A Couple Stupid Questions (But I need to know)

Okay I have a couple questions, which the answer will probably be "don't worry" or "nothing" to both, but I figured that I need to ask just to be sure.



The first questions are based on US taxes, I'm reading this website:

https://www.americansabroad.org/us-taxes-abroad-for-dummies-update/

And I am married (to a UK citizen), and we've never held joint finances. So I figure I'm definitely doing a married but filing separate tax form.

When do I need to count my income from? Like X date to X date.

I  haven't had virtually any income in 2017 thus far and probably earned much less than $4,050, but I want to check.


And if I don't earn that amount, do I need to file any paperwork to report that?

At the rate I am going now, I don't expect that I will earn enough to get above that threshold by 2018.



Second set comes for UK stuff, I have done a couple freelancing gigs in the past month. It's about £400 in total.

Do I need to pay UK tax on it? Like National Insurance, etc etc.

If I do, how do I go about doing that?

All of it was paid into my personal bank account, and none required by National Insurance Number. Soooo I don't know what to do about that. I really don't want to get caught out by it.



Please help. I'm just checking because my anxiety suddenly got the better of me last night, and I started to worry about this stuff.

For the US, it's January 1 to December 31.  If you don't make over the minimum you don't HAVE to file, but it's not a bad idea to file anyway just to have a papertrail.  Will be useful if you ever want to sponsor your spouse for a USA visa.

UK tax year is April 6 to April 5.  Sounds like you'll need to file a self-assessment (deadline will be January 31, 2019).  I'm not sure what the minimum threshold for filing here is.

As you have self-employed income greater than $400 you are required to file a US income tax return. From a UK perspective, equally as you are self-employed you will want to register for self-assessment & file a tax return for the 2017-18 UK tax year.  You will want to select an accounting period and prepare accounts (financial statements) for that period to assist you preparing your UK tax return.

As you have self-employed income greater than $400 you are required to file a US income tax return. From a UK perspective, equally as you are self-employed you will want to register for self-assessment & file a tax return for the 2017-18 UK tax year.  You will want to select an accounting period and prepare accounts (financial statements) for that period to assist you preparing your UK tax return.

How do I file for self-assessment for both the UK and the US?

I've literally never done this before so I may need it explained in super simple terms.

For the US, it's January 1 to December 31.  If you don't make over the minimum you don't HAVE to file, but it's not a bad idea to file anyway just to have a papertrail.  Will be useful if you ever want to sponsor your spouse for a USA visa.

UK tax year is April 6 to April 5.  Sounds like you'll need to file a self-assessment (deadline will be January 31, 2019).  I'm not sure what the minimum threshold for filing here is.

Are you sure cause the person below said I need to file if I earn $400.



How do I register for self-assesment?

Hi solaire,

This is the starting point for self assessment in the UK.

https://www.gov.uk/self-assessment-tax-returns

It might seem complicated but trust me, the UK system is a lot simpler than the US one.

HMRC are very approachable if you have any questions. You can call or write (always good to get answers to the big questions in writing) and they now have a web chat service but I have not used that facility.

Are you sure cause the person below said I need to file if I earn $400.



How do I register for self-assesment?

Nope, Guya is the professional, not me!  I've not had self-employment income before so I didn't realise it was a lower threshold. 

Okay so I would register as a self-assessment for my UK taxes?



And how to I register for the US? Because my mom has normally just taken my stuff to her US accountant so could she just continue to do that?

Okay so I would register as a self-assessment for my UK taxes?



And how to I register for the US? Because my mom has normally just taken my stuff to her US accountant so could she just continue to do that?

Registration with the IRS is not required in the US (unless you have been a victim of identity theft). Is your mum's accountant familiar with UK tax rules, the UK totalisation agreement and the US/UK tax treaty?

Registration with the IRS is not required in the US (unless you have been a victim of identity theft). Is your mum's accountant familiar with UK tax rules, the UK totalisation agreement and the US/UK tax treaty?

I'd have to check but more than likely not. But I can't really afford anyone better...

Also am I considered actively self employed?

Because I did 6 days worth of work and don't intend to continue forth with this cause I really would rather a job job... I'm just worried about the payment I got for these two gigs.

Registration with the IRS is not required in the US (unless you have been a victim of identity theft). Is your mum's accountant familiar with UK tax rules, the UK totalisation agreement and the US/UK tax treaty?

Confirmed that she does not know UK tax law. So... how do I do US tax then? Cause I have no idea how to do that either. Is there like a fool-proof idiot's guide for the US-UK tax thing?

And now I have a temporary Christmas job... sooo do I need to still do the self-assessed UK taxes?

Hi Solaire
For the UK side of things, the tax-free personal allowance and the tax bands are the same for self-employed and employed people, so for 2016-17 you can make up to £11,000 before you need to pay tax and you’ll then pay the basic rate of income tax (20%) on income up to £43,000. The higher rate of 40% applies to income over £43,000, and on income over £150,000 you pay the additional rate of 45%.

You can contact HMRC for advice if you’re not sure whether you’re trading or considered self employed. If you undertake something on a one off basis, that might be considered neither employed or self employed. for example on a one off basis you make a wedding dress for a friend and she pays you. any profits on making the dress would be considered casual earnings and could be put as other income on a tax return.

For the US side of things, going by what you wrote it is not as complicated as you think. you could probably easily be able to file yourself, You should read up on IRS publication 54  which discusses tax rules for U.S. citizens and resident aliens who work abroad or who have income earned in foreign countries.

Hi Solaire
For the UK side of things, the tax-free personal allowance and the tax bands are the same for self-employed and employed people, so for 2016-17 you can make up to £11,000 before you need to pay tax and you’ll then pay the basic rate of income tax (20%) on income up to £43,000. The higher rate of 40% applies to income over £43,000, and on income over £150,000 you pay the additional rate of 45%.

You can contact HMRC for advice if you’re not sure whether you’re trading or considered self employed. If you undertake something on a one off basis, that might be considered neither employed or self employed. for example on a one off basis you make a wedding dress for a friend and she pays you. any profits on making the dress would be considered casual earnings and could be put as other income on a tax return.

For the US side of things, going by what you wrote it is not as complicated as you think. you could probably easily be able to file yourself, You should read up on IRS publication 54  which discusses tax rules for U.S. citizens and resident aliens who work abroad or who have income earned in foreign countries.

Okay so even though I'm married and filing jointly, I should be okay on the UK side?

I've got £475 from two freelancing gigs for two companies which weren't taxed

and I've just picked up a temp/seasonal job which is probably going to pay £580 a month before taxes (probably only employed until January if that)

So do I need to file anything in the UK for that initial £475?


And I will read up on that bit you've mentioned. I'm just a bit lost because I've literally never earned enough money in my life from any employment to have to worry majorly about taxes... I think once I earned literally enough back from the government to cover the fee that I used for my mom's accountant...