US citizen - 11 years on different visas in the UK - do I need to pay UK for US?

Hello all,

I have lived in the UK for over 11 years now:
2 years = dependent visa
5 years = student visa
4 years = Tier 2 work visa

While I am currently in the midst of applying for my LTR...but that is another story for another forum...

What I want to try to understand, is, should I have been paying the UK ££ for income accrued in the US during my time as a resident here? I have a small house I am renting out, and dividends from my bank/stocks - nothing extreme, but...I have been paying my US taxes and my accountant has been filing the correct forms there...should I be contacting an accountant in the UK, and if so, do you have any good suggestions?

Many many thanks!

You should have been paying tax for everything (to HMRC).  Then when filing your US taxes, taking a credit and paying any balance due (unlikely depending on what bracket you are in.)

Thanks dancer - when you say everything - I have been paying tax on my income here in the UK...can you please refer me to a good accountant or explain what I should do? Taxes are a VERY confusing thing for me at the best of times!

Thanks again!

Thanks dancer - when you say everything - I have been paying tax on my income here in the UK...can you please refer me to a good accountant or explain what I should do? Taxes are a VERY confusing thing for me at the best of times!

Thanks again!

I don’t have an accountant I can recommend but can confirm that both the US and UK tax on worldwide income so you should have been declaring all your income to both the IRS and HMRC and taking foreign tax credits on your US return.

Thanks dancer - when you say everything - I have been paying tax on my income here in the UK...can you please refer me to a good accountant or explain what I should do? Taxes are a VERY confusing thing for me at the best of times!

Thanks again!

If you have investments and rental income in the US and haven't been paying HRMC for the gains & income for those, you're probably going to want to find an accountant sooner than later versed in both US and UK taxes. You were tax domiciled in the UK so your taxes should go there first, and then claimed as a credit in the US. (assuming you're a US citizen)

YIKES! ...I heard something on BBC radio 4 about a deadline for paying this sort of tax by September to avoid huge fines - I was completely unaware of this issue until then - I'm now quite concerned about this and also wonder if it will reflect badly on my LTR application - will this come into play?

Thanks again!

I'm now quite concerned about this and also wonder if it will reflect badly on my LTR application - will this come into play?

Thanks again!

I'm not familiar with the requirements for ILR when it's based on time in the UK, but if it requires tax records it will impact it. It will definitely impact citizenship if you intend to apply for that, there have been many stories lately about minor tax issues causing denials. This is more than a minor tax issue.

It sounds most likely that:
1. You are not domiciled within the UK
2. You are deemed domiciled in the UK
3. You have not been UK resident for 15 UK tax years
4. You have however not claimed the remittance basis since arriving in the UK - and have most probably remitted non-UK income or gains in any case
5. You have therefore failed to declare worldwide income and gains to HMRC
6. The RTC deadline to notify is 30 September 2018; and you should probably register and use HMRCS disclosure facility
7. Your existing accountant has failed to ask you how much UK tax you pay on US source income; so you could claim a credit in the States. You probably need a new accountant
8. Your existing investments may not be suitable from a UK tax perspective

Thank you VERY much - I haven't been using an accountant in the UK since I have my Tier 2 job as it all goes directly into the UK tax system automatically from my one full-time job...can you suggest any knowledgeable accountants here in the UK that will be able to rectify this for me?

Thanks everyone for your helpful input on this - turns out I 'only' will have to go back SIX years on my UK taxes - so...now I am trying to find my last six years of completed tax returns - the past 4 years I have had a full-time P60, and the three before that I was on a PhD studentship visa - and doing some self-employment - I did file my taxes, but have NO idea where any of these completed forms are now - is there somewhere I can contact at the HMRC to help locate these completed UK tax forms - and can I then work with HMRC to submit completed tax forms from the US and have this sorted directly through them?

Many thanks again!

The accountant who prepared your US tax returns should have copies of your UK returns; that you would have provided to him when he completed your US returns. The UK has a self-assessment system. The worldwide disclosure facility is only available online. HMRC do not provide hand holding for this. Can your existing accountant assist?

Thank you Guya. My tax person in the US is fabulous as a US tax accountant, but has never claimed to be an international tax accountant. I have provided him each year with my UK earnings amount for filing in the US.