Renunciation timing and tax filing

I'll be renouncing my citizenship shortly after the election, with the timings given to me by the Edinburgh consulate meaning that I should have my appointment before the end of the year. My understanding is that this would count as my renunciation date rather than the date that I get the certificate from Washington (which is probably months later). My questions are: a) is my assumption correct and b) do I still have to file for 2012 because I was a US citizen for most of the year, or is it like marriage where only your status on 31 December counts?

The expatriation date is the interview date for a citizen (you will see this when you eventually get the CLN).  A 2012 dual status return including Form 8854 would still need to be filed with the IRS and an FBAR with the Treasury.

The expatriation date is the interview date for a citizen (you will see this when you eventually get the CLN).  A 2012 dual status return including Form 8854 would still need to be filed with the IRS and an FBAR with the Treasury.

and if you've satisfied all the 8854 rubric you'll still have to file for any US based income and gains and make sure you get the withholding correct on any US based retirement funds.......if applicable.

I didn't have enough money for FBAR this year, and I don't have any US income. I know I have to submit the 8854, but what do you mean by a dual status return?

When taxes are due for this tax year, you'll be required to file a return for the period of the year in which you were a US citizen, right up to the day you renounce, and also form 8854.

Like the others wrote: dual status return and 8854.  I renounced in the beginning of 2012 but I'll still have to file the dual status return for the few weeks I was a US citizen.

When I get those final forms sent off I am popping champagne!! 

I'm a bit confused on the dual status thing, because the only thing I see on the IRS website is for people who resident aliens part of the year and non-resident aliens part of the year. I wasn't resident at all, so how does that work? Is it still just the regular 1040 and 2555-EZ for excluded foreign income, except that instead of the whole year I only declare the wages up to the point of my renunciation?

I also find it very confusing, but Phil Hodgens explains it pretty well in this link to his blog (scroll down to the section entitled "How to deal with the exit tax stuff".)

http://hodgen.com/why-people-expatriate/ [nofollow]

Thank you Hansi, that clears it all up!

I also find it very confusing, but Phil Hodgens explains it pretty well in this link to his blog (scroll down to the section entitled "How to deal with the exit tax stuff".)

http://hodgen.com/why-people-expatriate/

Thanks for that link! I've only been vaguely contemplating expatriation, but his blog post makes me think about it more seriously.

I also find it very confusing, but Phil Hodgens explains it pretty well in this link to his blog (scroll down to the section entitled "How to deal with the exit tax stuff".)

http://hodgen.com/why-people-expatriate/

Good article!

When calculating net worth in Part V of the 8854 where do you enter retirement accounts like IRAs, 403b etc?

Sorry to resurrect such an old topic, but as it has all the background info already on it, that seemed easier than rehashing. I ended up renouncing on 15 January, 2013, so I only have 2 weeks' worth of being a US citizen to file for. According to the 'Do I need to file?' questionnaire on the IRS website, I don't meet the requirements for filing a 1040 based on those 2 weeks of income, I have absolutely no US income that I would need to report on a 1040NR, and I didn't have enough money in my accounts to file an FBAR. Does this mean I can JUST file the 8854 form and nothing else?

It's just my opinion, but if you are below the filing thresholds why would you file? But maybe a 1040 showing zero tax and the 8854 would be a safe why to say "adios".

I believe that I MUST file the 8854 to complete my expatriation, but I don't believe it is obligatory to file a 1040 with it. It will be obvious from the information I entered into the 8854 that I made below the threshold in that time period, but I just want to make sure I'm not missing some fine print about the 1040 having to be there for some reason.

You might as well just file the 1040, because it will be extremely simple to complete if you are under the filing threshold - just put your income under Wages, then claim your standard deduction and personal exemption and there should be 0 taxable income left after that. I bet you could do it in Turbotax in 15 minutes or less.