I Know I Have To File, But....

I filed my taxes last year with my old U.S. accountant. I had to do this as I had earned money the year I moved over to Leeds (2009).

This year is different in that I earned no money in the U.S. during the last tax year (other than 401k, etc. in 2010). I'm thinking it might be better to avoid paying my accountant a few hundred dollars to file over nothing (in a way).

Is there an easy form to fill out where I can self-file with the IRS? It would be great to save some money in this situation, and using an accountant seems a bit unnecessary.

Other than that option, I guess I could file as an individual (married, but wife has no SSN) on Turbo Tax or some such thing. Any suggestions or form numbers would be greatly appreciated.

At the bare minimum you will need to file a 1040 and a 2555 (for Foreign Income Exclusion).

If you have more than $10,000 spread across foreign bank accounts you will also need to file FBAR: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=148849,00.html

When in doubt, contact the IRS office in London: http://london.usembassy.gov/irs/index.html

The forms are really easy to fill in. I virtually copy mine from the previous year's forms and the whole thing takes about 20 minutes.

I like the "really easy to fill in" part.  
I'm going to the US in two weeks and was going to take my little envelope of payslips with me and file while I'm there.  But maybe it will be just as easy to do it here?  

And since I only work part time for a tiny little wage I assume it won't be too complicated.  Fingers crossed!

LOL Well, to be fair, it's easy once you've done it once, I should say. I do remember spending a little time being confused at first, so I guess hindsight is always 20/20 *blush*

I did a post in here

http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=59246.0;topicseen

about how I complete my tax return (note that I AM NOT A TAX ADVISOR so seek advice if you aren't sure!)

Is there an easy form to fill out where I can self-file with the IRS? It would be great to save some money in this situation, and using an accountant seems a bit unnecessary.

Lots of people here use Turbo Tax, I think. I just do it on paper and stick it in a letter box.

Other than that option, I guess I could file as an individual (married, but wife has no SSN) on Turbo Tax or some such thing.

If you are married, you must file as married. You can file as married filing separately if you do not want to report your wife's income.  In the spot for your wife's SSN you put NRA (short for non-resident alien) - This assumes that she qualifies as a non-resident alien, with no US source income. (I don't use tax software so I don't know if people have had issues with entering NRA where the SS number should go.)

Don't forget that, depending on the state you are from, you may also have to file state taxes.