At what point might we want a tax advisor?

After reading some posts here, I'm wondering if my husband and I should hire a tax consultant or if we'd be able to do it on our own.

We're both American and we moved to the UK June 2006.  We have no kids and have never owned a home.  We both have IRAs (Roth and Rollover from our 401(k)s).  I have some stock that was from my old company, but have not sold any.  My husband has been working here, but I have not yet started working.

Is our case simple enough to do ourselves?  Can we use Turbotax for this?  DH's company has "set up" people to do taxes for us, but so far, the 2 different people they have sent us to have been unresponsive.

Cheers

 "At what point might we want a tax advisor?"

The obnoxious answer is:  BEFORE you moved.  Obviously, a bit late for that.

Remember, after you do something, it's too late to undo it.  Before you do something, you have lots of choices.  Your problem (and the problem of everyone doing an international move) is that you don't know what all the choices are, so you blunder about and only afterwards discover that had you only done X, Y, and Z before you moved, you would have saved $1l,000's of tax. 

The nice answer:

After the fact, you can still get some good tax tips to save you money.  However, you're mixing up tax advice and tax preparation. 

Tax Prep:  If you're company is paying for tax prep, go for it.  Use a reputable dual qualified US/UK accountancy firm.  Most companies hire one of the Big 4 companies.  These companies do 1000's of returns just like yours, so you'll be getting quality tax work.  They are woefully overworked this time of year, though, so you may not get quality or timely service.  You will probably be filing on extension anyways (yes! you will! don't argue with the tax lady!), so don't fret about 15 Apr or speedy tax prep and just make sure the extension for your two states (WI and the other one) and the Federal are filed. 

Tax Advice:  When your company pays for tax prep, it doesn't always include tax advice.  You may have to pay for a separate advisor - ask the tax preparer whether they can also provide advice on residency status, remittance taxation, and timing of options and shares.  If they can't, hire a separate person for that (or keep looking til you find someone who can do both).

I hope this was helpful.

Thank you so much for your reply.

It does clear things up a bit.  We've finally been in contact with the person who is assigned to do our taxes, but that in and of itself is leading to problems.  While this person is with what (I believe to be) one of the "big 4", the individual we've been assigned is only US, so when we go to do our UK taxes, we'll have to repeat the entire process with a second person from the same big firm.

Furthermore, we're to basically fill out something online (like turbo-tax, but lacking some info such as federal tax id's), all the while seeing disclaimers that said company is not liable if we get audited - it is making us very nervous that despite having "guidance", we'll make a mistake filling out this form that may not be caught by the professional, and ends up costing us big time in the future.  We have a pen-and-paper questionnaire to fill out that makes no sense to us (and we're usually pretty able to figure this stuff out).  Again - the concern that we feel like we're wading through this on our own to our peril! 

Thank you for your helpful hint about making sure we have the extension paperwork filed - a definite first step

You could always tell them that you will be having their work reviewed by a private US/UK tax preparer located in England (whether or not you actually plan to do so).  That might make them step up their game a bit.

Many preparers do reviews for much less than they charge for full tax prep.

If you fill out the online organizer carefully, and do not skip sections, they should be able to figure out everything correctly.  Make sure you use the open sections (i.e., those with room to write) to ask all the questions you have.  Write to your assigned preparer to ask what about this and that sorts of questions.  And don't forget to deduct the cost of goods donated to charity when you moved.

Sorry to hijack the thread, but my husband and I have been discussing this and I have a question. I often see on the boards here that you should get a US/UK tax preparer. Which made me think that we need to look for one, but my husband seems to think it will be very easy and he can do it himself.

 We moved to the UK in early 2006. My husband and I are both American and do not own any property in the UK or the US and neither one of us make over the limit for the Foreign Income. I know its hard, since you do not know our entire situation, but basically is this something that can be done easily without a tax adviser?

I really don't think that there is anyway that we can get a refund.... I just want to make sure that we submit our taxes properly because I would really hate for them to come back a few years later and hit us with a penalty. Thanks for your help.

If you moved over part way through the tax year, and had taxes withheld by a US employer, you probably will get a refund.  My first year here, I got a few grand of taxes back from both federal and state.  Worth doing right the first year just in case you are owed anything.

As far as a the UK taxes returns go....SOOOOO EASY!   Once you determine what type of resident you are the forms are so easy and submitting via the website was so simple.  It stops at least 2-3 times during the process to offer you assistance the phone number of people to call.  Compared to the IRS, it was actually enjoyable.

karin- you used the inland revenue website to file your self-assessment?  did you remit funds from the US to UK?  that easy- enjoyable?  now i'm looking forward to it.

Thanks Karin. I worked for two months in the US before coming to London. I'm not sure if I would get a refund for that, but I will check into it. As for the UK...my understanding is that with PAYE system we don't have to do anything on this side, but glad to hear its very easy if we need to.

Hep Cat -
We're in a similar situation time-wise, having moved here in June, not owning property in US, etc. We're just doing it ourselves. I have read Pub. 54, and feel like I have a good understanding of what we need to do. I have called the Philidelphia number (open 20 hours a day) and found them to be very helpful even in answering questions in detail.  We're filing for an extension until July so that we can meet the Physical presence requirements.

And as for the advice that people keep throwing around re. getting a US-UK tax advisor, how realistic is it to even find someone? I spent all day one day looking around for one in the Bath and Bristol area and didn't find one. I think we'll need one for next year, because we're buying property here and also we'll have a child by that time next year.

i couldn't find one in the peterborough/northampton area either.  i'm also very happy with my US accountant and want to keep them.

FYI, the majority of dual qualified preparers are in the London area.  That's because most of the Americans live in London.  It kind of makes sense for them to be centrally located near to the majority of clients.  Most accountants nowadays do work by post, email, fax, or phone. 

Oh my goodness!  I live outside of London so I called some tax preparers// advisors and they want £900 to help me with a straight forward filing!!  Anyone have any links for some that might be cheaper?  I don't mind traveling a little ways if it means I save money!!

As far as a the UK taxes returns go....SOOOOO EASY!   Once you determine what type of resident you are the forms are so easy and submitting via the website was so simple.  It stops at least 2-3 times during the process to offer you assistance the phone number of people to call.  Compared to the IRS, it was actually enjoyable.

I'm confused.  I work in the UK and get my taxes taken out through PAYE.  Why would I need to file a UK tax return? 

3 reasons to file a UK tax return:

1)  Because you have to.  If the HMRC sends you a tax booklet, you have to file, even if you don't owe a penny.

2)  Because you ought to.  Even if they didn't send you a form, if you owe them a significant amount of money, you are supposed to voluntarily file a Self Assessment return and pay them what you owe them.  "Significant" is not defined, but generally agreed that it's at least £25 and definitely anything over £100.  Between £25 and £100 you'd have to use your own personal ethics as a guide.

3)  Because you want to.  Even if they didn't send you a form, if you have a refund due, you probably want to get your money back.  There are alternative ways to request a refund as well - not something I've got the time to go into here.

For a first year arrival, the HMRC sometimes gets the PAYE wrong and you may be due a refund or owe.  More often, it's a refund.

Lizzit is 100% correct and expresses very clearly the main reasons why most folks file UK tax returns.

In addition many users of this forum still receive a few (or more!) dollars of interest, dividend and other kinds of income back home.

If this is you, then you have a technical obligation to file a UK tax return claiming both to be domiciled outside of the UK and to be taxable only on remittances to the UK (even if there were none). 

Remember the use of the word and in the previous sentence?  That was deliberate.  There are 2 seperate claims needed on UK tax returns for non-UK domiciliaries. 

I say it is could be a technical obligation because there may not be a penny at stake, but if you want to be squeaky clean you'd file a UK return just so you could sleep easier knowing they're not going to be chasing after you!