foo fighter

Hi to all,

First time on here so please be patient. I expect you have been asked before but I am trying to keep ahead of the game.

I am married to a US citizen who left the US some 20 years ago and we are living in England with 4 children. We have now decided to go to Texas (as wife lived in Kingwood near Houston for many years) to live and aim to leave UK around JulyAugust 2004.

So many questions but would appreciate any help on the following first.

I have read the forum and understand that credit history seems to be a stumbling block because the US do not use the UK history in respect of obtaining loans and credit cards. Is this the same for US mortgages or can UK Mortgage Statements be used?

I would like to open a US dollar account with someone like Citibank in the UK and spoke to them today. However, they did not help me much with my questions. So here goes;

1. By opening up the US dollar account in England with them, does this allow me to transfer to a US account with them when I get there? as Citibank UK said they were to different companies and would have to apply to open an account when we got there.

2. By doing 1 above now, does this give me any kind of credit history that I can use in the US before I get there?

Citibank only have a branch in San Antonio so having to go into this branch may involve some travelling from Houston to San Antonio. Is it really necessary that the branch is close or would internet banking be sufficient in the early days?

We intend to transfer the house proceeds and any other money next year from England to US and would appreciate it if anybody could help us with their experiences of Citibank or advise of any other banks in the UK with international banking or banks in the US that I can open a bank with now or ways of doing what I am trying to do.

By the way is there any tax to pay on this transferred money in the US which is being moved from the UK?

Your collective wisdom of all that is US would be very much appreciated.

Yours
excited and can not wait to go

BrigieDarling

Welcome to British Expats Foo.

I don't know the answers to any of your questions... but I'm sure others do and will try to help!

(Someone kick Pulaski... I think he's fallen asleep again)

rogerpenycate

Talikng about Pulaski (although he is still around) does anyone know what happened to CORAL ?
I was in touch with her until 2/3 months ago but she seems to have dissapeared.
Weren't you in touch with her BD ?

BrigieDarling

No Roger... Happy to say I'm not in touch with Coral!

nathan barley

Getting a credit history started shouldn't be much of a problem. I only just got a job, and opened a bank account within the last month, and I got approved for a Target Visa yesterday no problem (hardly an acheivment), and it's only a $200 limit, but it's a start on which I can build a history.

Toys'r'Us, Sears and Target will give a low limit Visa to just about anyone.

Yorkieabroad

Ha - got to laugh - I got approved from Target and Sears too, and I haven't even got a job. But my wife got rejected by both and she's the one that earns the cash. Nice one! But my credit rating seems to be getting trashed at the moment because the agencies have me down as having had a mortgage for 5 years, which is pretty darn clever since I only got here last year.....shouldn't laugh actually, need to get it sorted out pronto...

As for the other questions,

Citibank - if they don't know whether you can transfer or not, I'm not sure who would...?

Internet banking - shouldn't be a problem - we use that all the time - never go to a branch, otehr than to use an ATM - I'd check out on availability of ATM's and costs of using non-Citi atm's

House proceeds taxable? I guess that would depend on who's name they're in? better contact an expert on that.

Patrick

Yes and no. You do not get penalized (taxed) on any money you bring into the country just on the interest it earns. You can bring the profits from your house into the country and you are responsible to the UK for any taxes or fees on that.

The US gov has no idea where the money came from (and likely doesn't care) but you are responsible for any interest earned on that money. Simple as that.

Patrick

Pulaski

I can understand what you are trying to do, but I fear that you are making things more complicated for yourself and not actually saving yourself much effort or inconvenience.

International money transfers are no great mystery and there is little to be gained by using one bank in the US and the UK - as you discovered yourself there are few Citibank branches in some parts of the US, and in any case you would have to open a new account anyway.

I wired money from my UK bank account to my US bank account for a very modest fee, £30 I think, plus $20 fee charged to receive the funds at the US end. When exchanging £20,000 or more for US dollars be sure to ask for the "wholesale" or "market" rate (the branch will have to phone their FX dealers to get a current quote). If the teller doesn't understand ask for the supervisor/ manager as large foreign exchange transactions are rare in the branch banking world.

One other note, despite what some people might tell you , there is in practice no way to import your UK credit history to the US, other than the small exception where internally, between associated companies that have common ownership when you can lean on them to contact the UK associate and issue a US credit card. The only companies that I am aware of that are likely to do this are the credit card issuers MBNA, Bank One, Amex, and HSBC Bank (branches almost exclusively in New York state). This of course only works if you already have an established relationship with their company in the UK.

Good luck with your relocation!

Yorkieabroad

If the house were in the USC's name, and was not the main residence, there may be a CGT liability in the US as well, mightn't there? (thats a genuine questionmark at the end) Again, always assuming the IRS were told all they should be...

Patrick

No. There is a reason and I can't remember it.

Pulaski

Yes, in both the US and the UK there is a risk that a house that you no longer live in may become subject to capital gains tax. However both countries allow a significant period of time after you move out to sell it, at least a year, and I think two years in the UK. If however, the house was in the USC's name and they never lived in it then there almost certainly would be a taxable gain.

Having said that, in the UK at least, the gain is apportioned over the time that you lived in it and the time that you did not. Under some circumstances there can also be time when you are presumed to have lived in the house (like the last year or two), even if you moved out. Under UK tax law there can be as many as four years when you own a house and pay no tax on the gain even though it is not your main residence, so long as it was your main residence at some point.

Different rules apply if you rent your house out after moving out of it yourself.

Gross50

as far as CGT is concerned, you will be exempt upto 250,000 dollars. dont get me wrong. this is the net increase in the price of your property. so if your house has appreciated by more than this amount they wont let you go.
what i dont under stand is why US charges tax on worldwide income. this is theft.

you are better of emigrating to the US if you are not rich. woe unto you if you are rich. they will tax you left, right and centre, long after you've left.