HELP! 1st time filing US tax abroad, confused

Hello,

I apologise if the answers have already been covered elsewhere however I'm in a bit of panic as I'm doing my taxes abroad for the first time and am getting quite confused. I'd really appreciate any help.

To summarise, in 2008 I:
-worked in NY Jan-Apr
-lived in OH (not working) in May and got married to my British husband there (who has always lived/worked in the UK)
-moved to the UK in June
-worked in the UK from July-present

Am I correct to think I should:
-file married filing separately?
-fill out the 2350 form so my foreign income is exempt as I've not yet been 'present' in the country for 330 days? If so, I've read that this is only an extention to file taxes, however the taxes must be paid by 15 April -- how does this work??

I'm trying to use TurboTax as I found it really easy last year, however I'm stuck on these points and also it is asking for my husbands SSN which I obviously can't input-- does this mean I need to do this by hand?

Also, does my husband need to be filing anything?

Are there any other points/steps I should know/take?

Many thanks in advance for your help!
ARC

Hi there,

Yes, you should file Married Filing Seperately, and put 'NRA' for your spouse's SSN which stands for 'Non Resident Alien.'  You can also put 'Non Resident Alien' for his name.  TurboTax will continue to bug you about the fact that it's not a number, but it'll work fine. 

I'm not sure about the rest, as I claimed the foreign earned income credit having lived here for a few years, but you may be able to claim it for the months you worked here by using the de facto method, not the physical presence one, as you moved here on a spousal visa with the intent to settle here.  Best to check the US embassy's IRS site for more details..  No, your husband doesn't need to file anything.

Hope this helps.

-Stuart

You can file using the physical presence test once you have spent 330 days abroad.

The TD F 90-22.1 is due June 30th in any case; if you have signature over accounts with/of your husband's then his info goes on that form.