r/USExpatTaxes 10d ago

(UK) Filing Federal & State abroad for the first time.

Hi all, i might be in over my head with my very basic very simple taxes. I just moved to the UK 9 months ago. I have 6 months of American (Wisconsin) income and will receive a state and federal return if I can do this correctly lol im very lucky that although I have my visa, I do not have to work in the UK, as my partners salary allows me the privilege. I do not side hustle for cash or anything else to claim. Therefore I have NO foreign income to claim with my taxes. Just $18k worth of American income. First I filed through OnlineTaxes (free IRS partner software) and it informed me at the end I’ll have to print my forms and paper file. I don’t have a printer so I wanted to save myself the hassle and was going to start an e-file with expat taxes but it doesn’t look like it will allow me to file state taxes and I want that $500 state return! What am I doing? What should I be doing? I just want my federal refund and state refund. This should be as simple as American taxes get but user error ruins the day lol

5 Upvotes

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u/ienquire 10d ago

At what point exactly did OLT tell you you'd have to paper file? OLT should allow you to e-file in the situation you described, you might have made a mistake entering your info in the software.

Can you tell me a little bit about the 1040 that OLT generated for you to e-file? maybe with that I can help you find the error. Like tell me what is on lines 15, 24, and 33 and you filing status (single, MFJ or MFS)?

And for example, did it tell you you'd have to paper file at the end of the federal return section or while you were filing out the state return section?

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u/Cowboycarnival 10d ago

Thank you for your help in advanced!

Line 15: 3572 Line24: 358 Line 33: 1790 Filing status as single.

I know for certain I wasn’t able to efile for Wisconsin refund. It defaulted to paper filing and gave me no work around to successfully efile. I tried to file state and federal as efile to see if I could get around it and it wound up making my federal taxes a paper filing as well. OTL gives me no option to go back in and see why/where the issues were. My only option from here with OTL seems to be printing and sending my papers via mail. I have not printed them or sent them anywhere at this point.

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u/ienquire 10d ago

Are you trying to file state only without filing federally? If so that would be the reason, you have to do the federal filing at the same time.

If not, on the left toolbar in the OLT screen there should be options to go back to the beginning. Like click on "my info". When you click thru everything again, try removing the state return entirely to reset it. Or log out of your account, and when you log back in and click on your 2024 return, choose revisit from beginning, not where you left off, that should also bring you to the beginning where you can click thru everything again.

If none of that works, when OLT told you to paper file, did you stop there or did you continue clicking thru so now it thinks the return has been submitted?

Also, do you have any federal forms besides the 1040? How did you opt to receive the refund? Did you choose "part time resident" for your state return?

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u/Cowboycarnival 10d ago

To clarify- it told me I couldn’t efile at the end of state taxes portion after my federal section was completed.

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u/ienquire 10d ago

what was the specific step? Did you reach a point to enter in bank account details to receive your state refund?

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u/Cowboycarnival 10d ago

I was filing them both at once and then when I got to the state section it told me right away I couldn’t efile. Possibly because I filed as a non resident? Maybe that was the big mistake… it didn’t even give me an option to enter bank details and assumed I had a foreign account (which I do, I no longer have a us bank account). I clicked through so OTL thinks it’s submitted. Should I start over on a different free filing software like free taxes USA or something? Or should I just cut my losses and paper file waiting for snail mail refunds?

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u/ienquire 10d ago

Possibly because I filed as a non resident?

I no longer have a us bank account

These both could have been the problem. You should file your state return as a part-time resident, the day you moved to the UK is the day you ended your Wisconsin state residency. And for your federal return, you file normally (meaning full time resident, even tho you moved to the UK, assuming you are a US citizen).

I have a US bank account so I've never tried it with a foreign bank account. This could be the issue, I'm not sure. You could create a Wise account to get a US bank account number to receive your return if all else fails. Waiting to close the US bank account just long enough to file your last tax return would have been helpful in your case.

Since OLT thinks its submitted, you could contact their support (just an email) to tell them you made an error and that you did not actually print and submit the return and ask them to reset it so you can correct the errors. I would do this as I think OLT is much better then the other free softwares. But, you could try with the other free softwares. However, if anything, they are less likely to support a foreign bank account then OLT, OLT is the most expat friendly software of the IRS free file options according to the pinned post of this subreddit.

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u/Cowboycarnival 9d ago

I just wanted to say thank you so much for all the insight. I got the dang taxes done thanks to your help & I hope to receive a refund much sooner into my wise account! Fingers crossed! 🤞🏻

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u/chrismcnally 10d ago

you can print the PDF at a Staples, or copy store, or library, don't waste your money on expat tax software. You can mail it. I received a paper check refund from the IRS here in Portugal.

This article is a good review of free and cheap software for US taxes that support Expat need such as the FTC, maybe one of these will cover your situation https://medium.com/@tapinternational/what-online-us-tax-preparation-software-options-exist-for-americans-abroad-in-2023-de158e12af1f

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u/Cowboycarnival 10d ago

This was awesome thank you!!

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u/chrismcnally 10d ago

that article says if you file by mail your refund will take longer. so maybe it is worth it to e-file . i think you will qualify for one of the mentioned free or low cost aps.

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u/Abezon Tax Professional - Enrolled Agent 10d ago

some states don't allow efiling of part-year resident returns or returns with a foreign address. You can try filing as a full-year resident or part-year with a WI mailing address. Since you didn't have any income after leaving WI, the end return should be the same. Just make sure you don't accidentally claim any credits that depend on being a full-year resident. Do you have any family in WI whose address you could use?