Durhamlad - Wouldn't the SS figure show in box 5a of the 1040? Also, I see by the instructions that an 8833 is not required for pensions/SS.
Yes, SS does show up on line 5a and the taxable amount of SS on line 5b should be 0 for a person living in the UK according to the treaty. I use TurboTax and when I inquired on their user community forum they said to enter "other income" with a negative income equaling the amount on line 5b to zero it out. They also said to file a treaty exemption explaining why SS is only taxed in the UK. 5b is not zero for me in TurboTax because of my income I am taxed on 85% of my SS.
However, Nan here has an alternative option for those sending in a paper return and I think that would work in TT as well if the comment Nan suggests is put "Other income" and no treaty exemption form is filed.
I was lazy and used Royal Mail tracked this year. I hope it doesn't come back and bite me in the backside. (I did not want to have to get onto a packed bus to go to city center to FedEx it, with people coughing, etc.). We both put our returns in separate envelopes inside the one we sent. It's early enough that if it gets lost we can redo-them - took a photocopy for good measure. Fingers are crossed it actually gets to Austin ok. The Daughter does not owe tax, and I should get a very small refund.
On the SS. You enter on line 5a what your SS was. On 5b you enter "0" as the taxable amount. You write in next to it "US/UK tax treaty Art. 17.3". Could not figure out how to do that on TurboTax, but on the printed form it's not hard. Good luck with it!
Discussion thread in March that has Nan's quote:
https://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=97777.0