BUZZ ACCOUNTINGUK tax help in the USA
The IRS taxes citizens and residents on everything, everywhere. UK property and companies add a UK return on top, and the interaction — treaty, credits, PFICs, your ISA — is the most technical of any country pair. We do the UK half properly and play well with your US CPA.
The US is the one destination where we're firmest about working alongside a local professional: the IRS taxes US persons on worldwide income with its own fierce reporting (FBAR, Form 8938, PFIC rules that punish UK funds and can even touch ISAs). The UK half still has to be right, and that's the half we do.
What we handle
- UK rental returns — the UK taxes UK land first; your US return credits it. We produce the UK computation on time so the credit is clean, and we file the NRL paperwork so 20% isn't coming off your rent at source.
- UK company owners in the US — this is the pair that most needs coordination: a UK Ltd owned by a US person raises GILTI/CFC questions on the US side. Our job: keep the UK company compliant and its records clean (the usual service), produce what your CPA needs, and never let the two sides give you contradictory structures.
- Selling UK property — the 60-day return plus a computation your CPA can translate into the US gain (different cost-base currency rules make the dollar gain differ from the sterling one — genuinely).
- Departure and arrival years — split-year on the UK side, dual-status returns on the US side; the dates need to agree.
What we deliberately don't do: US returns, FBARs or US investment advice. We'll work with your CPA — or tell you plainly when you need one.
Three United States stories we see every month
Names changed, numbers real. If one of these is you, the fix is usually days of work, not months.
The London flat on a US return
Green-card holder in Austin, flat in Hackney. UK return done here (£2,400 tax), computation handed to her CPA who converts to dollars with the right cost-base rules and claims the credit. The two returns disagree on the gain by design — currency — and both are right.
The ISA surprise
New York banker assumed his ISA was tax-free. It is — to HMRC. To the IRS it's a taxable account and possibly PFICs. Not our return to file, but our job to flag: we restructured what we could on the UK side and got him to a CPA before the penalties did.
The UK Ltd and GILTI
US-resident owner of a profitable UK company. Our half: keep the company clean, dividends planned, records CPA-ready. His CPA's half: GILTI elections. The rule we enforce: neither side restructures without telling the other.
United States × UK: the quick facts
| Question | Short answer |
|---|---|
| Local tax system | Worldwide, citizens AND residents; FBAR/8938 reporting |
| UK personal allowance | Kept by British nationals |
| State Pension uprating | Uprated normally in the USA |
| Watch for | PFIC rules punishing UK funds and ISAs; UK Ltd owners — GILTI |
| Our rule | We do the UK half and work with your US CPA — never guess the US half |
Tax years: The US uses the calendar year; the UK 6 April–5 April.
Asked from United States, constantly
Can you do my US return too?＋
No — and be wary of anyone who says yes to both cheaply. We do the UK side properly and coordinate with your CPA or Enrolled Agent. The countries' rules interact; the professionals should too.
Is my UK ISA really taxable in the US?＋
Yes — the IRS doesn't recognise the wrapper, and funds inside it can be PFICs with punitive treatment. This is the single most common expensive surprise for UK arrivers in the US.
My UK company pays me dividends in the US — who taxes what?＋
The UK often ends up at 0% under disregarded income; the US taxes them as foreign dividends, possibly qualified. GILTI may also apply to the company's profits — CPA territory, our data.
What most United States clients have us do
Read before you pay anyone.
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Your country changes the answer.
The UK side is only half the story — what your new country taxes, credits and freezes decides the rest.