Hello and thanks in advance for your help!!!
I am a resident in the UK who qualifies for the earned income exclusion. I thought I had been doing my taxes correctly every year but I just got a letter from my bank asking about FATCA, which I had never heard of, as result I looked it up online and now I've learned about Fbar and the Schdule B.
My income tax situation: I make less than $5,000 a year as I am primarily a stay-at-home parent who has a small amount of self-employment income. My spouse is a non-resident alien with a full time job. We have a joint bank account where my spouse's salary goes in every month. This is so I can buy groceries, pay bills and general stuff to maintain the children. None of the income on this bank account is money I have earned but the balance is over the $10,000 threshold I have just learned about. We do not recieve any interest from the account as one is a checking/current account and the savings account is an off-set mortage. Again, we receive no interest.
These are the forms I have been completing:
1040
Schedule C
2555 (Foreign Earned Income)
US/UK 1 (Statement from Inland Revenue to the IRS that I pay social security/national insurance in the UK and am therefore exempt from doing so in the USA)
The reason I know about the above forms is because I talked to an IRS international tax officer about all of the above. It took hours and they never mentioned the Fbar or the Schedule B. So I thought I was doing my taxes correctly!!!
I now know I need to do the Fbar and schedule B even though the money in the account is not my own.
I have several questions:
A: Do I need to file an amended return for the last three years which includes the Schedule B even though there is no change on the income? Or do I need to file amended returns for the past 6 years since I need to do the last 6 years for the Fbar?
B. Since my income is very low but the balance on our joint account is high (due to my spouses income) what does that mean for the Fbar?
I think just those two (three) questions. Thanks so much again for all of your thoughts!!!
