Who has renounced, is in process of renouncing, or thinking about renouncing?

When you file your final 1040, (to the date of expatriation) you'll then need to file a 1040-NR on any U.S. sourced income for the rest of the year and for all years going forward. 401(k), IRA etc custodians will need a W-8 BEN  for change of status. The default is 30% withholding, although there maybe mechanisms' to reduce this via the treaty. As Durhamlad alluded, SS is only taxed in the U.K. and there is no withholding as an NRA.

Inheritance tax thresholds are very low on any U.S. assets as an NRA. There is a U.S. and U.K Inheritance and Estate Tax agreement, but heavy ready.

Would you file your dual Status Tax return yourself, or have it done via a professional?

None of this stuff is relevant to my personal situation, other than the final tax return which I was aware of. I qualify as Non-Covered Expatriate, so no exit tax. No inheritance to speak of. I always file my own US tax returns and do not have to file UK returns. I would complete form 8854 and be done with it.

www.ssa.gov/international/AlienTax.html

The tax treaty you link refers I believe to social security paid by the UK in the UK and taxed in the UK, so the US wouldn't tax it again. But if I were no longer a citizen, it wouldn't matter to me. I would only be British. I won't have to worry about any of that again after I renounce. That's my understanding as of now, but I've only just started learning and may not have this right. Either way, I am not depending on US SS to make up a big portion of my retirement income, though every little helps!

I'm as certain as I can be that it applies to SS as well as the UK OAP.  With the OAP you don't even mention it on your IRS return but with SS you have to report it on your 1040 in the usual place and then negate it in "Other income" citing section 17 in the treaty. You have to report SS on your IRS return because you get an SSA-1099 each year, a copy of which goes to the IRS, so they need to know why it is not taxable.

My wife applied for SS this year and is having it paid directly into our UK bank so we don't even have to mess with  exchange rates when reporting it on our HMRC return.

Having visited the Embassy in London yesterday to get my US passport sorted out (so that the UK would renew mine!), I'm more determined than ever to renounce. I'll tell you why. Obviously the main reason is to simplify my life and get out from under burdensome and ever-changing obligations imposed on me because of the US gov's resentment of American expatriates. But also in the embassy today, I was bamboozled by the American mystique. Giant, carved quotations from JFK and others, scary-looking guards everywhere, sleek facilities (the building ran almost $1 billion apparently), being allowed to stride past the long queue of others to 'American citizens services' because I'm one of that rare elite breed, the US citizen. I found myself thinking hm, maybe I should keep my citizenship, being American is SPECIAL.

But then I remembered. They make me report to them the highest balance in every single financial account with my name on it for the calendar year, every year. They make foreign banks and other financial institutions send them reports on my financial activity (FATCA) such that many institutions are reluctant to deal with me. I have had higher insurance premiums because I'm a US citizen. Getting a mortgage or certain investments is more challenging. And so much of my future depends on particular treaties and the caprices of the US government's attitude toward American expatriates. May I remind you that no other nation in the world taxes its expatriates on income earned in their country of residence except for one -- that bastion of freedom and democracy, Eritrea. The US government and IRS are a thorn in my side and have done nothing for me but complicate my life and cause me worry.

My life is here now. The fiction they peddle so well is that I'm giving up some Holy Grail by dropping them. But every British person I know (except me) hasn't got US citizenship, and they're coping just fine!

Yes, to visit the US I would need a visa or visa waiver scheme (depending on what's on at the moment when I decide to travel). But I've been to the US only 3 times in nearly 20 years. Yes, if I inherit anything they may tax it hard, but I don't see inheriting much if anything and if they tax it they can have it!
I'm tired of living in fear of the IRS, wondering where I stand, fearing that if I don't get things perfectly right I'll get a huge fine. US tax lawyers/accountants scare you to death and then want to charge you £500 a year to file a form, in my case a relatively simple one!  I'm not paying £500 for that, even though I also feel like I'm taking a risk every time I file it myself. And one of these days,  not many from now, I'm going to find it challenging to open a jam jar, let alone file all my FBARs and keep up with whatever hoops the USG wants expatriates to jump through, and I certainly won't have the cash then to pay some suit to do it for me. The money spent on renunciation would be just under 4 years worth of paying someone to do it, and I hope I've got a lot more than 4 years left in me!

The UK embassy isn't doing Loss of Nationality appointments right now, but I will be ready when they are. I only ever want to visit that place one more time in my life. The last time. I will come out of there feeling light as a feather.

The only thing you can want when making big decisions in life is to KNOW you won’t have any regrets.  You seem very certain of what you want. 

Hopefully US embassy services resume normal service soon.

The only thing you can want when making big decisions in life is to KNOW you won’t have any regrets.  You seem very certain of what you want. 

Hopefully US embassy services resume normal service soon.

As sure as I was when I moved here in the first place.

Having visited the Embassy in London yesterday to get my US passport sorted out (so that the UK would renew mine!), I'm more determined than ever to renounce. I'll tell you why. Obviously the main reason is to simplify my life and get out from under burdensome and ever-changing obligations imposed on me because of the US gov's resentment of American expatriates. But also in the embassy today, I was bamboozled by the American mystique. Giant, carved quotations from JFK and others, scary-looking guards everywhere, sleek facilities (the building ran almost $1 billion apparently), being allowed to stride past the long queue of others to 'American citizens services' because I'm one of that rare elite breed, the US citizen. I found myself thinking hm, maybe I should keep my citizenship, being American is SPECIAL.

But then I remembered. They make me report to them the highest balance in every single financial account with my name on it for the calendar year, every year. They make foreign banks and other financial institutions send them reports on my financial activity (FATCA) such that many institutions are reluctant to deal with me. I have had higher insurance premiums because I'm a US citizen. Getting a mortgage or certain investments is more challenging. And so much of my future depends on particular treaties and the caprices of the US government's attitude toward American expatriates. May I remind you that no other nation in the world taxes its expatriates on income earned in their country of residence except for one -- that bastion of freedom and democracy, Eritrea. The US government and IRS are a thorn in my side and have done nothing for me but complicate my life and cause me worry.

My life is here now. The fiction they peddle so well is that I'm giving up some Holy Grail by dropping them. But every British person I know (except me) hasn't got US citizenship, and they're coping just fine!

Yes, to visit the US I would need a visa or visa waiver scheme (depending on what's on at the moment when I decide to travel). But I've been to the US only 3 times in nearly 20 years. Yes, if I inherit anything they may tax it hard, but I don't see inheriting much if anything and if they tax it they can have it!
I'm tired of living in fear of the IRS, wondering where I stand, fearing that if I don't get things perfectly right I'll get a huge fine. US tax lawyers/accountants scare you to death and then want to charge you £500 a year to file a form, in my case a relatively simple one!  I'm not paying £500 for that, even though I also feel like I'm taking a risk every time I file it myself. And one of these days,  not many from now, I'm going to find it challenging to open a jam jar, let alone file all my FBARs and keep up with whatever hoops the USG wants expatriates to jump through, and I certainly won't have the cash then to pay some suit to do it for me. The money spent on renunciation would be just under 4 years worth of paying someone to do it, and I hope I've got a lot more than 4 years left in me!

The UK embassy isn't doing Loss of Nationality appointments right now, but I will be ready when they are. I only ever want to visit that place one more time in my life. The last time. I will come out of there feeling light as a feather.

Great post Carla.

As sure as I was when I moved here in the first place.

It's a crying shame that USC's are put in the position of having to make such a decision at all.

It’ll be interesting to learn of your experiences through all of this. An up to date process from the 2013 postings. Good luck, I hope the wait won’t be too long. Keep us posted…

It’ll be interesting to learn of your experiences through all of this. An up to date process from the 2013 postings. Good luck, I hope the wait won’t be too long. Keep us posted…

+1

Good luck with it all.

Hi all, I'm raising this old thread because at last the US Embassy is taking appointments for renunciation again, so I am going to begin the process this year. I've hit a snafu recently with mysterious mail from the IRS. I need to sort that out and file for last year, then I will be ready to request a date to appear at the Embassy to do it. If anyone has had any experiences with the process since I posted in 2021, I would love to hear them.

@Chopin Liszt  Your username, awesome! I just got it! 

I renounced in 2017. I was going through some difficult personal issues at the time so the process was painful for me, not to mention costly. However, it was the most logical step for me to take and I have no regrets. I do have loved ones back in the U.S. but it is not likely I would be called upon to look after them, so this wasn’t a consideration.

At last yesterday I filled in the application for a loss of nationality appointment at the US Embassy. Then just now I have read that the US government announced in January that they are looking to reduce the fee to $450. I wonder if that will be in place by the time I get an appointment. Does anyone know anything more about the timeline for that reduction?

I renounced in 2017. I was going through some difficult personal issues at the time so the process was painful for me, not to mention costly. However, it was the most logical step for me to take and I have no regrets. I do have loved ones back in the U.S. but it is not likely I would be called upon to look after them, so this wasn’t a consideration.

I will certainly have no regrets, either. As I was saying to friends, I am the only person I know in this country who has US citizenship -- all of them do without it and are just fine! What makes me think I wouldn't be! I do hope it's reduced to $450 by the time my turn comes up in the queue. Yesterday I applied for an appointment.

Re: Renunciation fee - There is finally a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of having such a high fee to renounce, and the proposal to lower it was in response of such. (Surprisingly, IMO court challenges in US federal courts may be our best bet in fighting FACTA/CBT/cost to renounce/etc. While some are against having judges appointed for life, the positive is that unlike Congress and the President the federal courts don't have to answer to the electorate in the same way - meaning that we are more likely to get a positive result that goes against popular opinion of the general US public. Also, unlike courts in other nations which have been hesitant to issue anti-FACTA rulings because of the possible economic impact on their countries, the US courts don't have the same concern.)

Re: Renunciation fee - There is finally a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of having such a high fee to renounce, and the proposal to lower it was in response of such. (Surprisingly, IMO court challenges in US federal courts may be our best bet in fighting FACTA/CBT/cost to renounce/etc. While some are against having judges appointed for life, the positive is that unlike Congress and the President the federal courts don't have to answer to the electorate in the same way - meaning that we are more likely to get a positive result that goes against popular opinion of the general US public. Also, unlike courts in other nations which have been hesitant to issue anti-FACTA rulings because of the possible economic impact on their countries, the US courts don't have the same concern.)

I no longer take interest in the politics of the US and will pay whatever is required at time of renunciation...but it would be nice if it were 422% lower at the time!

I have received an email of receipt for my application for a loss of nationality appointment, and will be informed when I am on a waiting list. The form and email say not to apply more than once, so I guess it's just a waiting game. I don't even know how long it typically takes to get an appointment -- it could be months or years for all I know!