◉ Who we help
British people in the US
You're a UK national who has moved to, or regularly does business in, the US. You may face US filing obligations alongside your UK ones — and UK pensions, ISAs, and property need to be reported or planned for.
Why this matters
Day one in the US, your UK pension and ISA become US tax problems.
Most British executives arriving in the US assume their UK financial life can carry on unchanged. It can't. SIPPs and workplace pensions need treaty disclosure to keep their tax-deferred status. ISAs lose their UK shelter the moment you cross the substantial presence threshold. UK rental property triggers FIRPTA-adjacent reporting on disposal. The work to do isn't dramatic — but it has to happen in the right order, and most of it should be done before the move, not after.
- Substantial presence test mapped against your travel history, not just calendar days
- Pre-arrival year planning so the dual-status return is clean
- Treaty disclosure on UK pensions to keep them out of US ordinary income
- State residency call — California, New York, and Massachusetts all have edge cases
183
day count for the substantial presence test
$200k
Form 8938 threshold (single, abroad)
Form 8833
treaty disclosure that protects UK pensions
30%
default US withholding before treaty applied
Most British executives we work with arrive in the US with at least one UK ISA, one UK pension, and a tenant in their old flat — every one of those becomes a US filing item.
Key issues
What we look at first.
- Substantial presence test and day-counting
- Dual-status filings in the year of arrival or departure
- UK pensions, ISAs, and property under US rules
- State tax — which state do you 'reside' in for US purposes?
Typical filings
The forms we’ll likely prepare.
- ✓Form 1040 (once resident) or 1040NR
- ✓Form 8833 treaty disclosures
- ✓Form 8938 and FBAR on UK accounts
- ✓Form 8621 for ISAs / UK funds
How we work with you
Four steps from intake to filed return.
01
Day-count audit
Map your physical presence — UK, US, third countries — over the last 3 years. Confirm whether you've crossed the substantial presence threshold and when.
02
Account & pension audit
Catalogue UK pensions, ISAs, brokerage, and rental property. Identify what needs treaty disclosure, what triggers FBAR / 8938, and what should be restructured before US residency.
03
Filing strategy
Decide on dual-status vs. resident return for the arrival year, and document the treaty positions on Form 8833.
04
Annual maintenance
Carry the same positions forward each year, watch for state residency changes, and reconcile to your UK self-assessment.
I moved to New York thinking I'd just file a 1040 like a US colleague. TaxStone walked me through the treaty positions on my UK pension that kept it out of the US ordinary income net — saved me five figures in the first year alone.
What we catch
Common mistakes we see — and fix.
These are the positions that most often get filed wrong before clients come to us. Either way, we work backwards through them before drafting your return.
- Filing a resident 1040 in the arrival year when a dual-status return is more advantageous
- Ignoring UK ISA gains because they were tax-free at home
- Missing the FBAR deadline because UK accounts felt 'separate'
- Letting state residency default to the place of employment without analysing alternatives
Clients like you
Three snapshots from our practice.
NYC consultant
Two-year posting from London to New York, kept UK SIPP and one rental property. Dual-status arrival year + treaty disclosure on the pension; FIRPTA planning before the eventual flat sale.
Boston researcher
UK academic on a five-year fellowship. NIH grants, UK ISA still earning, US-resident from year 2. PFIC restructuring before residency, then annual joint return with US spouse.
LA exec
British executive at a US studio with stock comp on both sides. Form 8833 on the UK pension treaty position, dual taxation relief on RSU vesting events that straddle residency change.
Services we’ll likely run
- Form 1040NR — non-resident returnFor US-source income before residency startsOpen service →
- Treaty positionsForm 8833 — US-UK treaty disclosuresOpen service →
- FATCA reportingForm 8938 — UK account disclosureOpen service →
- ISAs & UK funds (PFIC)Form 8621 — handling UK funds in US taxOpen service →
- Residence reviewsFederal & state residency analysisOpen service →
See if british people in the us describes your situation.
We’ll confirm what you need to file — and just as importantly, what you don’t.