First time fiing US taxes from the UK. And a question or two on UK tax credits.

I hope I'm not trying to ask too much of you at once.

My DH (UK Citizen) and I (US Citizen, FLR) got married in the US 12/07 and my son and I moved here to join him in 2/08.  I worked in the US through 25/01/08 and will be filing my US tax return for the first time from the UK this year.

My main questions are as follows:

US Taxes
1. Am I still allowed to file as HOH even though I am now married, or do I have to file MFS?

2. If so will my DH need a Soc. Sec. # or ITIN?

3.  If he needs one, what is the fastest way of going about getting him one of these numbers?

4. As far as I can tell, I will not be eligible to claim the EIC as I have not been living in the US for the whole of the year.  But I will be eligible for the Child Tax Credit.  Is this correct?

5.  Other than the 1040 and 2555, are there any other forms that I will have to file this year?

UK Taxes
1. I know that I am not eligible for the tax credits here in the UK, but is my DH eligible?  (My child lives with us full time, but my husband has not officially adopted him.) I did check the website and as far as I can tell we are eligible for the child tax credit.

2. We both work here full time and I have worked full time since last April.  Our total income would be about 40,100 p.a all together.  Would we be eligible for the working tax credit?

We were told (by someone at our local council office) that neither of us would be eligible for any credits or benefits as I am subject to immigration control.  Not very helpful, and I have a feeling that we may have been losing out on some very helpful cash from the last year.

***********

Thanks in advance for any advice and please let me know if you need any more information in order to answer these questions more thoroughly.

Jess G-W

UK Taxes
1. I know that I am not eligible for the tax credits here in the UK, but is my DH eligible?  (My child lives with us full time, but my husband has not officially adopted him.) I did check the website and as far as I can tell we are eligible for the child tax credit.

2. We both work here full time and I have worked full time since last April.  Our total income would be about 40,100 p.a all together.  Would we be eligible for the working tax credit?

As far as I am aware, British citizens/those who can claim benefits are only eligible for tax credits if they have a very low income. Together, you both earn a pretty high salary in UK terms (you are earning higher than the UK average salary, which is about £25,000) and so working tax credits shouldn't even come into the equation anyway. If you both contribute via PAYE and are on the correct tax code, you shouldn't have to do anything in regards to UK taxes - the tax you pay should be accurate and correct on a monthly basis so unless your tax code is wrong, you will have paid the correct contributions throughout the year and will not be entitled to any money back at the end of the year.

Taking a quick look at the HMRC website, you should be eligible for the child tax credit (as least your husband will be; obviously you won't because you are subject to immigration control), but because your household income is well above the average, neither of you will be eligible for working tax credits.

I'm a single UK citizen, no kids, currently earning only £13,000 a year (before deductions) in retail and I'm not eligible for working tax credits either.

I hope I'm not trying to ask too much of you at once.

My DH (UK Citizen) and I (US Citizen, FLR) got married in the US 12/07 and my son and I moved here to join him in 2/08.  I worked in the US through 25/01/08 and will be filing my US tax return for the first time from the UK this year.

My main questions are as follows:

US Taxes
1. Am I still allowed to file as HOH even though I am now married, or do I have to file MFS?

2. If so will my DH need a Soc. Sec. # or ITIN?

3.  If he needs one, what is the fastest way of going about getting him one of these numbers?

4. As far as I can tell, I will not be eligible to claim the EIC as I have not been living in the US for the whole of the year.  But I will be eligible for the Child Tax Credit.  Is this correct?

5.  Other than the 1040 and 2555, are there any other forms that I will have to file this year?

UK Taxes
1. I know that I am not eligible for the tax credits here in the UK, but is my DH eligible?  (My child lives with us full time, but my husband has not officially adopted him.) I did check the website and as far as I can tell we are eligible for the child tax credit.

2. We both work here full time and I have worked full time since last April.  Our total income would be about 40,100 p.a all together.  Would we be eligible for the working tax credit?

We were told (by someone at our local council office) that neither of us would be eligible for any credits or benefits as I am subject to immigration control.  Not very helpful, and I have a feeling that we may have been losing out on some very helpful cash from the last year.

***********

Thanks in advance for any advice and please let me know if you need any more information in order to answer these questions more thoroughly.

Jess G-W

I'll help as much as I can--
US TAXES
1) You may file as HOH, but if your husband doesn't have an SSN and has never worked in the states, there's no need to do so.  You can do as I do (i have brit wife and our daughter who never lived in the states) and MFS.  Where it asks for your partner's SSN or ITIN, you may put NRA in the first space of the SSN on the 1040 (it stands for Non-resident Alien).  As far as the IRS is concerned, if the spouse never lived in the states and doesn't have a SSN/ITIN then theres no need to tax them.  With that option you're spouse will not have to file anything w/ IRS

2) See above

3) See above, but if he does need an ITIN, contact the London IRS office (and file for an extension, as it can take ages)

4) You may be entitled to the EIC.  All you need to do is claim your dependents on the 1040, and I'm assuming your child has SSN.  Claim child as dependent, and include them on the itemized deductions (line 40 on the 1040).

5) If you merely have wages and foreign income, you probably won't have to file anything but the 1040 and 2555.  If you still own property and have assets in the states, you will probably have to file more forms, better check with the IRS or an accountant that knows US tax code.

So if someone is single, has one PAYE job in the UK earnings less than the foreign earned income exclusion, rents a house, doesn't own any property or have any education tax credits, and has about $5000 interest earned in accounts in the US, does it make sense I would owe/get $0 from US for tax? Want to make sure my calculations are right.

Taking a quick look at the HMRC website, you should be eligible for the child tax credit (as least your husband will be; obviously you won't because you are subject to immigration control), but because your household income is well above the average, neither of you will be eligible for working tax credits.

Yes you should be able to make a joint application for Child tax credit. The fact that the OP states that they won't be eligible is not correct. The HMRC website is very clear in the case of couples where one is subject to immigration control and the other is not then they are both treated as eligible under the Child tax and Working tax credit systems.

http://www.taxcredits.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/ntchelp/helppane.aspx?H_VER=1.7&helpTopic=Glossarysubjecttoimmigrationcontrol&helpType=&v1=http%3A//www.taxcredits.inlandrevenue.gov.uk&v2=&tmt=

My question would be that since the child is the child of the person subject to immigration control only and thereby the child being subject to immigration control as well, is this child considered an eligible child under that system?

The best way to find out if you qualify is to go here:

http://www.taxcredits.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/Qualify/DIQHousehold.aspx