US UK

Just to satisfy my own curiosity please...........

I have no UK income and a US pension and IRA/457, how would the UK know that I have only a US income if I never reported it?
How would they know if I made a withdrawal on the IRA/457 plans?
Does the US report my earnings/withdrawals to the UK?
Not that I plan to find out what the consequences are if I don't do my UK self assessment tax, as I will do it, but what would the consequences be if I did not report my US income?

How does any tax cheat hide money, assets and income from HMRC?  A few years ago Swiss banks finally agreed to give up the names of accounts owned by folks living in the UK and HMRC gave an amnesty period for people to own up before being fully prosecuted.

I expect US banks are less secretive with regards to reporting to HMRC the names of UK resident account holders and receivers of pensions.

I think the OP would be perfectly safe. The US expects the rest of the world to report non-US accounts under FATCA. But they will never reciprocate.

I think the OP would be perfectly safe. The US expects the rest of the world to report non-US accounts under FATCA. But they will never reciprocate.

I would not bet jail time on that.  If someone is living in the UK and transferring money to a UK bank to pay the bills then I would expect auditors to flag this up as suspicious. 

Not exactly the question posed but in 2011 we had a long stay in the UK but were careful to stay under the tax residency requirements and our UK bank noticed that we were in the UK for an extended period by the activity on our UK debit card and contacted me, requiring me to complete an HMRC form stating that I was still a non-resident and detailing the dates of our time in the UK for the last 4 years and planned for the next 4 years.  The letter from the bank started by saying "HMRC require us to....", so it is not just HMRC auditors that track unusual financial activity.



 

I would not bet jail time on that.  If someone is living in the UK and transferring money to a UK bank to pay the bills then I would expect auditors to flag this up as suspicious. 

I would think the IRS/US would bank auditors would flag this up, eventually also... I wonder what the threshold would be though, tens of thousands, a thousand, a hundred a month?

But even if they did, would they be quick to notify HMRC? Or even bother?

I would think the IRS/US would bank auditors would flag this up, eventually also... I wonder what the threshold would be though, tens of thousands, a thousand, a hundred a month?

But even if they did, would they be quick to notify HMRC? Or even bother?

I have no idea but I can share my own experience which is not quite the scenario you propose.

I had been living in the USA for over 23 years, keeping a UK bank account paying the very small of interest gross since I was registered with HMRC as not resident for UK taxes. I then started to receive a small private pension ~200 GBP/month, well below the limit of needing to pay UK taxes.  HMRC wrote to me to asking about all sources of income and where I was paying taxes on it.  I had to apply to the IRS to get a certificate stating that I was a US tax payer and file that with HMRC.

Could I not report that small UK pension on my IRS tax returns once I started receiving it? Quite possibly but no way would I chance it.

No, no I would not chance it either, I like not having to pay a huge fine and/or not being in jail for cheating on taxes in either country thank you!
Just wondering how all this works and who keeps track of it all 

No, no I would not chance it either, I like not having to pay a huge fine and/or not being in jail for cheating on taxes in either country thank you!
Just wondering how all this works and who keeps track of it all 

It is your responsibility to comply with your tax obligations.

Also I would not assume that an IRA and a 457 can be treated similarly.

It is your responsibility to comply with your tax obligations.

Also I would not assume that an IRA and a 457 can be treated similarly.

I know that it I have to comply as far as filing a Self Assessment & reporting my US earnings, I was just curious as to if I didn't report it (which I wouldn't) but if I didn't, how would the HMRC even know I have any US income at all.

*edit
Thanks to your posting on it a while back Nun, I know that IRA's/457 are treated differently