Sending Documents

I believe I've managed to fill out my taxes myself (I've had PWC support for the last three years but now that I no longer have that paid by my company I'm trying to go it alone).

Besides the actual returns, do I need to send "proof" of income?  If so, would enclosing my payslips from 2013 suffice?

After sending the documents, is there any way to verify that the IRS has received my return?  This is my first year in a loooooong time that I don't owe, so I don't have the "comfort" of my payment being cashed and knowing the return has been received.

Interesting question as I don't know if you can send a recorded delivery letter to the USA from the UK.  However, a couple of years ago I had to send in a paper return from within the USA and I was nervous about it being received and processed since Louisiana lost my State Return some years earlier despite my having sent it "recorded delivery".

I found that you can check online to see if your return has been received and is being processed.  I'm guessing you can enter 0 if you have no refund.

http://www.irs.gov/Refunds

Besides the actual returns, do I need to send "proof" of income?  If so, would enclosing my payslips from 2013 suffice?

After sending the documents, is there any way to verify that the IRS has received my return? 

You don't have to send proof of overseas income - just keep all your payslips, bank statements etc in a safe place in case you're ever audited.

Do you live or work in/around London? Or can you get there without too much hassle? If so, I'd recommend taking your US tax return (and a copy) to the IRS office in the US Embassy, dropping off the original and asking them to date-stamp the copy.

Interesting about being able to drop it at the Embassy...  I certainly hadn't thought of that.  Would be pretty inconvenient (I work in the city) but may be worth the piece of mind.

Great news about not having to send payslips!

I work in the city also - I've found that I can just about manage a trip to Grosvenor Square and back during my lunch hour. When going there, I only take my tax return, passport and Oyster card - saves time and aggravation getting through security!

Attaching proof of foreign taxes paid is not required - see Form 1116 instructions.

You can use the new IRS tool to check if your return has been processed: http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Get-Transcript