UK / US tax advice needed

Looking for recommendations for a UK / US tax expert. My wife and I are considering retiring and moving to the UK. However, I work full time from home and my employer has a presence in the UK and they have given positive signals in allowing me to continue working for them if we relocate. I'm a Brit who has been living in the US for the past 30 years. I am a naturalized US citizen, my wife is American. We have investments and 401pensions. We currently own our own home, mortgage almost paid off. We also have a rental property. The whole double taxation thing and having to file in both countries seems rather daunting. However, I don't want that to be the deciding factor for us not to move. Our daughter, dual citizen, is studying a PhD in the UK so is already there. Thank you. - @nichollsfamilyaddress

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

Assuming you've maintained your British nationality by holding a current UK passport, then as far as the UK is concerned, you would be regarded as a dual UK/US citizen and could enter the UK as and when you wish on your UK passport.  So, assuming you enter the UK on your current UK passport and assuming your wife is a US citizen with a current US passport, then your wife could apply for a family visa; details on how to apply are displayed on the UK Gov website; this link will take you straight to it.  One word of advice based on my personal experience is not to play passport roulette where you check in on one passport, then try to jump a queue by going through customs & immigration at the far-end on another.

Taxes - I'm not a UK/US tax advisor, but I can tell you that where you are assessed for taxes is generally based on where you are deemed as resident, if you are resident in the UK, then HMRC will assess your worldwide income for taxes from the day you take up residence in the UK - there are no clever ways out of this, if you live in the UK, HMRC will regard you as being resident here; in addition and as you have already spotted, one of the benefits (joke) of being a US citizen living overseas is that the IRS will continue to assess you, your wife and daughter for both US federal and state taxes regardless of where you are deemed resident, that is unless there is a tax treaty in place that says otherwise, there is such a treaty in place between the USA and UK, this link will take you straight to the online version on the UK Gov website, there will also be a version on the IRS website; I'm reasonably certain that the rules related to State taxes (if you are currently liable) are not varied by these treaties.  I have no idea what the treaty says in regard to your circumstances, but they tend to cover things like business taxes and pensions; my advice is to go and speak to an advisor who is current in these matters; how to find one - this forum has a list of firms offering these services; this link will take you straight to it.  There are others offering similar services, as in all things we find on the Internet, buyer beware.  My advice would be to join LinkedIn and reach out to your peers and find out how they did what you are contemplating doing.

I hope this helps and wish you and your family the best of luck on your journey.

Cynic

Expat Team

Thanks for the links.  Interesting to see H&R Block on the list https://www.expat.com/en/us-tax-preparation.html They certainly have mixed reviews.  Will do some further research.

@nichollsfamilyaddress

I’m involved with a firm that works with expats on these kinds of situations, and we see this quite often, especially with people relocating or returning to the UK.

Probably worth double-checking your position early, just to avoid any surprises down the line.