What did you do with your cheque?

Quick question regarding the getting US tax money back:

Although I'm moving back to the UK, I'm still going to have to file US taxes next year as I have been employed in the US for the last 7 months (I've also just found out that TA assistantships aren't supposed to be taxed, so I should definitely be getting money back).

My concern is how exactly I am going to be able to access that money when I get it back. I'm going to keep my New Mexico bank account open anyway, but I have a couple questions about the check:

1) If I have it paid directly into my US account, can I access the money from the UK without having to go back to the US to get it? (i.e. can I contact the bank from the UK and have it transferred/wired to me?)

2) Is it possible to have it paid directly into my UK account if I provide the account details?

3) If I get sent a check in the mail (made out in US dollars) is there any way of cashing it/paying it in in the UK (i.e. transferring it into pounds)? (This may have already been answered in this thread and I just missed it). The problem is that my US bank only seems to exist in New Mexico (the only branches in the country seem to be in the Albuquerque area), so while I do have relatives in the US that I could send the check to, they live 900 miles from Albuquerque and I don't think they'd be able to pay it in for me.

1) I don't think you will be able to wire the money from a US bank into the UK without actually being there to process the wire.  Can you add anyone to the account who could go in person to do this for you?  Or can you not use your US ATM card to access it from the UK?

2) I don't think they can pay into non-US accounts as you will need to put the ABA number (similar to the sort code) and account number which UK accounts don't have.

3) You can cash a US check in the UK but it will cost you.  Even if your relatives don't live near the bank, they can still receive the check and mail it in to the bank to be deposited in your account.  However that won't be ideal if you can't access the cash from the UK !

Or can you not use your US ATM card to access it from the UK?

As someone who knows very little about this sort of thing i like geeta's idea of withdrawling the money from a UK cash machine using your US card. I used my US cash card for the first year I was here as a student and although there were small fees, it was really easy peasy. 

1) I don't think you will be able to wire the money from a US bank into the UK without actually being there to process the wire.  Can you add anyone to the account who could go in person to do this for you?  Or can you not use your US ATM card to access it from the UK?

2) I don't think they can pay into non-US accounts as you will need to put the ABA number (similar to the sort code) and account number which UK accounts don't have.

3) You can cash a US check in the UK but it will cost you.  Even if your relatives don't live near the bank, they can still receive the check and mail it in to the bank to be deposited in your account.  However that won't be ideal if you can't access the cash from the UK !

As someone who knows very little about this sort of thing i like geeta's idea of withdrawling the money from a UK cash machine using your US card. I used my US cash card for the first year I was here as a student and although there were small fees, it was really easy peasy. 

Thanks for the help guys .

Don't know why I didn't think of the ATM thing (duh!)... I blame it on being ill for the last few days  . That seems like the easiest thing to do, since I'm not really all that close with the people I know here and I'm not sure I'd be comfortable having them added to the account. I think I'll try to go with having it deposited into my US account and then withdraw it from a UK ATM (I was also interested in accessing my money from the UK because I'm expecting a travel expenses reimbursement from the conference I attended in California last month and at the moment I'm not sure whether I will be in the US or UK when it comes through).

Now I just have to go through the process of actually filing the taxes in a few months' time - I was planning on attending the Tax workshops held by the university to help international students with all the forms, but since I'm going to be coming home, I'm going to have to do it all myself from home  .

Quick question regarding the getting US tax money back:

Although I'm moving back to the UK, I'm still going to have to file US taxes next year as I have been employed in the US for the last 7 months (I've also just found out that TA assistantships aren't supposed to be taxed, so I should definitely be getting money back).

I hope you're right, but I had to pay taxes on my TA and RA stipends. :\\\'(

3) If I get sent a check in the mail (made out in US dollars) is there any way of cashing it/paying it in in the UK (i.e. transferring it into pounds)? (This may have already been answered in this thread and I just missed it). The problem is that my US bank only seems to exist in New Mexico (the only branches in the country seem to be in the Albuquerque area), so while I do have relatives in the US that I could send the check to, they live 900 miles from Albuquerque and I don't think they'd be able to pay it in for me.

For future reference, you should be able to send the check directly to the bank for deposit. We do it all the time and have never had a problem. Along with the signature on the back of the check, we write "For deposit only" and the account number, and include a deposit slip in the envelope.

I hope you're right, but I had to pay taxes on my TA and RA stipends. :\\\'(

Well, I'm not entirely sure, since I thought that it was supposed to be taxed until I went into the International Office on Thursday last week and heard one of the advisors say otherwise... although she is a fairly new advisor and is still learning so I guess she could be wrong (unless maybe it's an international student thing?). I guess it doesn't matter all that much really - if I get money back, that's great, if not, then there's not much I can do about it (I got a nice pleasant surprise a couple of years ago when I found out I'd been on emergency tax for 11 months and got a refund of about £2,000... I'd already written off that money, so it was lovely to get some back unexpectedly ).

1) I don't think you will be able to wire the money from a US bank into the UK without actually being there to process the wire. 

Depends on the bank. I have an account with Chase in the US and I wire money to my UK account via the internet all the time. I can even chose whether I want Chase to send the money in dollars or pounds.

Because of the wire transfer fee involved, though, it's not worth it for a small amount of money. In that case, a cash machine is better.

I've just gotten my economic stimulus cheque for $300.  I didn't know I was going to get any money back from my taxes so I didn't put my bank account details or routing number on the return so it could be direct depositted. What did everyone else do with their cheques or any cheques from the USA?  I'm thinking of mailing it recorded delivery to my sister so she can put it in my US bank account, but are there any less complicated things I can do with it to get it in my US bank account? Don't really want deposit it here because of the exchange rate and fees. Thanks in advance.

We just put 'for deposit only to (bank name) (account number)' under our signature, and mail it directly to our US credit union with a deposit slip, and it's done. We get a receipt back before the end of the next week.