Now we’re living in the UK, how do we sort our US & UK Taxes..?

I have a Wells Fargo and a Wise account. I have never had a problem moving funds between the two accounts. I am moving towards closing the WF account. I am using a relatives US address (have done so since I moved to UK in 2012) but I wanted to make sure Wise could receive funds from the IRS and a Fidelity IRA without any problems before closing.. So far, it’s been fine and I’ve received money from both.

Many Thanks Clare,

It’s just good hear you can receive funds from the IRS into the US WISE Account.

Have you ever needed to pay the IRS from your WISE account..?

I have not had to do that as I always get a tax refund due to foreign tax credit. I have paid money from Wise to my son’s Wells Fargo account several times without a problem.

Back to the FBAR stuff and Form 8938

On the FBAR…

In previous years I’ve simply filed the FBAR in my name as while we were resident in the US my UK bank account was in my name only.

Since moving to the UK, this same UK bank account has now been converted to a joint account, in both my wife’s and my name.

I’ve found the form 114a, (as a .pdf), online which is suppose to enable us to declare that our bank account is now joint, and we could print this form out, fill it in and sign it, declaring myself as the ‘Preparer’. .

At the bottom of this form 114a there a statement…

“DO NOT SEND THIS RECORD TO FinCEN UNLESS REQUESTED TO DO SO.”

So what are we to do with this form and how do we get these details to whom it may concern in the US..?

I’ve still to do my FBAR for 2021, and during completion I can see it asks if the bank account is joint, but I thought I’d seek an answer to the question above before starting on my FBAR

ON Form 8938…

I’ve never needed to fill out Form 8938 in the past, and I’m not sure if I need to now..

I see the thresholds for Married Couples filing Jointly, the max threshold is $600,000
Or $300,000 if filing separately and living abroad.

My wife and myself are filing Jointly in the US but separately in the UK, so I assume our max threshold should be $600,000..??

Is this a question that Turbo Tax might handle, would it tell us if we need to submit form 8938..?

I’ve found the form 114a, (as a .pdf), online which is suppose to enable us to declare that our bank account is now joint, and we could print this form out, fill it in and sign it, declaring myself as the ‘Preparer’. .

At the bottom of this form 114a there a statement…

“DO NOT SEND THIS RECORD TO FinCEN UNLESS REQUESTED TO DO SO.”

So what are we to do with this form and how do we get these details to whom it may concern in the US..?

If you do complete this form, keep it in your files. It is not required anywhere else, unless the IRS specifically requests it at some time in the future (unlikely).

ON Form 8938…

I’ve never needed to fill out Form 8938 in the past, and I’m not sure if I need to now..

I see the thresholds for Married Couples filing Jointly, the max threshold is $600,000
Or $300,000 if filing separately and living abroad.

My wife and myself are filing Jointly in the US but separately in the UK, so I assume our max threshold should be $600,000..??

"If your tax home is in a foreign country, you meet one of the presence abroad tests described next, and no exception applies, file Form 8938 with your income tax return if you satisfy the reporting threshold discussed next that applies to you."

"Married taxpayers filing a joint income tax return. If you are married and you and your spouse file a joint income tax return, you satisfy the reporting threshold only if the total value of your specified foreign financial assets is more than $400,000 on the last day of the tax year or more than $600,000 at any time during the tax year."

Note: underline mine.

From:
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i8938.pdf
page 4

Many thanks theOAP,

I’ve managed to submit my FBAR OK, using our joint account.

Goodbye Well’s Fargo.

After many years of being a Well’s Fargo Customer, where I originally opened my account with them using my UK address, as at the time I wasn’t a US resident, their new ‘No Foreign Address’ policy on the account, has lead to a sour exit.

Firstly, (although we’ve only just received their mail today after 17 days in the post), they sent us out a form which they expect us to sign and get notorized and post back to them, asking us WHY ‘We’ want to close the account… Errrr REALLY, its WF that wants this, not us, so they whistle for their form..!!

My previous posting about us trying to close the account, after they told us to leave, where they wouldn’t let us transfer funds to my new Wise account, and they wanted to send us a ‘Check in the Post’, was only the start.   

I did zero my account with them using USFOREX and pulled all the remaining funds to our UK account, only then to be charged $12.00 by WF for having a ‘Zero Balance’..!!, pushing our account overdrawn to -$12.00.  And of course, an account which is overdrawn can’t be closed..!! Not only that but had I not noticed they’d done this we would also have been charged on the overdraft..!!

So, once again I had to phone WF customer service to get them to credit the account back to zero and close it down.  The last comment from the customer service girl was.. “We’re sorry to see you go”, I told her, “We didn’t want to go, its you that’s thrown us out”..!!

After all the years of having our funds in their account, and the future pension payments that would have flowed through their account, its their loss..

Goodbye Wells Fargo.

Goodbye Well’s Fargo.

After many years of being a Well’s Fargo Customer, where I originally opened my account with them using my UK address, as at the time I wasn’t a US resident, their new ‘No Foreign Address’ policy on the account, has lead to a sour exit.

Firstly, (although we’ve only just received their mail today after 17 days in the post), they sent us out a form which they expect us to sign and get notorized and post back to them, asking us WHY ‘We’ want to close the account… Errrr REALLY, its WF that wants this, not us, so they can whistle for their form..!!

My previous posting about us trying to close the account, after they told us to leave, where they wouldn’t let us transfer funds to my new Wise account, and they wanted to send us a ‘Check in the Post’, was only the start.   

I did zero my account with them using USFOREX and pulled all the remaining funds to our UK account, only then to be charged $12.00 by WF for having a ‘Zero Balance’..!!, pushing our account overdrawn to -$12.00.  And of course, an account which is overdrawn can’t be closed..!! Not only that but had I not noticed they’d done this we would also have been charged on the overdraft..!!

So, once again I had to phone WF customer service to get them to credit the account back to zero and close it down.  The last comment from the customer service girl was.. “We’re sorry to see you go”, I told her, “We didn’t want to go, its you that’s thrown us out”..!!

After all the years of having our funds in their account, and the future pension payments that would have flowed through their account, its their loss..

Goodbye Wells Fargo.

Really infuriating being sent a form to be notarized and for you to pay for the pleasure! Absolutely, who's going to do that while being 'kicked out'. A bad allaround experience and the ‘Check in the Post’ aspect compounds matters. The U.S. banking system is so archaic though, with 'Wire Rooms' for international transfer. My U.S. bank was agasp when I told them that I can send funds to them, from my U.K account and all from my phone.... Witchcraft indeed!

Did you open up an alternative U.S. bank, Wise perhaps or SDFCU?

 

Yes I have opened a Wise account which, has a US account Number and Routing number and which I’m hoping our next IRS Tax refund can be paid into..??!!

Yes I have opened a Wise account which, has a US account Number and Routing number and which I’m hoping our next IRS Tax refund can be paid into..??!!

Providing you have done a 'test' deposit and withdraw i'm sure you'll be fine when it come to refund time. Obviously triple check the routing and account number is perfect. Although I transfer a great deal with Wise, I don't have a Multi-Currency Account. Right now my Stateside account is cool with a U.K address, although I still have my U.S. address listed too. If they did close me down, the SDFCU or Wise would be about my only option. I'll get one large U.S. payment a year right now and I guess i'm a little reticent about having such a big chunk of change going into a non insured account, (as Wise is). Also my payer needs a 'voided check', (not possible with Wise) if the bank info should change.... Much prefer the ease of Wise, but if a push comes to a shove then i'd likely join the ACC and sign up with the State Department FCU and get those old paper things called checks.

Yes, there’s been a couple of small test deposits and withdrawals done on the Wise account. Ironically this was done by Wells Fargo, right before it decided it wasn’t going to let me do the same and move money to the Wise account.  We did see the money movements going IN and the OUT by WF.

I believe other’s have said their IRS Tax refunds were successfully deposited into their Wise accounts.

The Wise Account we have opened is a Multinational Account where we can easily convert the US$ to UK pounds, and visa versa.

It never rains, it pours..!!

We went through all the steps needed with Turbo Tax to get the details ready for the IRS, as Expat’s living in the UK. We had immediate online help with a paid assistant guiding through the steps, only to find, at the end we were NOT ABLE to submit the file because we didn’t have a Credit Card with a US address associated to it..!! AND, we have no-one in the US (relative, neighbour or otherwise), who we can ask to make the payment for us..!!

To all of you who are successfully filing using Turbo Tax, I can only assume that you haven’t fallen into the same Rabbit Hole as we have.

So Turbo Tax have done the work in helping us, then make it impossible for us to pay them. OUR UK Credit/Debit cards won’t work.

I find it ironic that we’re having to pay out money to inform the IRS they owe ust a refund or that we don’t owe them anything..!! 

As I type my wife my wife has found this link, which we’re about to study…


https://www.irs.gov/filing/e-file-options

I’m just wondering if anyone has managed to E-file their details themselves to the IRS, without incurring costs, difficulties or problems..?

It never rains, it pours..!!

We went through all the steps needed with Turbo Tax to get the details ready for the IRS, as Expat’s living in the UK. We had immediate online help with a paid assistant guiding through the steps, only to find, at the end we were NOT ABLE to submit the file because we didn’t have a Credit Card with a US address associated to it..!! AND, we have no-one in the US (relative, neighbour or otherwise), who we can ask to make the payment for us..!!

To all of you who are successfully filing using Turbo Tax, I can only assume that you haven’t fallen into the same Rabbit Hole as we have.

So Turbo Tax have done the work in helping us, then make it impossible for us to pay them. OUR UK Credit/Debit cards won’t work.

I find it ironic that we’re having to pay out money to inform the IRS they owe ust a refund or that we don’t owe them anything..!! 

As I type my wife my wife has found this link, which we’re about to study…


https://www.irs.gov/filing/e-file-options

I’m just wondering if anyone has managed to E-file their details themselves to the IRS, without incurring costs, difficulties or problems..?

Welcome to the cruel world of TurboTax and I believe TaxAct is similar. There have been various threads on this issue before.  I maintain a US credit card using our daughter’s address in the USA mainly for this very issue.

It never rains, it pours..!!

We went through all the steps needed with Turbo Tax to get the details ready for the IRS, as Expat’s living in the UK. We had immediate online help with a paid assistant guiding through the steps, only to find, at the end we were NOT ABLE to submit the file because we didn’t have a Credit Card with a US address associated to it..!! AND, we have no-one in the US (relative, neighbour or otherwise), who we can ask to make the payment for us..!!

To all of you who are successfully filing using Turbo Tax, I can only assume that you haven’t fallen into the same Rabbit Hole as we have.

So Turbo Tax have done the work in helping us, then make it impossible for us to pay them. OUR UK Credit/Debit cards won’t work.

I find it ironic that we’re having to pay out money to inform the IRS they owe ust a refund or that we don’t owe them anything..!! 

As I type my wife my wife has found this link, which we’re about to study…


https://www.irs.gov/filing/e-file-options

I’m just wondering if anyone has managed to E-file their details themselves to the IRS, without incurring costs, difficulties or problems..?

Welcome to the cruel world of TurboTax and I believe TaxAct is similar. There have been various threads on this issue before.  I maintain a US credit card using our daughter’s address in the USA mainly for this very issue.

Try this with your U.K card. It works with TaxAct and may with Turbo Tax:

For the address line, enter the first line of your real foreign address; e.g. 123 High Street.
For the rest of the address, put in Turbo Taxes address, State and zip.
Then add your own payment card information.

Let us know if it works with Turbo Tax, otherwise it will with TaxAct and their address in Cedar Rapids.