AS must have read yesterday's blog post because she came to my rescue on a couple of the points in it. 
- Immigration lawyer. She asked what I was feeling in doubt about, then went trolling the British immigration site as well as some blogs. My main sticking point right now is about who should claim SL on their taxes, so it won't raise any red flags or cause any confusion if we eventually try to immigrate. We talked it over and AS made me see that as non-married parents, she and NT could easily explain why SL had been claimed by someone in a particular year for support reasons, and NT and I could easily explain why she might appear on our tax forms but then not be part of our immigration application (because the mother had custody. It needn't raise any particular concerns that can't be easily explained; people have complicated parenting situations all the time. Now that I feel better about that part, I think we're going to hold off speaking with a lawyer, and just go with the most beneficial way to claim SL on our taxes.
- Taxes. Now that I can start on taxes, I'm still thinking about my random thought that maybe I could save us $300 or so by doing them myself. We've had an accountant handle them for the past two years, so maybe I could just look at what he submitted to the IRS and mimic that. Other than SL being born, not much has changed.
- Freelance checks. AS checked with the company she's expecting the three checks from, and their records show one of them being mailed out 1/29! So we think that's been lost in the mail, and AS is going to ask them to cut another one. Good thing she inquired about this. The other two checks won't be sent out until the next billing cycle. At least we know where we are.
So, with deciding not to meet with a lawyer, and if I manage to do our taxes myself, we may suddenly have $675 we can put to big-picture goals! I think I'll save it until that student loan payment hits, then put it toward that loan. (I don't want to send out any more money until I verify they received that payment, though.)
Feeling better about a couple of my uncertainties
February 19th, 2013 at 06:43 pm
February 19th, 2013 at 07:29 pm 1361302193
We generally do not deal with ex-pats and foreign stuff - way out of my league - BUT I do happen to be aware of a new form. I presume Turbo Tax or whatever would alert you to this, if it is relevant to you, but just FYI:
http://www.irs.gov/uac/Form-8938,-Statement-of-Foreign-Finan...
February 19th, 2013 at 07:41 pm 1361302910
Although, new things like this form are what freak me out! I looked through it and it doesn't seem like his rental unit is the sort of asset they're looking for, but I'll have to read it more closely to be sure. His flat is the only thing worth anywhere near the threshold mentioned in the form, so that's the only thing we'd have to worry about.
I'll look over what he did last year, and see what we have this year. If it doesn't seem terribly different, I think I'll try it on my own.
February 19th, 2013 at 08:30 pm 1361305813
Off the top of my head, I don't think foreign real estate has to be reported.
I am guessing you'd get some sort of heads up reading the forms or using tax software. Or this is an area you may want to google annually. The IRS keeps coming out with more and more paperwork as they try to sniff out foreign tax shelters. Just means lots of paperwork and questions for people who happen to be dual citizens own homes around the world. My clients aren't *that* rich, but a lot of them have homes abroad.
This confirms that real estate is not of concern:
http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Comparison-of-Form-8938-and-FB...
February 19th, 2013 at 08:31 pm 1361305901
February 20th, 2013 at 05:38 am 1361338707