livinginUSA

Hey all,

Just wanted to clarify something - I just became a U.S. Citizen and have lived as a permanent resident in the U.S. for 8+ years now. I have obviously been a UK non resident since I moved here permanently (P85 filed) and had no UK income so I don't file taxes there (as some of you know).

So how does my domicile come in to play? I don't intend on moving back to the UK ever, so I assume I changed my Dom status when moving to the U.S. permanently. But do I need to do anything else?

lansbury

You don't need to do anything. Assuming you have done the normal things on obtaining citizenship. Tell SSA, get a US passport and register to vote.

livinginUSA

I am doing all the stuff in the next few weeks or so.

I assume the domicile thing didn't matter before getting citizenship too, right?

Pulaski

If you have sold your home and divested most of the trappings of being a resident in the UK you have effectively changed your domicile, but there is nothing you can do as a British citizen to eliminate the possibility that you could regain a UK domicile even in your dying days.

There are documented instances of people leaving the UK "permanently" and making their life overseas, but facing imminent death they, for whatever reason, decide that they would like to return "home" to the UK, and in making that decision they instantly regained UK domicile (because within the context of their lifetime, albeit a short remaining time, it would become "permanent") and therefore liability to British estate/ inheritance taxes.

livinginUSA

Well, that's interesting and good to know.

For me, I have no home in the UK (my parents and brother still live there), so I guess it still has no effect on my not needing to file/pay taxes in the UK on my US income. Domicile doesn't change anything there.

Pulaski

You might find this short article interesting. It describes the US approach to determining domicile, and although IANAL, I did study a little law in the UK and the article seems to be very similar to the English approach, drawing a distinction between "domicile of choice" and "domicile of origin". Scotland has a distinct legal system and I know nothing about the Scottish determination of domicile.

livinginUSA

Thanks for the link - that actually makes it quite easy to understand, but obviously these are ultimately decided by law, and as long as these points are demonstrated, it doesn't look like any problems.

But what is the effect of dom status on non-resident taxes in the UK? None?

Pulaski

British income taxes are determined primarily by where you live, not your domicile.

tht

I think you maybe getting confused by "Non Dom". From what you have said this is not relevant to you.