So. Confused.

[kaberett]

I hereby do solemnly swear that never again shall complaint regarding Her Majesty's most noble Revenue & Customs be issued from my lips. Or, for that matter, my fingers.

Because, you see: THE IRS. WHAT. THE ACTUAL. FUCK. SO, SO CONFUSED. (Though in making this post I have maybe unconfused myself a little? Perhaps?)

SO. Caltech informs me that I am required to fill in Form W-4 for the purposes of witholding the correct federal income tax from my pay.

• I will be in the US for 10 weeks, earning $600/week (i.e. $6000 in total). This is my only source of income in the US for the coming 12 months. I have never previously visited the US; I do not expect to return until 2016 or thereabouts.
  
• Within the past 12 months, I have earned approximately £600, of which £24 will be in the 2011-2012 UK tax year.
  
• I do not expect my earnings to exceed £250 within the 2011-2012 UK tax year...
  
• ... because my loans from Student Finance England do not count as income, and nor does the money my parents give me to support myself...
  
• ... though I may receive up to £1500 in bursaries, which I do not believe counts towards my personal allowance (and in any case would not take it over the threshold).

I believe:

• that as far as the UK is concerned, my income is within the Personal Allowance, so I do not need to pay income tax, whether or not I pay tax in the USA
  
• that Article 20 (see below) of UK/USA Double Taxation Convention applies, but means that I do have to pay tax in the US because my payment does arise within the USA
  
• that I am a non-resident alien for US tax purposes
  
• that I cannot be claimed as a dependent by any US taxpayer
  
• according to p28 of Publication 519, I am able to claim only one personal exemption ($3650 in 2010)
  
• that as a NRA I cannot write "exempt" in line 7 of Form W-4
  
• that I may be eligible for exemptions from federal income tax withholding under the aforementioned UK/US Double Taxation Convention if I additionally file Form 8233
  
• that I therefore need to find out whether and how I am eligible to file Form 8233, BUT that this probably doesn't apply because of Article 20 (see above/below)

AND SO IN SUMMARY I believe that on Form W-4: I may and should claim a single personal income tax exemption; my home address should probably be in the UK. FURTHERMORE I BELIEVE that there is no point filing Form 8233, because I am ineligible under the aforementioned Article 20.

... does... does that sound plausible?

Article 20 reads as follows [my additions]:
Payments received by a student or business apprentice who is, or was immediately before visiting a Contracting State [USA], a resident of the other Contracting State [UK], and who is present in the first-mentioned State [USA] for the purpose of his full-time education at a university, college or other recognised educational institution of a similar nature, or for his full-time training, shall not be taxed in that State [USA], provided that such payments arise outside that State [USA], and are for the purpose of his maintenance, education or training. The exemption from tax provided by this Article shall apply to a business apprentice only for a period of time not exceeding one year from the date he first arrives in the first-mentioned Contracting State [USA] for the purpose of his training.

Comments

[keris]

Do you have a reliable net connection? (Reliable is more important than fast.) If so then SkypeOut has costs of around 1.4p/minute to the US (same as for Europe I think), rather a lot less than cellphone charges. And last time I used it (I don't have a landline at my lodgings) the audio quality was better than landline.