stuo

Hi All, I am moving to the US very soon. I am renting out my property here and want to keep my UK bank account open for the rental income to go in. I will redirect all post to my mother. I certainly cannot/ do not need an offshore account because i do not have the funds required to open one. Does anyone have any thoughts/info please....
Also i already have an account set up in the US for my day to day dealings there.

Pulaski

Some banks allow it, some don't. They have been known to change their minds, sometimes at short notice.

I have kept my account for over 14 years, with mail going to my mother's home.

NoOfficialComment

I asked this not long ago and the general consensus was unless you have to get rid of them then keep them. This is because it appears to be very tough to open a new one at a later date when not living in the UK.

Given that I'm subject to no account fees I will be keeping two of my UK accounts. Same as you with having one for rental income to go into.

stuo

Thank you for your reply, my thoughts were that i will keep them open feed in my rental income and hope they don't notice! Seems quite a grey area though with the banks blanket approach of open an offshore account which must create issues for thousands of people in our position.

MarylandNed

My wife and I made the mistake of closing ours when we moved to Canada in 1989. We moved back to the UK in 1996 and had a hard time opening an account (even though we had funds to deposit) as we had no proof of address - we were staying with my in-laws at the time and the bank suggested we get a letter from them stating that we lived there. After trying the major banks, we went to a branch of a smaller bank where a friend worked. She had a word with the manager for us and we were able to open an account.

We kept that account open when we moved to the US in 1998 and it's still open. today. They have our US address on file and they send our statements here. Having the account is handy for writing checks for birthdays for nieces and nephews. We occasionally still receive GBP payments into that account and I transferred funds from there to our US bank just last week.

markcst

I've used the redirect route for now, but as soon as my house is sold I will change my address to my parents house.

Owen778

I still have accounts with Barclays, after three years here, and they happily send statements to my US address each month. Many UK banks will do the same, but it can be unpredictable, as Pulaski says.

petitefrancaise

You can keep them open but you will have to give them your USA address. Pulaski, the banks are under an obligation to report your accounts to the IRS I believe (someone correct me if I'm wrong) if you are US resident and report your taxes here. You do declare your UK bank accounts?

We have had first direct and barclays UK accounts for many years with no problems at all despite not living in the UK for the past 13 years and we have always given them our foreign addresses.

In the last few weeks they have sent us letters basically checking we still exist because there hasn't been much activity on the accounts in the last year but (touch wood) all still ok.

dj6372

I kept mine open and mail to my brother, works fine (Halifax)

When we lived in the UK we kept our US Bank account open, makes things so much easier!

Pulaski

The Halifax web site states they do not offer a/cs to non-residents - I checked last month. I fear that if I give them my US address they will close my account. If not immediately, then at some point in the future. At some point in the future I expect to either switch the address to my sister's home, or to a Mailboxes Etc. box.
Oh that it might contain enough to declare! Everything is disclosed, declared, and taxed .... Interest is less than £10/yr.

There is no way, so far as I can tell, that Halifax would know to report my account to the IRS, but it contains little and activity is low. I am not in the least concerned about the IRS side of things, only that Halifax might decide to kick me out to ease their regulatory burden.

kins

We kept our First Direct accounts and credit card. They have our US address. No problems and it's been 8 years. I still have a life insurance policy in the UK that is paid directly from the FD account, and we use it for payments to and from family in the UK.

dj6372

Hence my usage of UK address

If you use the online banking there is a box to tick in personal details about country you reside..........presumably for reporting to IRS or equivalent

We transfer some money into it when we visit UK, we had a problem once with our US cards not working in UK mainly because I forgot to tell them, (yes dear my fault)

sir_eccles

Hypothetically, what are your options to open an account should you have your account forcibly closed?

Could you have a relative open an account and add you as a user? Have a solicitor open one and have power of attorney?

MidAtlantic

I think that means they will not offer new accounts to non-residents. Halifax have had my US address for years with no problems. Of course, they may change their mind tomorrow!

MarylandNed

Don't you only have report your foreign accounts if the total balance reaches at least $10,000?