Common questions from US expats.

Yes — if you're a US citizen or Green Card holder, you file a US federal return every year regardless of where you live. Most expats owe little or no US tax thanks to the FEIE and foreign tax credits, but the filing itself is required. The penalties for not filing — even when no tax is due — are serious enough that the IRS has special amnesty programmes (the Streamlined Procedures) for people catching up.

The standard 15 April deadline is automatically extended to 15 June if your tax home and abode are both abroad on 15 April. You can extend further to 15 October by filing Form 4868. Note: an extension to file is not an extension to pay — interest still accrues from 15 April on any unpaid balance.

The Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures are an IRS safe-harbour for non-wilful late filers: three years of back returns, six years of FBARs, and a certification of non-wilfulness on Form 14653. No penalties if you qualify and come in voluntarily. We handle this case regularly — most clients come out the other side fully compliant within a single filing cycle.

FBAR is the foreign bank account report (FinCEN Form 114). If the aggregate maximum balance across all your non-US accounts exceeded $10,000 at any point in the year, you must file. It's separate from, but typically filed alongside, your 1040. Joint accounts with a UK spouse count fully against your threshold, even if half is technically theirs.

Aggregate. If you have a UK current account that peaked at $4,000 and a savings account that peaked at $7,000 on the same day, you're over the $10k threshold and need to file FBAR — even though no single account hit it.

Yes — UK pensions, including SIPPs and workplace schemes, are reportable foreign financial accounts under FBAR. They're also separately reportable on Form 8938 (FATCA) if you exceed the higher thresholds for that form.

No — the IRS doesn't recognise the ISA wrapper. Growth inside the ISA is taxable US-side, and the underlying funds (OEICs, unit trusts) are usually PFICs, which brings punitive taxation rates plus interest charges unless a timely Mark-to-Market or QEF election is made. Most American expats are better off with a non-ISA US-domiciled investment vehicle.

The US-UK treaty gives most UK pensions favourable treatment — contributions can often be excluded from US income, growth is tax-deferred, and lump-sum distributions are generally taxable only in the country of residence. Form 8833 disclosure of the treaty position is usually required. SIPPs sometimes need additional analysis depending on how they're structured.

Often yes — but the timing matters. Liquidating an ISA before you become a US tax resident lets you realise gains under the friendlier UK tax regime and step up basis for US purposes. Doing it after arrival means every penny of gain becomes US-taxable at ordinary income rates. We model this case-by-case during pre-immigration planning.

Fees start from £550 + VAT for a straightforward 1040 with FBAR. Complexity — PFICs, streamlined filings, business returns, multi-state — drives the price upward. Every engagement gets a written quote before any work starts, so there are no surprise invoices.

Once we have all your documents, a typical 1040 + FBAR is back to you in draft within 7-10 working days during the off-season. Streamlined filings (3 years + 6 years of FBARs) take 3-4 weeks. We confirm timing as part of the written quote.

We focus on US side and coordinate with your UK accountant for HMRC returns. If you don't have one we can refer you to UK practitioners we work with regularly. Cross-border cases land cleanly when both sides are prepared with the same exchange rates and the same positions on shared income.