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US federal returns
Form 1040 prepared from a cross-border position: exclusions, credits, treaty claims and every schedule your situation actually triggers.
A US return that knows about your UK life.
Every US citizen and Green Card holder files with the IRS annually, wherever they live. Living abroad does not simplify that return — it adds exclusions, credits and disclosures a domestic preparer rarely sees.
We prepare the whole position as one coherent return rather than a stack of disconnected forms.
What we do
01
Form 1040 and schedules
The core return with every schedule your income and holdings require, prepared once and reconciled against your UK position.
02
Exclusion or credit, chosen deliberately
The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion and the foreign tax credit interact. We model both before filing, because revoking the exclusion carries a five-year lock.
03
State returns and residency
Leaving the country does not always end state filing. We assess whether your residency break holds and file accordingly.
04
Amended returns and ITINs
Fixing what earlier preparers missed, including refund claims still open under the statute and ITIN applications for non-US spouses.
Why us
Prepared from both sides at once
A return prepared in isolation tends to claim relief in the wrong country, or twice, or not at all. We prepare the US and UK positions together so the reliefs line up.
You get the reasoning behind each election, not just a filed form.
When it comes to questions that cross two tax systems, you need specialists who work in both every day. Meet the team that make it happen.
View our peopleFrequently asked
Which forms will my return actually include?
Almost always Form 1040, plus Form 2555 or Form 1116 depending on how relief is claimed. Beyond that it depends on what you hold — Form 8938 for foreign assets, Form 8621 for funds, Form 5471 for a foreign company. The return grows with the position rather than the income.
Do I need to report my UK bank accounts on the return?
Possibly on Form 8938, which sits with the return. That is separate from FBAR, which is filed with FinCEN. Many people owe both, and neither substitutes for the other.
I have not filed in years. Is that a problem?
It is fixable. The Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures exist precisely for non-willful failures from abroad, and in most cases close the gap without penalties.
What if I have no US income at all?
You still file if your worldwide income exceeds the filing threshold. Living abroad with entirely foreign income does not remove the obligation, though credits often reduce the tax to nothing.
Which is better, the exclusion or the credit?
At UK tax rates the foreign tax credit is frequently better, because UK tax often exceeds the US liability and generates carryover. Switching away from the exclusion has consequences, so it is worth modelling.
Can I file jointly with a non-US spouse?
Only by election, which brings their worldwide income into the US system. Sometimes worthwhile, often not, and it is not lightly reversed.
Do you handle state returns too?
Yes, where a state filing obligation exists. States do not follow federal treaty relief, so this is often where the real exposure sits.
Form 1040 prepared from a cross-border position: exclusions, credits, treaty claims and every schedule your situation actually triggers.
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Tell us what you are trying to solve and we will put the right specialist on the call.
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