Moving from USA to UK - need help please!!!
Oct 5th 2018, 6:45 pm
#1
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Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 5
Moving from USA to UK - need help please!!!
Hi there. I'm a dual citizen (UK/USA) who has lived in the USA for 30 years and plan to move back to UK to take care of my elderly parents. I need advice on the following please!
1) What's the best way to sell all the house/garage stuff I have accumulated over 30 years of living in the USA?
2) What's the cheapest way to ship my personal belongings from my house in the USA to my parents house in the UK. I will have about 20 large boxes of clothes, photos, personal items...etc. I won't be shipping any large items such as furniture or cars.
3) How do I open a British bank account when I live in the USA? I need to start transferring money from my American bank account into a British bank account. Also, I'm going to have a large sum of money - approx. $200,000 from the sale of my American home. Will I have any problems depositing that much money into a British Bank account?
4) How do I file USA taxes every year? I don't think I should have to file state taxes (Indiana) as I won't be living in that state anymore. However, I will be pulling out 401K funds from my American 401K so I will need to claim USA taxes on that. How do I avoid getting double taxed? I want to make sure I don;t have to pay USA and UK tax on those retirement funds.
5) MOST IMPORTANT!!! I have a 80lb Lab mix that's my baby. He absolutely must come with me and I need to make sure I do this part right. Any suggestions? I already purchased an XXL Impact Dog Crate (airline approved) that was very expensive but I am so worried about making sure I get this right.
Any other advice? Folks I sure do appreciate anything you can share with me as this move is REALLY stressing me out.
Many thanks!
1) What's the best way to sell all the house/garage stuff I have accumulated over 30 years of living in the USA?
2) What's the cheapest way to ship my personal belongings from my house in the USA to my parents house in the UK. I will have about 20 large boxes of clothes, photos, personal items...etc. I won't be shipping any large items such as furniture or cars.
3) How do I open a British bank account when I live in the USA? I need to start transferring money from my American bank account into a British bank account. Also, I'm going to have a large sum of money - approx. $200,000 from the sale of my American home. Will I have any problems depositing that much money into a British Bank account?
4) How do I file USA taxes every year? I don't think I should have to file state taxes (Indiana) as I won't be living in that state anymore. However, I will be pulling out 401K funds from my American 401K so I will need to claim USA taxes on that. How do I avoid getting double taxed? I want to make sure I don;t have to pay USA and UK tax on those retirement funds.
5) MOST IMPORTANT!!! I have a 80lb Lab mix that's my baby. He absolutely must come with me and I need to make sure I do this part right. Any suggestions? I already purchased an XXL Impact Dog Crate (airline approved) that was very expensive but I am so worried about making sure I get this right.
Any other advice? Folks I sure do appreciate anything you can share with me as this move is REALLY stressing me out.
Many thanks!
Oct 5th 2018, 8:58 pm
#2
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Joined: Aug 2013
Location: Eee Bah Gum
Posts: 4,131
Re: Moving from USA to UK - need help please!!!
Welcome to the site. We moved back from the USA after 29 years as well. I can’t answer all your questions but here are some suggestions.
1) we used a local website for our city to advertise and sell some of our goods. We gave a lot to charity, and the Salvation Army were happy to come pick up some of the larger items we were giving away.
2) We brought quite a bit back and used a large company. We needed a 20’ container. We used Google to look up companies and then got quotes.
3) We opened an account in the USA with HSBC as we already had our old HSBC account in the UK. Our son did the same thing a year later, opening an account with HSBC USA then opened an account with them in the UK. You can do this from the USA.
4) Google USA UK double taxation agreement and have a read. Others may chime in here with more info, but we landed back in the UK with the intention of settling and making it our domicile. You may choose a different option. For us the UK is the primary tax authority, we pay on “the arising basis”, and although we have to also file US taxes we claim foreign tax credits to offset the taxes we pay to the IRS. Lots more complicated than that depending on your particulars. Section 17 and 18 deal with pensions and pension funds.
5) we have no pets.
Other advice.
Sort out your 401k and IRAs to be sure your brokerages will deal with you as an overseas customer. Same with your broker if you have any after tax investments.
1) we used a local website for our city to advertise and sell some of our goods. We gave a lot to charity, and the Salvation Army were happy to come pick up some of the larger items we were giving away.
2) We brought quite a bit back and used a large company. We needed a 20’ container. We used Google to look up companies and then got quotes.
3) We opened an account in the USA with HSBC as we already had our old HSBC account in the UK. Our son did the same thing a year later, opening an account with HSBC USA then opened an account with them in the UK. You can do this from the USA.
4) Google USA UK double taxation agreement and have a read. Others may chime in here with more info, but we landed back in the UK with the intention of settling and making it our domicile. You may choose a different option. For us the UK is the primary tax authority, we pay on “the arising basis”, and although we have to also file US taxes we claim foreign tax credits to offset the taxes we pay to the IRS. Lots more complicated than that depending on your particulars. Section 17 and 18 deal with pensions and pension funds.
5) we have no pets.
Other advice.
Sort out your 401k and IRAs to be sure your brokerages will deal with you as an overseas customer. Same with your broker if you have any after tax investments.
Last edited by durham_lad; Oct 5th 2018 at 9:01 pm.
Oct 5th 2018, 10:33 pm
#3
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Joined: Oct 2010
Location: The sunshine state
Posts: 1,358
Re: Moving from USA to UK - need help please!!!
Hi there. I'm a dual citizen (UK/USA) who has lived in the USA for 30 years and plan to move back to UK to take care of my elderly parents. I need advice on the following please!
1) What's the best way to sell all the house/garage stuff I have accumulated over 30 years of living in the USA?
2) What's the cheapest way to ship my personal belongings from my house in the USA to my parents house in the UK. I will have about 20 large boxes of clothes, photos, personal items...etc. I won't be shipping any large items such as furniture or cars.
3) How do I open a British bank account when I live in the USA? I need to start transferring money from my American bank account into a British bank account. Also, I'm going to have a large sum of money - approx. $200,000 from the sale of my American home. Will I have any problems depositing that much money into a British Bank account?
4) How do I file USA taxes every year? I don't think I should have to file state taxes (Indiana) as I won't be living in that state anymore. However, I will be pulling out 401K funds from my American 401K so I will need to claim USA taxes on that. How do I avoid getting double taxed? I want to make sure I don;t have to pay USA and UK tax on those retirement funds.
5) MOST IMPORTANT!!! I have a 80lb Lab mix that's my baby. He absolutely must come with me and I need to make sure I do this part right. Any suggestions? I already purchased an XXL Impact Dog Crate (airline approved) that was very expensive but I am so worried about making sure I get this right.
Any other advice? Folks I sure do appreciate anything you can share with me as this move is REALLY stressing me out.
Many thanks!
1) What's the best way to sell all the house/garage stuff I have accumulated over 30 years of living in the USA?
2) What's the cheapest way to ship my personal belongings from my house in the USA to my parents house in the UK. I will have about 20 large boxes of clothes, photos, personal items...etc. I won't be shipping any large items such as furniture or cars.
3) How do I open a British bank account when I live in the USA? I need to start transferring money from my American bank account into a British bank account. Also, I'm going to have a large sum of money - approx. $200,000 from the sale of my American home. Will I have any problems depositing that much money into a British Bank account?
4) How do I file USA taxes every year? I don't think I should have to file state taxes (Indiana) as I won't be living in that state anymore. However, I will be pulling out 401K funds from my American 401K so I will need to claim USA taxes on that. How do I avoid getting double taxed? I want to make sure I don;t have to pay USA and UK tax on those retirement funds.
5) MOST IMPORTANT!!! I have a 80lb Lab mix that's my baby. He absolutely must come with me and I need to make sure I do this part right. Any suggestions? I already purchased an XXL Impact Dog Crate (airline approved) that was very expensive but I am so worried about making sure I get this right.
Any other advice? Folks I sure do appreciate anything you can share with me as this move is REALLY stressing me out.
Many thanks!
1. We used a facebook local selling group. Wish we had started earlier as we got much better prices than we did doing yard sales. A lot of the bigger stuff we gave to our family.
2. We used upakweship. Only shipped personal items in a 50 cubic foot box that they supplied Just over a $1,000. You'd be amazed at how much you can get in them. They also do larger sizes. Pick up was easy, but I can't comment on delivery as the box is still in transit.
3. We kept our UK account open so I can't help you there. We did transfer several large payments across and were asked to provide bills of sale etc. as to where the funds came from.
4. We are neither US citizens or green card holders, so I can't help you there. Due to substantial presence test we will file in the US this year and from Jan till April 2019 we will file in the UK and then yearly in the UK.
5. Our dog flies out with us next week. Very expensive. We are going with Virgin Atlantic. We called them and they give us a list of do's and don'ts (sp). We then contacted a vet to arrange a schedule to make sure he had the right jabs at the right time to meet the requirements needed to satisfy the airline and animal control at Gatwick.
Getting nervous now. Good luck.
Oct 6th 2018, 11:04 am
#4
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Joined: Aug 2013
Location: Eee Bah Gum
Posts: 4,131
Re: Moving from USA to UK - need help please!!!
Wow Bud, only a week to go. Best of luck.
Oct 6th 2018, 1:55 pm
#5
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Joined: Jul 2008
Location: Portlandia Metro
Posts: 7,425
Re: Moving from USA to UK - need help please!!!
If possible it might make sense to change your address with your 401k broker to your parents address prior to moving. Then if they attempt to shut down the account, it is still possible if you are still in the US to change brokers. Maybe get you name added to a utility bill at your parents and open an account when you next visit the UK.
Oct 6th 2018, 2:20 pm
#6
Just Joined
Joined: Feb 2017
Location: Chester
Posts: 1
Re: Moving from USA to UK - need help please!!!
As far as transferring money look up Transferwise. Its basically an international account.. It was set up by Richard Branson because of the huge fees banks charge. They offer an account that can be held in any currency and transferred/changed between currencies and a card as well. They also can send you out a visa card to use in any country.. Pretty easy to set up.. I use it mainly to transfer money between New Zealand and UK at virtually no fees.. Banks charge huge fees. Transferwise are incredibly cheap and easy to use. You can use there apps on your phone..
Last edited by Alistair 1969; Oct 6th 2018 at 2:27 pm.
Oct 7th 2018, 4:22 pm
#7
Account Closed
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 0
Re: Moving from USA to UK - need help please!!!
Look and see if there are Estate Sale companies in your area. They will sell all your house and garage belongings for you for a fee. It is a bit like having a giant garage sale but they do all the work for you.
A house near us recently did this, the realtor that was selling their house contacted an Estate Sales company and it was a weekend sale of everything. It seemed really well organized. They only allowed a few people in at a time, they made sure parking didn't block drives or roads and the house was cleared by Sunday evening! Saved a lot of hassle and hard work.
A house near us recently did this, the realtor that was selling their house contacted an Estate Sales company and it was a weekend sale of everything. It seemed really well organized. They only allowed a few people in at a time, they made sure parking didn't block drives or roads and the house was cleared by Sunday evening! Saved a lot of hassle and hard work.
