Filing taxes online

Hello,
Do most people paper file their taxes? I have never done this before but think I may need to next year. I have been using TaxAct for the past three years to file online as it allowed me to input my spouse as NRA, however two years ago I didn't have any taxable income so it would not let me file (I ended up reporting two cents of interest on a US savings account in order to submit!).

I no longer have any US assets so all my income is part of the foreign earned income exclusion. I like filing online so I don't have to worry if my return has been received. Does anybody use an online service that allows you to file with NRA spouse and no US assets, or is my only option to paper file?

Thanks for your help
Pam


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You'd want to figure out if any software is capable of dealing with income that does not qualify for the foreign earned income exclusion, such as UK employer pension contributions and Form 8965 - as well as information returns such as Form 8938.

The FBAR must be filed online, as no other method of delivery is accepted by FinCEN.

Hi Guya,

TaxAct was pretty good for most things, it let me file 8965. I have no assets for 8938 so my return is pretty standard as all my income falls under FEIE. It wouldn't be a problem for me to paper file, just trying to avoid it!

At this time I don't report my UK pension at all. It's a complete mystery to me what do to about it so to be honest i've been putting off thinking about it (probably a bad idea). I only have less than £500 in it right now. I don't file FBAR either as my only bank account never goes above 1k and as mentioned my U.K. pension is really small yet.


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If your employer made contributions towards the UK pension plan then under US domestic law you would report those contributions as currently taxable income; which does not qualify for the FEIE. If the plan is more your contributions than employer you would start looking at Forms 3520 and 3520-A. The plan is most probably FBAR reportable.

If you have a child or children, you would not claim the FEIE at all as you would lose the $1,000 per child refund from the US government. 

Hi Guya,

I know the pension needs to be reported but I haven't been able to figure out how to do it. There's very little guidance from the IRS about it, and what is available is not easy to understand. This is not an excuse for not reporting but since it's a very small amount yet I've just omitted it so far.

My pension, which is only known to me as S2P has my payments at 2.7%, matched at 4.5% by my employer so I don't think the form 3520 applies. Would the annual sum contributed to my plan be filed as taxable income on 1040 outside of FEIE? I plan to always claim FEIE by the way as I will never have children, will not return to the US, and the foreign tax credit route is too complex for me.

Also for FBAR, I will file this once my aggregate assets in pension and savings exceed the threshold, but at this time I am well under and probably will remain so for a few years.


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