post a 8854 tax form just to make it clear to the IRS they can stay away from me for the time being? Also, I'm going to mark myself out as a real idiot here, but if you could be patient with me that would be great, how would I find out my taxpayer identification number? If I manage to get W2's from my two prior employers that I was with for that brief period between January and April 2018, would it be on there? Thankyou so much

 

W2s for 2018 are just now arriving in the mail, so yours likely went to the address where you lived. Or contact the employers and give them a change of address. Getting W2s should not be a problem. 

 

Your taxpayer identification is your Social Security number.

 

I haven't reviewed all of Ch. 6 of Pub 519 but I think from that first statement I pasted, you can do a 1040 (You can use Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return as the statement, but be sure to mark "Dual-Status Statement" across the top) 

You would want to file 1040 as a resident because the tax rates are lower. File as

Married Filing Separately if you were still married on Dec 31 or

Single if divorced on Dec 31.

 

IRS again:

For The Part of the Year You are a U.S. Resident Alien

For the part of the year you are a U.S. resident alien, you are taxed on income from all sources. Income from sources outside the United States is taxable if you receive it while you are a resident alien.

For The Part of The Year You are a Nonresident Alien

For the part of the year you are a nonresident alien, you are taxed on income from U.S. sources only.

 

So file a 1040 to report your 2018 US income. If it is below the filing threshold you wouldn't have to file, but money was held out of your checks for taxes so the only way to get that refunded is to file. And if you earned enough in that short time, then what was held out will go toward any taxes you would owe. 

 

All the forms and instructions are available on the IRS website of you want to fill them out and mail them in yourself. This is all kind of general because I don't know if you were single or married on Dec 31 or how much you think you earned in the US.

 

Not familiar with 8854. I'll have a look later.

 

 

[oscarpower 0]

My little sordid tale is such, we separated in February 2018, the paperwork was signed by May and went through by about June or July I think so I'd file single then, so that solves the worry about getting in contact with my ex wife at least.  So just to clarify, it's definitely both a 1040 *and* a 1040NR-EZ together, not just one or the other? Thankyou for your patience with me, honestly this forum has been a lifesaver. I presume I'll have to use it again once I eventually get the fiancee visa train going all over again once my current partner and i get engaged

[Wuozopo 4,293]

10 minutes ago, oscarpower said:

My little sordid tale is such, we separated in February 2018, the paperwork was signed by May and went through by about June or July I think so I'd file single then, so that solves the worry about getting in contact with my ex wife at least.  So just to clarify, it's definitely both a 1040 *and* a 1040NR-EZ together, not just one or the other? Thankyou for your patience with me, honestly this forum has been a lifesaver. I presume I'll have to use it again once I eventually get the fiancee visa train going all over again once my current partner and i get engaged

 

You will file as single. I think a plain 1040 or EZ will cover your bases because you did not earn any US based income after you were non-resident. That would be reason to file a NR return...To report US income after you were back in the UK. You didn't have any US income after you left.

[Wuozopo 4,293]

4 hours ago, oscarpower said:

Should I also post a 8854 tax form just to make it clear to the IRS they can stay away from me for the time being?

I would say no to Form 8854. 

You aren't a US citizen and you were not a long term resident (LTR) for 8 of the last 15 tax years.

 

From the instructions:

 

Expatriation tax provisions apply to U.S. citizens who have relinquished their citizenship and long-term residents who have ended their residency. 

 

Long-term resident (LTR) defined. 

You are an LTR if you were a lawful permanent resident of the United States in at least 8 of the last 15 tax years ending with the year your status as an LTR ends.