Hi - We moved to St Louis in November 2009 from England and bought a house in August 2010 with the proceeds of selling our house in the UK.

I've just decided to take 25% of my pension as a tax free lump sum which is now sitting in my UK bank account.

I would like to transfer it over to the USA but wanted to check that I wouldn't be liable for any tax in the USA - can someone answer this for me?

I'm not working so I have no income but my wife is.


Thanks for any help

It doesn't matter where the matter is physically deposited. If you have to complete a US tax return you may be liable for US tax on it. Also if you have more than $10k in overseas accounts that has to be declared to the IRS as well.

You need to speak to a tax professional as the answer depends on your particular circumstances.

There's a few threads talking about tax and pensions, but it's not a simple subject, lot of variables.

Peter Newton, a member here has answered a lot of tax questions for people in the past, so perhaps you could get in touch with him.

I asked exactly the same question a few weeks ago.

While no-one could give a definitive answer, one responder was quite adament that all his enquiries with some pretty shrewd finance consultants, led him to believe that the sum is potentially eligible for US taxation - and with the economy the way it is the IRS is trying to get all the monies it can

Probably the best thing to do is to presume it will be taxed and then make your decisions.

Unfortunately, the US generally taxes pension lump sums even though the UK does not

This is one of the most unfair aspects of the US/UK tax treaty!