Summer in England

Expat Taxes

There are only two certainties in life...death and taxes. 


It's that time in my expat journey to write my post about paying taxes. I've put it off for as long as I could, but there's no escaping it. If you ever want to go back to the States you need to be current with your taxes. Despite what I've read about people hoping to forget all about taxes when they come to live in England it's just not true. You will have to file taxes.


In addition to filling back taxes from 2007 I also had a misfiling from 2004 which finally caught up with me and I ended up having to pay a not so small sum of money to the IRS. Turns out that I can refile and get a refund, so that was something that I needed to do as well.


I started thinking about filing my back taxes almost a year ago and started asking around if anyone knew of someone who can handles American taxes. A lovely guy that I know here recommended someone, but I didn't have a very good experience with him. Basically the person who was recommended was just so slow at getting back to me. I just gave up on it, thinking that I could maybe figure it out on my own. Now that was almost a year ago, so you can see how far I got. 


Since I am thinking of returning to Minnesota at some point and applying for Matthew's green card, that means I have to get these taxes sorted. I spent a bit of time researching it online and came to the conclusion that I am not be the best person to file my own taxes. I might be good at lots of things, but I came to the realization that I was more than happy to let a professional take care of it. 


So that meant finding someone to do it. I went to the UK Yankee website, which is my favourite site for everything expat, and had a look at the Tax thread, Haven't filed Since moving to the UK! Help! 


This tread struck a cord with me and I saw that they mentioned Greenback Expat Tax Service. I went to the website, liked the look of it so I sent them an email and they got back to the next day.


Getting my taxes sorted was really easy. I got an email instructing me that I had been given a File Share where I could upload files and that I needed to fill out a tax questionaire. I filled out the form and uploaded all my tax information. 


I had the IRS send me everything I needed, which made things easy. I uploaded all my documents on a Sunday and I got an email back on Monday afternoon informing me that my taxes were ready! I couldn't believe it. 


I had one issue with my 2010 tax return relating to some investments and David was super helpful. I needed to get some more information from my financial advisor and he was able to amend it the very next day. 


I've been very impressed with how quickly they came back to me. I would recommend Greenback Expat Tax Service. It was just so easy to upload the information they needed and get the returns done. I just felt that I didn't want to mess around with my taxes and risk not filing them correctly. 


Their pricing is pretty straightforward you pay $329 for the first return and each additional year is $279. You can pay the bill online, either by credit card or PayPal.


All I can say is don't be afraid of filing your taxes, just do it. Working with David was so easy and he's a lovely guy and I am very happy with the service I received from Greenback.

I got this email from David about the process works:

We get a lot of questions from new customers about 'how the process works' so below is a brief outline of what you can expect. If you have any questions, please drop me an email anytime and I will do my best to answer them. I understand that you have multiple years of returns to file. If you just fill in one questionnaire and then copy it for each year, you will only need to change any information that changes from one year to the next. If you have any correspondence from the IRS regarding your 2004 return, please upload that as well.

How the process works:

1- You will receive shortly (or have just received) a user name and password to access our sharefile system. This system will allow us to securely share your tax documents as well as your draft and final tax returns. This system utilizes the same 128bit encryption that banks use, so it is very secure. 

2- When you log in, you will notice that I have uploaded a questionnaire which you can use to share your tax details, as well as a checklist which itemizes which documents you will need to upload to your secure folder.

3- Once you have uploaded these documents, I will start reviewing them, and will likely come back to you with some questions and clarifications to make sure that I fully understand your specific situation and can help you take advantage of as many deductions as possible.

4- Once I have all the info I need from you, I will prepare your draft return and upload it to your secure folder. At that point, you will also receive an invoice from us. Payment is not due until you are happy with your draft return.

5- Once you have reviewed your tax return and paid the invoice, we will then upload the final return to you, with directions for mailing it in or in many cases we can efile it for you.

I hope that is clear, however if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

I look forward to working with you. My goal is to make this US tax year your most hassle-free one yet!

Sincerely,

David L. Hillary, Jr., CPA, CITP, MBA

I didn't see it coming

Lazy girl blog.love this video. makes me happy.

Thinking about time

I think a lot about time these days. 


I think about.....


How much longer will I be living in London?


How long will we live in the States?


How long will it take to get my UK passport once I've applied?


I think about not having enough hours in the day. About how long my journey to work takes. How fast the weeks seems to go by and how the weekends go by even faster.


I think about if I have time to really meet that friend for a coffee on a Saturday afternoon, or if I should be spending my time doing other things. 


I think about how long it would take to do a masters degree.  I think about how long it will take for me to advance my career.


I spend time thinking about writing posts on this blog and then feeling bad that I can't find the time.


I think about how I now need to plan what I need to do. If I need to go shopping and it's all the way across town do I really want to make the journey to get there, is it worth the time?


I feel like time is moving at a speed that I've never experienced before. It seems to slip away before I've done so many of things I want to. All of sudden it's 10 p.m. and I still have a full to do list.


I don't know if it's because I am getting older. All I know is that I am more aware of time than ever before and that I feel the need to plan and make sure that I do everything that I want to do in this life.


My friend Becky and I have had talks about this recently. She reckons it's something that starts to happen to you when you turn 30. That you realise that life isn't forever in a way that seems much different from when you're in your 20's.


 I think that it's partly because of living here in London that I've had the chance to reflect on my life in way that I wasn't able to back in Minneapolis. I sometimes feel like I've been plucked out of one life and dropped into another. I feel more or less the same, yet things feel that tiny bit different. 


The main reason that I've been thinking so much about time is that I am coming up to 3 years here in the UK and after October 11th I can apply for my UK passport. 


Which means that we've thinking about when we'll go and live in Minnesota. When I married Matthew we made a deal that at some point (after I got my UK passport) that we'd live for at least a year in Minneapolis. Just so Matthew could see what life is like where I grew up and for us to spend some time with my friends and family. 


I'd really like Matthew to experience what it's like to be Minnesota, because being Minnesotan is pretty brilliant and I'd like him to have the chance to live in another country. I want to show him everything about a place that I love. I think Matthew would make a great Minnesotan.


At the moment nothing is set in stone when anything is going to happen. The only thing weighing on my shoulders is if we're going to start a family at some point where is that going to be? Do I want to raise a family in London? Would we live in MN or somewhere else in England? So many things to think about and consider. So many things to think about.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven" 

New York Subway or London Underground?

NYC Subway 7 Day unlimited travel $29.00 USD

London Underground 7 Day unlimited travel (zones 1&2) £27.30 GBP

I was away in New York last week for a graduation with the family and while I was there I spent some time riding around on the subway.


I love cities with public transport. In some ways it seems like a novelty to me coming from Minneapolis. Minneapolis does have a decent bus and more recent light rail system, but no one really aspires to public transport there. You ride the bus if you don't have a car, you work in downtown or you're a tree hugger. If you're really a tree hugger then you'll usually be riding a bike....


I used to ride the bus before I had a car and can clearly remember my first rides. The first bus trip going out to Southdale mall and of course getting on going the wrong way, riding it out to the middle of nowhere and having to turn around and ride it all the way back in the opposite direction, those were the days.


I ride the tube everyday here and for the most part it's good. I used to have a pretty easy straightforward journey to my previous job at WAX. Now working at LBi I am going over to East London. It takes me about 45 mins door to door. I've got two ways I can get there.


I can take the Victoria line from Brixton up to Oxford Circus, change there and then take the Central line to Liverpool Street. The benefit of this journey is that since Brixton is the first stop on I always get a seat. Sitting down first thing in the morning is pretty nice. It's usually crowded on the Central Line, meaning I have to stand, but it's not too super crowded. This route is a longer and it can sometimes be crowded in Liverpool Street station. Meaning lots of people trying to get out at the same time, while wandering round getting in my way. 


Or, I can get on at Brixton take the Victoria line up one stop and change for the Northern line at Stockwell. I then take the Northern line all the way up to Moorgate, get out there and then walk about 5 extra minutes. Moorgate is just behind Liverpool Street station. 


The journey is quicker by far, but the Northern line is sooooo crowded. I mean like you fight your way onto the train and spend the journey with your face in someone's armpit. I think I've only got a seat once in the past 2 months and that was when there was only one stop left before I got out. 


It's not pleasant. Being that crowded means being stuffed in with a lot of other people who also aren't very happy about having their bodies pressed up against strangers. Most people look miserable and it's usually pretty hot.


So, when I was in New York I rode the subway around and let me tell you...the subway has nothing on the London Underground. I was thinking about this as I was coming home on the extremely HOT Victoria line last night. 


The subway in New York is nasty. It's dirty and grim and it's just like a hole in the ground with trains. At night it feels a bit rough and ready. I also found it not as straightforward to use as the Underground. I can look at the Underground map and know exactly which direction the train is going to be heading. I am sure if I lived in New York I'd get the hang of it, but I missed the tube big time.


I missed the classical music playing at the stations, the escalators, the adverts, the little shops, the Metro, Stylist and Evening Standard and how clean the underground is. 


I do have to say in the subway's favour that I do like the fact that it runs all night, the trains are bigger and AIR CONDITIONED! You might swelter for a bit on the platform, but the minute you step on the train you're hit with that sweet cooled air. I also get a kick out of seeing pay phones on the platform. 


I wouldn't be a Londoner if I didn't moan about the Underground, but secretly I love it. Sorry New York subway London wins this one!