Who we help / 01
US citizens living in the United Kingdom
You have built a life in Britain, but the United States never quite lets go. We plan around both tax systems at once, so the decisions that make sense here do not create problems there.
If you are a US citizen or green card holder resident in the UK, you sit inside two tax systems simultaneously. The United States taxes its citizens on their worldwide income wherever they live, which means UK earnings, investments and pensions all remain visible to the IRS.
That creates traps that ordinary UK advice tends to miss. Common UK products, such as ISAs, offshore bonds and many pooled funds, can be taxed harshly by the US as passive foreign investment companies. Getting the structure wrong is expensive and difficult to unwind.
Our role is to plan for both regimes together: choosing investments that are efficient on both sides of the Atlantic, coordinating with your US and UK tax advisers, and making sure your reporting obligations are understood before decisions are made rather than after.
Where we focus
- Investment structure
- Portfolios built to avoid punitive PFIC treatment while remaining sensible for a UK resident.
- Pensions
- Coordinating UK pensions and any US retirement accounts so both are treated correctly under the relevant treaty provisions.
- Reporting
- Working with specialist tax advisers so IRS filings and UK obligations line up rather than conflict.
- Long-term planning
- Estate and gifting decisions that account for exposure to both the US and UK regimes.
Common questions
- Why can’t I just use an ordinary UK financial adviser?
- Most UK advice ignores your US filing position. Products that are efficient for a typical UK resident, such as ISAs and many UK funds, can be treated punitively by the IRS as passive foreign investment companies (PFICs).
- Do I really have to file US tax returns while living in the UK?
- Yes. US citizens are taxed on their worldwide income regardless of where they live, and must continue to file with the IRS and report foreign accounts. We plan with that obligation front of mind.
- Can you help if I have fallen behind on US filings?
- We work alongside specialist US and UK tax advisers to help you understand your options. We do not provide tax return preparation ourselves, but we coordinate the financial planning around it.
Not sure where you fit?
A short conversation is usually enough to tell whether we are the right firm for your circumstances.