Novice Tax Payer here...

I am almost completely oblivious to tax stuff, so I was hoping I might be able to get some advice about filing my US taxes this year.

The story is as follows:  I did not work from May 2009 until October 2010.  I moved to the UK in September 2009.  I worked between October 2010 and December 2010 making approximately £1200-£1500 (have to take a look at my P45s) and I am now currently unemployed.

I am here on a T4 student visa and currently awaiting an answer on a T1 PSW which I will hopefully get before the end of February.  I have never notified any US agencies, authorities or banks etc. of a change of address for the UK because I was not sure I would be staying on after my course when I moved over, so everything goes to my parents' house in NJ as it always has done, because I've moved a lot since I turned 18 and never trusted important stuff to get sent to the places I've lived.

My plan is to change everything over to my UK address if/when I get my T1.

So what do I need to do?  I'm sure there must be some foreign earnings thing I have to fill out in addition to the normal stuff.  Can I just get the forms online?  I've had a look through the IRS site but I am just overwhelmed.  My mother handled my taxes for the first 7 years of my working life, and last year's, so I barely recall what the process was for the couple of years in between when I did them myself.  Help!!! 

You will find everything you need to know explained at the IRS pages here (click on the "toplical index" links:

http://london.usembassy.gov/irs/index.html

Check the exact amount of your earnings in 2010 to see if they exceeded $9,350, the amount required for filing if you are single.
If you need to file for 2010, use form 1040 to report your income and form 2555 to exclude your foreign earnings from US taxable income. The length of stay in UK will allow you to fully exclude your UK earnings and owe zero taxes to US. Thus, you will stay compliant and secure your right to continue excluding foreign income in the future.  You can find more details of filing requirements for expats at https://www.taxesforexpats.com/expat-tax-advice/expat-tax-obligations.html.
Even if you find out that your income is below the filing requirements level, I recommend filing  US tax return anyway to receive the Making Work Pay credit up to $400.
Separately, use form 8822 to report the change of mailing address to IRS.

I didn't think you could use foreign earned income against the making work pay credit? Certainly couldn't last year...

Claiming the foreign earned income exclusion might not be possible in any case here case because we do not know for certain if NoseOverTail (cute name!) actually has a foreign tax home from the facts presented or if she has met the bona fide residence test.

I would probably claim the credit without the section 911 exclusion.

The making work pay credit is of course taxable income from a UK perspective so could have other effects on tax liabilities for some folks.

I didn't think you could use foreign earned income against the making work pay credit? Certainly couldn't last year..

Apparently, you missed your credit last year. Or perhaps, your AGI was too high to qualify for the credit.
For the person who initially asked the question, there is no reason to use FEIE. If she files below the taxable level, she will just get a credit. For others who exclude earned income, there might be different scenarios of combining FEIE and applying foreign income credit, which still leaves room for getting the credit. Many of my foreign clients received the credit in 2009 and will get an addition in 2010. For those who have U.S. tax liability, credit reduceD their tax bill. For those who have no liability, the credit itself was considered a U.S. tax refund, which is not an income. Unless there is a unique situation where not getting tax refund from U.S. government is better than getting it, a U.S. citizen/resident living abroad should use it.

Apparently, you missed your credit last year. Or perhaps, your AGI was too high to qualify for the credit.
To arrive at your modified AGI fo the purpose of Making Work Pay credit, start with your adjusted gross income and then add back any  income you excluded because of the foreign earned income exclusion. All my foreign clients who qualified received credit in 2009 and will receive the addition in 2010. For those who have U.S. tax liability, credit reduceD their tax bill. For those who have no liability, the credit itself was considered a U.S. tax refund, which is not an income. Unless there is a unique situation where not getting tax refund from U.S. government is better than getting it, a U.S. citizen/resident living abroad should use it.

Similarly, most folks I deal with claim refundable child credits and making work pay credit, but they most certainly are both treated as income for UK tax purposes; subject of course to the remittance rules.

This is no diiferent from the US treating child benefit, child tax credits and (when it existed) the health in pregnancy grant as taxable income.

Thanks for the help guys!  Today I'm going to have a good thorough look through the links provided and hopefully be less hopeless at understanding this stuff.

One further question (although I have a feeling it might be answered once I get to reading) is how do I find out whether or not I have a foreign tax home?  Does it make a massive difference?

Thanks again! 

I'm so confused about Making Work Pay.  I filed last year, and received it.  But upon further review,  I ended up filing an 1040x and returning the $400 as based on my calculations (done incorrectly at first), I wasn't entitled.  My understanding is that if you only have UK income (my situation), then once you do the worksheet (properly), you should get nothing for the Making Work Pay because you don't meet the minimum earned income level (as you've excluded all you earned income on form 2555EZ. 

So in conclusion, if one excludes all earned income on 2555EZ (all other taxable income (UK Working Tax credits, UK bank interest, Pension contributions from UK employer) excluded using my personal allowance) and has no US income, can they still get the Making Work Pay credit or not? 

Any help would be appreciated (and sorry for hi-jacking the thread, but it seems pertinent) 

The IRS treatment of Making Work Pay credit for taxpayers using form 2555 is ambiguous, which stems from the ambiguity of  the qualification requirements. At one point of the spreadsheet, you are told to add excluded amount back. Why? To eliminate the high-income taxpayers who could become eligible for the credit after they excluded foreign earned income from AGI. This method is called "Modified AGI" and applied in other situations, e.g. for establishing Roth IRA qualification.

At other point, you become ineligible if after applying FEIE your US taxable income is zero.   If you forgo the FEIE and apply tax credit, you will become eligible for Making Work Pay credit. Yet, it may happen that in that case your overall U.S. tax obligation goes up. Tax professional will calculate the taxpayer's payoff for each situation. It is hard to compare multiple scenarios by doing manual calculations.

I'm so confused about Making Work Pay.  I filed last year, and received it.  But upon further review,  I ended up filing an 1040x and returning the $400 as based on my calculations (done incorrectly at first), I wasn't entitled.  My understanding is that if you only have UK income (my situation), then once you do the worksheet (properly), you should get nothing for the Making Work Pay because you don't meet the minimum earned income level (as you've excluded all you earned income on form 2555EZ. 

So in conclusion, if one excludes all earned income on 2555EZ (all other taxable income (UK Working Tax credits, UK bank interest, Pension contributions from UK employer) excluded using my personal allowance) and has no US income, can they still get the Making Work Pay credit or not? 

Any help would be appreciated (and sorry for hi-jacking the thread, but it seems pertinent) 

Yeah, that's why I thought it wasn't eligible. I'm certainly not a higher earner and having income over the threshold level, so the 2555EZ says you don't get it. 
But the tax credit stuff is far more confusing than the 2555EZ!

Revoking the foreign earned income exclusion means not claiming it at all for the following 5 years.  This is a tricky call of itself, although having higher tax rates in the UK generally means that claiming foreign tax credits instead will probably produce a better answer.

You also need to optimise the UK position.  You would be generating extra taxable income from a UK perspective if you claimed US credits - although these are subject to the remittance basis so you'd need to decide if claiming these might bring your total non-UK income above the crucial £2,000 threshold.

Ok, so I'm finally getting a good grasp on this, but I have another few questions (and probably will have a few more before April ).

In addition to the 1040 and the 2555, I should probably do the 8822 change of address form as well, right?  I still have my address as my parents'.  Should I send that ahead of time or can I send it with everything else?

Also, I received the form from my student loan company that shows how much interest I paid off over the course of the year.  I address that on the 1040, yes?  Not some separate form?  Do I need to send the form they gave me with everything else, or is it just for reference for me?

Can you file online?  If so, how?  I saw that you can file for the automatic extension online, but I didn't notice if you can do everything online.  My head was about to explode by the time I got to that point so I thought might just ask that here since I'm already asking 20 questions. 

Thanks again!

Ok, so I'm finally getting a good grasp on this, but I have another few questions (and probably will have a few more before April ).

In addition to the 1040 and the 2555, I should probably do the 8822 change of address form as well, right?  I still have my address as my parents'.  Should I send that ahead of time or can I send it with everything else?

Also, I received the form from my student loan company that shows how much interest I paid off over the course of the year.  I address that on the 1040, yes?  Not some separate form?  Do I need to send the form they gave me with everything else, or is it just for reference for me?

Can you file online?  If so, how?  I saw that you can file for the automatic extension online, but I didn't notice if you can do everything online.  My head was about to explode by the time I got to that point so I thought might just ask that here since I'm already asking 20 questions. 

Thanks again!

Just bumping this in case anyone can help me!    I get that you can e-file, but can you only do that if you are in the States? The ones they have listed seem to go by which state you're in.  Am I missing something?

If you don't e-file, how do you send your forms? UPS, Royal Mail, Fed Ex?

Thanks!

TaxACT seems to let you e-file, but it doesn't support 2555-EZ, only 2555. I've always just posted my forms.
You don't need to send the 1098 from the loan company, they send one to the IRS.