US Citizen - UK Ltd Company - Disregarded entity?

[WordIsBond]

They are charging quite a bit for it because it needs to include more details (P&L account, balance sheet, etc).

Yes, it's more complicated. Do you mind saying how much you are paying for it?

[WordIsBond]

Thank you all for your replies which are so helpful and much appreciated, especially WordIsBond. I have learned a lot from your posts on other threads as well!

I have finally spoken to someone who is mentioned on this and other sites as a highly regarded tax advisor for US/UK issues and he has confirmed that I can indeed file as a disregarded entity and therefore would not have a CFC.

Glad to help, good luck with it. Was it David you spoke to, by chance? He seems to be very good....

[Lance]

I'm a US citizen <snip> I am pretty certain that my UK limited company is disregarded entity. <snip>

that's brave. Unless your 'pretty certain' is better than it sounds

[Lance]

Thank you for your reply. Yes I believe the new contract will be outside IR 35 - it’s a specific project for a set length of time and I’m not working for them exclusively. I will have other clients at the same time.

For a contract to be outside IR35 there a few items that need to be correct.
I'll not talk about all of them though.

If you are not sure whether to go self-employed or LTD then you have not had a contract offered yet. An contract is offered to a person or a company, so until you have decided you can't have an offer.
Without that contract you cannot determine any IR35 decision.

[concord]

They will charge me £500 + VAT for the additional filing. £1,300 + VAT for everything.

It’s expensive and over the years I’ve gotten other quotes but ultimately I trust them. I’m curious what others pay or if you file yourself.

I didn’t realise there were other American citizens on the forum. I’m really curious about your investments strategies and if you’ve been able to open accounts with brokerages here and buy US domiciled ETFs etc. Might need a different thread...

[WordIsBond]

They will charge me £500 + VAT for the additional filing. £1,300 + VAT for everything.

It’s expensive and over the years I’ve gotten other quotes but ultimately I trust them. I’m curious what others pay or if you file yourself.

I didn’t realise there were other American citizens on the forum. I’m really curious about your investments strategies and if you’ve been able to open accounts with brokerages here and buy US domiciled ETFs etc. Might need a different thread...

That's about what I suspected. I knew I was getting a sweetheart deal from a friend but not exactly how good it was. I pay $175, just for that form. I suspected I should be paying $500 or more.

Our investment strategy is to put all the investments in the name of the non-American spouse. Just kidding.

My other half was able to get an account with Hargreaves Lansdowne without any trouble. It's ok to have funds within a SIPP, so her SIPP is in funds, mostly in trackers. A fund within an ISA would be a PFIC, so in her ISA we buy individual shares in lots of £5K, hitting different sectors, so as not to fall foul of the PFIC rules. We generally avoid shares that we know are heavily invested in the funds we own, to improve our diversification.

Another option we are looking at is buy to let. I'm getting uncomfortably close to the lifetime maximum for pensions. I can go into funds in my ISA but my wife can't and we're starting to think about using some of these funds for a buy to let in her name. Since my pension is about 10x as big as hers, it would be good to generate more income in her name. Won't matter if we retire in the US, which is definitely an option for us. But as long as we stay here, with separate taxation, it's definitely worth taking that approach.

If you are single or married to another American, you don't have the same kind of investment options open to you that we have. BTL is something worth thinking about, though it isn't as tax-favourable as it used to be.

[US Cookie]

Glad to help, good luck with it. Was it David you spoke to, by chance? He seems to be very good....

Yes - he was the most helpful person I spoke to and clearly very knowledgeable. The conversation we had gave me much assurance. Although I've done my US taxes myself these last few years, I'll most likely hire him to prepare 2020 for me, because I don't want to get anything wrong, and I definitely don't want to take any chances paying someone else to get them wrong.

[US Cookie]

They will charge me £500 + VAT for the additional filing. £1,300 + VAT for everything.

It’s expensive and over the years I’ve gotten other quotes but ultimately I trust them. I’m curious what others pay or if you file yourself.

I didn’t realise there were other American citizens on the forum. I’m really curious about your investments strategies and if you’ve been able to open accounts with brokerages here and buy US domiciled ETFs etc. Might need a different thread...

I have a SIPP with Hargreaves Lansdown which is invested in a diversified basket of ETFs.

I don't have any taxable brokerage accounts in the UK. Those are only in the US.

[WordIsBond]

I have a SIPP with Hargreaves Lansdown which is invested in a diversified basket of ETFs.

I don't have any taxable brokerage accounts in the UK. Those are only in the US.

Are you aware that capital gains on US funds, in the year they are realised, may be taxed as ordinary income to UK residents? Your taxable brokerage accounts in the US may be storing up a UK tax hit for you.

Also, you don't have to be limited to ETFs within a SIPP, as far as I am aware.

[WordIsBond]

Also, if you guys have a UK mortgage, you should be aware that repayments of the mortgage when the exchange rate is lower than when you opened should be reported as capital gains on a currency transaction, if the gain exceeds $200. Which is a gross injustice.