American in the UK? You file in both countries. We handle both.
US citizenship keeps you in the IRS's net wherever you live, and UK residence adds HMRC on top. Two returns, two sets of deadlines, and a long list of British financial products the US taxes badly.
The move changed more than your address
Your US return grows exclusions, credits and disclosure forms. Your first UK return raises residence and split-year questions. And the accounts you naturally open — ISAs, workplace pensions, index funds — each carry US consequences nobody at the bank mentions.
We prepare both returns together, so the reliefs line up and the same income never pays twice.
- US federal return with FEIE or foreign tax credits
- UK Self Assessment and split-year treatment
- FBAR and Form 8938 account reporting
- ISA and pension treatment under US rules
The mistakes are predictable
A Stocks & Shares ISA that is a PFIC portfolio to the IRS. A tax-free lump sum that is only tax-free in one country. Credits claimed in the wrong order. We see the same handful of expensive errors in returns prepared one-sided — and our job is making sure yours never contains them.
What we typically handle for you
- Annual US federal return with FEIE or credits modelled
- UK Self Assessment where required
- FBAR and Form 8938 for UK accounts
- ISA and fund review for PFIC exposure
- Workplace pension treatment under the treaty
- Split-year claims in the arrival year
- State residency break documentation
- Catch-up filings if you arrived years ago
The services that usually apply
Questions we get about this
Form 1040 always, plus Form 2555 or 1116 for relief, and FBAR separately with FinCEN.
Form 8938 and Form 8621 come in once foreign assets or funds cross the relevant thresholds, which happens sooner than most people assume.
Generally not for growth, which the treaty protects, but it is often still reportable on FBAR or Form 8938.
The reporting and the taxation are separate questions, and treaty protection on one does not remove the other.
You can leave them outside the US system by filing separately, or elect to file jointly and pull their worldwide income and accounts into US reporting.
The election is not easily undone, so it is worth running both ways before choosing.
Yes. US citizens and Green Card holders file every year on worldwide income regardless of where they live or what they have already paid elsewhere.
Paying HMRC does not remove the filing duty, though it usually removes most or all of the US bill once foreign tax credits are claimed.
Rarely, if the position is prepared properly. The treaty and foreign tax credits exist precisely to prevent it.
Double taxation usually happens through error rather than design: a relief claimed in the wrong country, or two accountants working the same year without speaking.
ISAs and UK funds. The wrapper is meaningless to the IRS, and most of what sits inside one is a PFIC with punitive default treatment.
FBAR is the other. The $10,000 trigger is aggregate across all your accounts and measured at the year's highest point, so it is easy to cross unnoticed.
Related pages
- Who we help
Brits in the US
UK citizens in the US: residency tests, UK property and pensions held from abroad, and the reporting that US residence triggers on everything left behind.
- Pillar guide
Tax specialists for US and UK
What US and UK tax specialists handle that a general accountant does not: residence tests, treaty relief, FBAR, PFICs, pensions, property and catch-up filings.
- Service
PFIC reporting
PFIC analysis and Form 8621 preparation for UK funds, ISAs and platform holdings: the election decided per fund, and the reporting cost cut where it can be.
- Service
US federal returns
Form 1040 preparation for Americans abroad: FEIE, foreign tax credits, treaty positions and every schedule your situation requires.
- Pillar guide
Accountants for US and UK
How to choose accountants for US and UK tax: what each credential permits, how to verify it, what drives the fee, and when you do not need a specialist.
- Guide
Your first year abroad
First-year expat tax guide: residence tests, split-year treatment, first filings in both countries and the elections to get right.
Further reading
- Form 8938 vs the FBAR: two reports, one set of accounts
Same accounts, two different reports, two different agencies. Here is what separates the FATCA form from the FBAR, and why many expats file both.
- Tidying up pensions on two sides of an ocean
Nobody can merge a 401(k) with a SIPP. What people call consolidation across borders is really two separate tidying exercises, each with its own traps.
- Register for Self Assessment by 5 October - the American's guide
The 5 October date is the quiet deadline that catches movers. Why Americans in the UK hit it more than anyone, and how to handle it properly.
Official sources
Last reviewed . Thresholds and rates change annually — check figures against the current tax year before relying on them.
American in the UK and unsure where you stand?
One call establishes which returns and disclosures apply to you, with a fixed fee to handle them.