moving lots of money

Has anyone out there bought a property in the UK and had to move a lot of money from the US to pay for it? Instead of applying for a UK mortgage, we want to pay for it with our money that is still in US bank accounts. I've moved some money from the US but am limited to a certain amount per day. I am banking with Citibank US and Citibank UK but they don't have any other option other than the "little-by-little" approach. This would take for ever. Has anyone had experience of making a large payment directly from the US?

much obliged.

I am surprised Citibank wouldn't mention wire transfering money.

I use XE.com - but there is a starting limit of about $10,000 in active trades at any given time.  You can have the limit raised, but I'm not sure how (I think it involves providing extra documentation). 

I have been using the Citibank International Wiring process. But the limit is 50,000. Has anyone actually done a larger transfer in one go?

Hiya!

I'm going the other way - wanting to sell my rental apartment here and buy in the US (or Canada!)

I've been looking into this and doing my homework ALOT, and thought I'd point out these types of places to do money/mortgage/property related things, in conjuction with you speaking to banks.

International Financing Consultants -wwwfinanceandsales.com
Florida Mortgages -  ph 407 483 0992
Fidentia www.fidentiagroup.com
HIFX plc - wwwhifx.co.uk
FCH Group - www.fchgrup.com

Theres quite a few others I can see in this property magazine I have - they all seem to be 'Property type ' places but have options of arranging mortgages in the US for UK buyers so I'd assume they'd know how to arrange UK mortgages for US buyers! HIFX i think deal with money transfers, check them first.

If you find a bank that's willing to do a big transfer that may be what you go for, but these places should at least offer something similar and or know of places that can apart from the banks!

Hope this helps!

Cheers Dennis! West London & Slough UK!!

Don't forget that if you are bringing that size of money into the UK and you have not segregated the income from the capital then you will be liable for UK tax on the income (eg interest income) earned on the account.  Tomorrow is the last day of the day year, so you still have just enough time to carousel into new bank accounts in the US if you can do it tomorrow.  I would speak with your UK tax advisers.

(I assume that you have also taken advice on the UK and US tax implications of a UK property purchase.)

well- i transferred my life savings from the US to the UK to purchase a house in the UK.  I used a currency exchange company: Custom House Currency Exchange.  It was pretty hassle free.  I called them, told them what I wanted to do.  They faxed me a registration forms etc.  I had to fax a copy of my passport, recent utility bill, and proof of UK house offer having been accepted.  I was then registered.  Then a few weeks later when I was 110% sure the house sale was going to go through I transferred the money from my USA bank to their USA Bank.  Then the next morning they transferred it to their UK Bank (now in Sterling), and lastly into my UK Bank.  After two days it was safely in my UK bank account, and then promptly transferred to my UK solicisters.  The company had a fair sell vs. buy ratio and I got a much better deal than what Schwab (my USA Bank) or Natwest (my UK Bank) would have charged me.

meggles - it depens of course what is in those life savings, but there may well be UK tax to pay on any interest, dividends or capital gains credited since you moved to the UK if these are included in the money remitted to the UK...

thanks everyone for the responses and info! Meggles - it sounds like you did exactly what we are planning on doing. I'll check into the Custom House Currency Exchange. First need to check all the tax implications that Guya mentioned. 

this is how i understand my situation:

the money was in the us- tied up in mutual funds.  when i sold them, they were liable for US long term capital gains.  since i transferred the money to the UK, i have remitted it, and must therefore pay UK taxes on the money.  now i am allowed a certain amount of capital gains in the UK b/f having to pay tax, and i also get a credit for the US taxes i've already paid on this amount.  and lastly, the exchange rate at the time of purchase of the fund and the exchange rate at the time of sale can also be importnatn.  this is why i talked to my company's UK tax person (dual qualified), and he advised me which funds to sell.  all in all... i'm going to owe about £2000 in additional tax.

meggles - this sounds almost right BUT:

1. Remittances for non-UK domiciliaries are deemed to be NET of US taxes, so you'd have to gross up for the 15% US tax.
2. Losses are totally ignored.
3. Gains on US mutual funds are NOT taxed in the UK as capital gains (so no annual UK capital gains exemption) because they are taxed under the special offshore income gain rules (unless the fund is approved in the UK as an offshore distributor fund; which in practice rules out all domestic US mutual funds).  HMRCs manual explaining these rules can be found here.  http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/immanual/im4075+.htm I would suggest that you go back to the person that gave you the advice because it appears to be flawed, so may well cost you more than anticipated.