Dear Tax expert

I live in England. And have a US employer paying me my salary since Dec 1999.

I have been travelling the world a lot and have been in US 6 to 9 times on visits between 2and 8 days every year. I always stayed in a hotel, and I am in the US on a Visa Waiver for business.

I saw the substantial presence test, and do not qualify as a resident.

My employer has not reported any of my received salary anywhere, but a new person at my (now ex.) employers state that I need to file something to IRS for the whole period.

Please help

Best regards
Laust

AtlantaTaxExpert

Wow, that is a complex situation that simply cannot be answered without detailed information.

To be frank, I doubt that I have the necessary expertise to provide a detailed answer. There are reports that aliens visting for business have to file.

I recommend you check out U.S. Tax Solutions for resident alien and nonresident alien foreign nationals.

IntlTax

As a resident of the UK, the U.S.-UK Income Tax Treaty would apply to your circumstance. See Article 14 of the treaty. As long as you do not spend more than 183 days in the U.S. in any twelve month period, you will not be taxed in the U.S. on your wages. You will only be taxed in the UK.

AtlantaTaxExpert

IntlTax:

What you said is 100% true. However, I do not think paying taxes is the issue here.

The representative from Laust's company seems to be referring to reports or information returns that visiting aliens sometime have to file to cover any financial transaction dur recurring visits to the U.S.

taxsearcher

OK, It's not entirely clear from the original post but the OP seems to be being paid by a US resident employer. This needs to be established.

AtlantaTaxExpert

I agree. We need more information!!

IntlTax

ATE, I do not understand what you mean when you refer to "reports or information returns that visiting aliens sometime have to file to cover any financial transaction dur recurring visits to the U.S." These may exist -- I just haven't heard of them. Can you give an example?

TaxSearcher, why does it matter if the OP is paid by a US employer or not. Would the treaty not apply if it is a US employer with an employee resident in the UK?

IntlTax

My mistake. After looking at the treaty again, TaxSearcher is correct. If the employer is a U.S. employer, then the OP's wages may be taxed by the U.S.