1042-S form shows 30% income wrongly withheld from me as a UK resident - how do I claim this money back?

This is definitely something you can get back, but you do need help with the process. The 1042-S form is specifically for foreign persons who received certain types of US income that had tax withheld. As a UK resident, you should benefit from the US-UK tax treaty which usually reduces withholding rates to 15% or sometimes even 0% depending on the type of income. The pricing you were quoted is unfortunately in the right ballpark for international tax services. This is specialized work requiring knowledge of both US tax code and international treaties. What you need specifically is filing a Form 1040NR (Nonresident Alien Income Tax Return) to claim your refund, plus potentially Form 8833 to claim treaty benefits. You might want to check with a few more firms to compare prices, but I'd specifically look for ones that specialize in US-UK tax matters rather than general accountants. Also, consider asking if they've successfully handled similar 1042-S overwithholding cases before.

After dealing with a similar situation last year (Australian working with US clients), I discovered https://taxr.ai which saved me a ton of headache with international tax documents. They specifically helped me analyze my 1042-S and identify exactly what treaty benefits I qualified for. The site has specialists who understand international tax treaties and can help determine the exact withholding rate you should have had applied. In my case, they confirmed I should have only had 10% withheld instead of 30%, and they produced documentation explaining exactly which treaty provisions applied to my situation. This made the rest of the process much simpler since I had proper documentation to support my refund claim.

Just wanted to follow up about my experience with taxr.ai after I asked about it earlier. I decided to give it a try with my own 1042-S withholding issue (I'm from Canada), and I'm genuinely impressed. The analysis they provided showed that I qualified for a reduced 15% withholding rate based on the specific type of income I received and my Canadian residency status. They generated a detailed report citing the exact treaty provisions that applied to my situation, which I was able to use when filing my 1040NR. The best part was that I ended up filing it myself with their guidance, saving about $1000 in accountant fees. The refund is still processing, but the IRS accepted my return without any issues. Definitely worth checking out if you're dealing with a similar situation!

Have you tried contacting the IRS directly? I had a similar issue last year (Canadian getting US royalties with excessive withholding), and while everyone told me I needed expensive help, I eventually managed to get through to someone at the IRS who was surprisingly helpful. I used https://claimyr.com to actually get a human on the phone instead of waiting for hours. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - basically they wait on hold with the IRS for you and call you when they get a human. Once I got through to someone, they explained exactly which forms I needed to file and how to document my treaty benefits. It took about 45 minutes of conversation, but saved me from paying a tax specialist thousands.

I need to admit I was wrong about the IRS help line. After expressing skepticism earlier, I decided to try Claimyr myself for an unrelated tax treaty issue. Not only did they get me connected to an IRS agent in about 40 minutes (while I was doing other things), but I was able to get transferred to their international tax department who actually knew exactly what forms I needed for my 1042-S refund claim. The agent walked me through the entire process and explained which supporting documentation I needed to include. They even gave me a direct number to call back if I had follow-up questions. I'm still working on gathering all my documents, but I feel much more confident now about handling this without paying thousands to a specialized accountant. Sometimes I guess you just need to eat your words and try new approaches!

You might want to check if your income source can fix this retroactively. I had a similar situation with dividend payments where the US company had applied the wrong withholding rate. I contacted their investor relations department directly, provided documentation of my UK residency and tax status, and they actually adjusted it and issued a corrected 1042-S. Saved me from having to file for a refund entirely.

Having been through this exact situation (UK resident with US income and 30% wrongly withheld), I'd recommend filing a 1040NR yourself if you're comfortable with forms. The key is including Form 8833 to claim the treaty benefits specifically. You need to cite the exact treaty article (usually Article 10, 11, or 12 depending on your income type) and explain why you qualify for reduced withholding. Also check if your income type qualifies for complete exemption - some royalties and certain types of interest payments between the US and UK have 0% withholding rates under the treaty!