UK Stamp Duty US Buyers 2026 American Investor Guide
Introduction You have decided to buy a £600,000 flat in central London as an investment alongside your primary residence in San Francisco. Your UK lawyer mentions Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT). Your US accountant asks about the structure. Your friend says you should buy through a UK Limited company. By the time you finish the […]
Social Security National Insurance US UK Workers Guide 2026
Introduction You moved from Boston to London five years ago to work for a UK employer on a £125,000 salary. You have been paying UK PAYE income tax and Class 1 National Insurance each month — but did you know that the US Social Security Administration may technically still consider you within US Social Security […]
401 (k) UK Pension Tax Treatment US Expats 2026 Guide
Introduction You moved from Chicago to London five years ago. You have a $185,000 US 401(k) from your pre-London Chicago employer sitting at Fidelity, you have been auto-enrolled into a NEST workplace pension at your London firm building toward £45,000, and you opened a Hargreaves Lansdown UK SIPP last year for additional retirement saving. Three […]
Child Tax Credit US Citizens UK How to Claim 2026
Introduction You moved to London five years ago with your American spouse, had two children in the UK, and have been filing a US Form 1040 every year through Form 1116, the Foreign Tax Credit, to absorb all US tax on your UK salary. Then a colleague at the school gate mentions she received approximately […]
State Tax Obligations US Expats UK — 2026 Guide
Introduction A US citizen who moves from San Francisco to London assumes that federal Form 1040 is the only US filing that follows them across the Atlantic. Five years later, the California Franchise Tax Board sends a Notice of Proposed Assessment for $42,000 of state income tax, plus interest, on the basis that the California […]
PFIC Rules US Expats UK Funds — 2026 Guide
Introduction A US-citizen UK resident holding £20,000 of Vanguard UK index funds inside a Stocks and Shares ISA can lose more than half of their cumulative return to a single US tax provision they have never heard of. The Passive Foreign Investment Company regime under Internal Revenue Code Section 1297 is the most punitive corner […]
IRS Penalties US Expats UK — How to Avoid Them
FAQs
US Tax Compliance UK Residents Non-Filer Guide
Introduction You are a US citizen who has spent several years residing in the UK. You pay UK income tax through PAYE, you have a Lloyds account, an Aviva workplace pension, perhaps a Stocks and Shares ISA at Hargreaves Lansdown, and a UK passport sits next to your US one in the drawer. You have […]
Payroll US Companies UK Employees PAYE — 2026 Guide
Introduction Your US company has just hired its first employee in London. Or maybe it’s fifth. The contract is signed, the start date is set, and HR is asking how payroll will run. Suddenly, the picture gets complicated because payroll for US companies’ UK employees’ PAYE is not just about paying a salary into a […]
Employment Tax US Employees Remote UK — 2026 Guide
Introduction Your US company hired Sarah in Boston eighteen months ago. She moved to London last year to be closer to her partner and was asked to keep working remotely. You agreed. Now that your HR director has discovered the company has been paying a US payroll for someone who is tax resident in the […]