Saga of UK pension contributions

I've read through zillions of threads on this topic and am sadly none the wiser. I wonder if anyone can provide some thoughts on this?

I've been in the UK for 21 years and have contributed to two employer pensions in that time, both of which were/are defined benefit plans.  The first was USS of which I am a deferred member and I am now in the Teacher Pension Scheme.  My normal filing procedure is to file 1040+2555+Schedule B for the small amount of interest I get from savings accounts. And of course FBAR - not 8938 because not enough assets.  I am well under the limit for FEIE and as a teacher plan to stay there for the rest of my working life.  I generally include all my gross income on the 1040 (so including pre-pension contribution deduction) but I have never included any employer contribution.  The employer contribution just goes to Teacher's Pension and forms part of the huge pot, out of which I will hopefully get a monthly income, and not in to my individual account like it would in a person pension.  Anyway, I wonder the following:

1. Should I be filing the 8833 to say I am taking advantage of the treaty position to not include employer contributions? Reading through threads,  advice various members have received from the IRS in London etc seems to indicate this is not needed.

2. If I did start to file 8833, would this not just ring alarm bells with IRS - e.g. why now and not before?

3. In order to establish a tax 'basis' to perhaps collect my 25% tax free portion, I think I would have to start reporting employer contributions and using FTC instead of FEIE.  Would it make sense to do this now, or wait until 10 years before I can take the pension (given that tax credits can only be carried on for 10 year).  Or am I missing the point of 'basis'.

4. Have I already established a 'basis' through reporting my gross income (and how could I prove it)?

5. If I am making use of the tax treaty, should I stop reporting gross income and instead use net after pension contributions?  Is there any issue with me having reported gross?  TBH I probably just realised I would be way off the FEIE that I put in whatever number I thought represented all of my income.


Thanks!

I don't file 8833s. My US tax adviser said it wasn't necessary for pensions - there's an exclusion somewhere I think RE pensions, but as usual I'm sure others will disagree.

You have to establish a basis in your pension - my accountant takes care of this and keeps a spreadsheet. When you take an income, you are taxed on the profits and not the basis. You can take 25% tax free as you know so allocate the profit you withdraw to the 25% and your pension should be pretty much tax free in the US at least, assuming you don't have huge gains. US based accountants are very reasonable RE fees for US returns - I pay less than $500 / year and that includes the return, 5471, FBARs and rental properties.

RE how to treat the pension contributions - employer vs. employee - that seems to be a can of worms and I'll let others reply.

A