Hello,

I have recently relocated to Zurich after living in the UK for a couple of years. Whilst in the UK, I was under the impression that unless I earned a certain amount, that I did not have to file a tax return or claim taxes in the US. After speaking to some people here, I am a bit confused as to whether tax forms still need to be filed in the US. I am currently not earning in Switzerland.

HELP! I don't want to owe in the US or get in trouble!!!

Thank you!

Swiss forum, US taxation question on UK domicile .....

thats gonna cost you .....

Can you elaborate on that Polarise?

He means that your answer is probably in the Free Beer thread...Stick around a while and you will figure it out...

As I understand it, if you are a US citizen or Green Card holder, you will have to file your US taxes even if you have not earned anything and live outside of the country. The US taxes it citizens wherever they might live.
You will have a personal exemption of around 90K US$. If you search the forum, you should find several threads with helpful information.

Here is a link that another forum member posted a while back that should answer most questions.

http://www.overseastaxservices.com/o..._qa.html#sec14

and here is a link to a thread with some good info:

Addressing Double Taxation (for Americans): American Competiveness Act

I am assuming that you are either an American citizen or have an
American green card.

You are required to file a tax return every year if the above is true.

You have a choice. You can either
1. Take an $85700 income exclusion OR
2. Take a credit for foreign taxes paid.

Here is the link to the IRS describing some international tax issues.

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/...=97324,00.html

our tax-dodging friends are bang on the money.

If you only have a green card, you can get away with not filing tax returns but, upon your next entry to the US, you might find that you're offered the chance to spend a while completing your returns....or you can give up the green card.

For blue book holders, your choices are limited.

Thank you for your responses. I am a US citizen, and was in London from 06-08. I'm here with my husband who is an EU citizen. I've been on the IRS website and am not 100% sure which form I'm meant to fill in? I'm not earning now, and didn't qualify for an exclusion while working in the UK.

I would file as "Married Filing Separately" so you do not have to
declare your husband's income in the US. Since you are not earning,
your tax liability is most likely zero.

I am married with to a German citizen, and I do not want to
report her income in the US.

Why did you not qualify for an exclusion while working in the UK?

I was advised while living in the UK that I didn't need to do anything if I didn't earn over a certain amount of money. I suppose that I did qualify, but didn't file any forms whilst living in the UK. It was only recently that I was talking to a few US citizens here and they said differently.

There are very few cases where you are not required to
file a tax return. If you are earning less than 85700, there
is no fear. You will not have to pay.

This is true, but for the federal tax only. There are very limited states that will give this same deduction or credit (credit to foreign tax pais) when it comes to state taxes. You should file for the US as a citizen, but if you are earning close to nothing, there is nothing to worry about.

HollidayG,

Did you prepare your Tax Return yourself or did you have someone help you? I def. have to file, and will need to claim my income from the UK, and send asap for 2007 so I don't get penalised, if I haven't already.

I procrastinated filing for the first 4 years that I was here. One day I received a polite call from an IRS investigator, who offered to send me forms, and to help me "come into compliance". We never got around to discussing consequences, as I agreed to do everything he asked. I filed all four years at once. I called him a bunch of times with specific questions, he was really helpful (I think my pestering proved that I was taking it seriously).

HollidayG has already provided the specifics.

I would also suggest that you call the IRS at the US Embassy in Paris: 33 (01) 4312-2555

Apparently this is a very common case among expats, and they are usually very understanding. They only start to treat it as a criminal matter if you continue to avoid them after they approach you.

Thank you all again for your responses and advice on this. I have already started the process and will hopefully finish up as soon as possible. I will have to file for last year and this year, but better to be safe than sorry or chased by the IRS!!