Self-employed which forms to file?

Hello,

I am trying to figure out which forms I file for my US taxes. I am a self-employed freelancer. I've made under £20k in the past year. From what I understand I file a

2555
1040
Schedule C

If anyone has experience with this I would appreciate advice. The IRS website is incredibly confusing.

Thanks very much

Hi-

You are correct in that you will need to file a Form 1040 and you will probably want to file the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion - Form 2555 and maybe the Foreign Tax Credit - Form 1116. If you are self-employed in the UK you may also want to opt out of US Social Security, otherwise you will need to pay both NI in the UK and SS in the USA. Visit www.ssa.gov and have a look at the UK/US treaty. This could cost you about GBP3,000 as the SS gets paid before the FEIE so it is an actual cash cost.

We have a series on our website called "US Expat Taxes Explained" which can be found at : http://www.greenbacktaxservices.com/resources/blog/category/the-your-us-expat-taxes-explained-series/. In this series, we have posts explaining the different forms. Take a look and let us know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,
David McKeegan, MBA, EA
www.greenbacktaxservices.com
Greenback Expat Tax Services
Professional, accurate, hassle-free US expat tax preparation at a fair price

You may also need to file Schedule B and Form TD F 90-22.1.   You may wish to attach your certificate of coverage to UK NI.

Don't forget to file your UK tax return as a self-employed person - and to check if you are entitled to any tax credits for those on low incomes - both in the UK wth HMRC and in the US when you file the 2010 US return (you may be pleasantly surprised to see you are potentially due a refund for making work pay credit).