A US citizen in the UK married to a British spouse usually catches up alone. The returns are normally filed as married filing separately, the Form 14653 (opens the official IRS page in a new tab) certification is signed by the US spouse only, and the British spouse stays outside the submission. Jointly held UK accounts still go on the FBARs in full. A joint return is possible on late returns, but it changes who is in the package and for how long.
This post is for Americans in the UK whose husband or wife has no US citizenship or green card, and who are preparing a streamlined submission. It goes further on one point raised in our guide for people behind on US taxes in the UK: how the marriage affects the catch-up. It covers filing status for the late years, the joint election, who signs, joint accounts, penalties on the Foreign route, what the returns say about the spouse, and a worked example from Manchester.
Which filing status applies to the catch-up years?
For most couples, married filing separately. Filing status follows marital status on the last day of each year, so a person married throughout the catch-up period cannot file as single for those years. With a spouse who is not a US person, separate filing keeps the spouse's income off the return, and the filing threshold for this status is $5 of gross income.
That low threshold is why many married Americans in the UK have missed returns. A modest UK salary, fully taxed under PAYE, was enough to require a Form 1040 in each year. The streamlined procedures ask for the most recent three years of returns, and each is prepared on the status that applied for that year, which is normally the same separate status throughout.
Head of household may be available instead where there is a qualifying child and the US spouse paid more than half the cost of the home. The tests for each status are set out in our post on which filing status applies when married to a Brit. This post looks at what changes inside a streamlined package.
- Married filing separately: the usual status, spouse's income stays out
- Head of household: only where its own tests are met for that year
- Married filing jointly: only by election, bringing the spouse's worldwide income in
- Single: not available for a year in which you were married at year end
Can you elect to file jointly on late returns?
Yes, in principle. The choice to treat a non-US spouse as a US resident is made by a statement signed by both spouses and attached to a joint return for the first year it applies. The Treasury regulations require it to be made within the period for claiming a refund, so a late joint return is not ruled out by timing alone.
Publication 519 (opens the official IRS page in a new tab) adds that the choice can also be made on a joint amended return, generally within three years of filing the original or two years of paying the tax, whichever is later. If it is made that way, any returns already filed for the years after must be amended too. The publication is clear about the effect: both spouses are taxed on worldwide income for the whole year, and neither can claim under a treaty not to be a US resident.
For a catch-up, the choice does not stay in one year. Once made, it applies to every later year until it is suspended or ended. Made for the earliest streamlined year, it covers the other catch-up years and every year after them, and a revocation ends it permanently, so the couple can never make it again. It also brings the spouse's UK salary, savings, ISA funds and pension into US reporting.
Does the British spouse sign the streamlined certification?
Not where the US spouse files separately. Form 14653 is a certification by the US person making the submission, and it has a second signature line only for a joint certification. A British spouse who is not on the returns has nothing to certify and no US return to file, unless they have US income of their own.
A joint certification follows a joint return. The form says that its statements are treated as made on behalf of both spouses, even though it uses the pronoun I, and both sign under penalty of perjury. The IRS page on the Foreign route (opens the official IRS page in a new tab) says that for joint return filers both spouses must meet the non-residency requirement, and the form has a separate section for a person who is not a citizen or green card holder, asking for a computation showing that the substantial presence test was not met.
A British spouse who has always lived in the UK will usually pass that test. The harder questions are practical. The spouse needs a taxpayer number, and the IRS says that someone who cannot get a Social Security number should apply for an ITIN (opens the official IRS page in a new tab) with the returns, which our post on an ITIN for your British spouse explains. The spouse also signs for conduct that was mostly the other's; our post on writing the Form 14653 certification covers differing reasons.
How do joint UK accounts fit into the catch-up?
They go on the US spouse's FBARs at their full value, whoever paid the money in. The streamlined procedures ask for six years of FBARs, and a joint account counts in full towards the aggregate threshold of $10,000 in each of those years. This is true on either filing status.
The FBAR is filed electronically with FinCEN (opens the official FinCEN page in a new tab), not with the returns. Its instructions say that where the filer's spouse has an interest in a jointly owned account, the spouse is the principal joint owner and is named on the report, with their taxpayer number and address if known. The details, including accounts in the spouse's sole name and the rule on signature authority, are in our post on FBAR reporting for joint accounts with a non-US spouse, and the FBAR form guide covers the filing itself.
The income tax return works differently. The Form 1040 instructions say that a person filing separately generally reports only their own income, deductions and credits. Interest on a joint savings account is not automatically reported in full on the separate return, though the whole balance is on the FBAR. The split depends on who owns the money and should be consistent across the catch-up years. Our foreign income and FBAR service reconciles the two for each account.
- Joint current and savings accounts with the British spouse
- Joint mortgage offset or savings pots that hold a credit balance
- Accounts in the spouse's sole name on which the US spouse can sign
- Accounts opened and closed during the six FBAR years
Is there an offshore penalty on a spouse's share of the money?
Not on the Foreign route. The IRS says that a taxpayer who is eligible for the Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures (opens the official IRS page in a new tab) and follows the instructions is not subject to failure-to-file, failure-to-pay, accuracy-related, information return or FBAR penalties. No miscellaneous offshore penalty is charged on that route, so the size of a joint account does not set a penalty.
The miscellaneous offshore penalty belongs to the Domestic route (opens the official IRS page in a new tab), where it is 5% of the highest aggregate year-end value of the foreign assets that should have been reported. A US citizen who has lived in the UK throughout the period will normally qualify for the Foreign route instead, since at least one of the three years needs 330 full days outside the United States and no US abode. Couples who moved to the United States during the period should check the day counts first.
The Foreign route protection has limits that apply to married filers as to anyone. It covers amounts reported on the returns, and it falls away if an examination finds fraud or a wilful FBAR violation. The IRS notes on its page for the streamlined filing compliance procedures (opens the official IRS page in a new tab) that returns may be checked against information from banks, so a joint account left off as the spouse's money is still an omission.
- Foreign route: no miscellaneous offshore penalty and no FBAR penalty
- Domestic route: a miscellaneous offshore penalty on the highest year-end value
- Both routes: non-wilful conduct, certified in writing
- Neither route: available once an IRS examination has started
What do the returns reveal about the non-US spouse?
On a separate return, very little. The Form 1040 instructions ask for the spouse's name and, where the spouse has neither a Social Security number nor an ITIN and is not required to have one, the entry NRA in place of a number. The spouse's income, accounts and pension do not appear.
The FBARs say a little more. For each joint account, the US spouse names the principal joint owner and gives an address and taxpayer number if known. A British spouse who has no US number has nothing to enter there, and the instructions allow a foreign address where there is no US mailing address. None of this creates a filing duty for the spouse.
A joint return is a different matter. The spouse's full income, any UK funds held through an ISA or a platform, interests in UK companies or trusts, and the information returns that go with them are all disclosed. That is often the deciding factor for British spouses who value their privacy. Our individual tax returns work starts from what each spouse is content to disclose and then tests the figures.
- Separate return: the spouse's name, and an ITIN or the entry NRA
- FBAR: the spouse's name, plus address and taxpayer number if known, for joint accounts
- Joint return: the spouse's worldwide income and foreign financial assets
- Form 14653: the spouse's details only on a joint certification
How would this work for a US citizen in Manchester?
A US citizen employed in Manchester learns that she should have been filing US returns since she moved to the UK. She and her British husband hold a joint current account and a joint savings account, and he has an ISA in his sole name that she cannot operate.
Filing separately, she prepares three years of late returns as married filing separately, entering her husband's name and NRA. She reports her salary and her own share of the interest, with credit for UK tax. Her six years of FBARs list both joint accounts at full value, naming him as joint owner, but not his ISA. She signs Form 14653 alone. He files nothing, and his ISA stays outside.
If they elected to file jointly instead, he would need an ITIN, sign the returns and the certification, and his ISA funds would come into US reporting for every year the election runs, including years after the catch-up. Here the separate route is usually simpler, though it depends on the figures. Our IRS streamlined filing service prepares both versions where the choice is close, and you can contact US UK Tax Returns to start. The wider sequence is in our guide to IRS streamlined filing from the UK.
General information, not advice. The right answer depends on your circumstances and the tax year concerned.
