blinkgoddess

Hello!

We are considering gifting / loaning a decent amount of money from the UK to the US and back to the UK between family.

What is the cheapest way to transfer funds?

Do you know of any tax implications of this?
Anything else we should consider?

Has anyone used Transferwise or a similar "discounted" money transfer service?

Thanks in advance!! Cheers! xx

lansbury

There are numerous threads on BE concerning transferring between the UK and US, and vice versa. If you search them out you will find comments on most of the companies.

Pulaski

Depends what you mean by "decent amount". It is unlikely a bank would be competitive, cost-wise unless you're talking at least £50k, and probably not even then. I have used xe.com and been very happy with them, though I hear they may not be competitive now compared to other on-line remitters.

Like Lansbury said, there are many other threads on the subject if you search for "xe.com", "transferwise", or "worldfirst" you should be able to see most of the threads.

If you use an on-line remitter be sure to select "credit by ACH" or "direct credit", and not "by wire", otherwise the receiving bank will charge a wire fee.

blinkgoddess

For what it's worth, I did a search prior to posting. I combed through the first four pages of results - and most of them were other countries (Canada, AUS, etc..) and the few that were US/UK seeming were nothing more than advertisements by the guy at fcexchange.com. I didn't actually think about searching for the terms "transferwise" and I didn't KNOW about worldfirst or xe.com so how would I know to search for those terms specifically?

Also, if there are tax implications of transferring £50k back and forth - I have no idea what the keywords to dig up information on that would be. I'm not opposed to seeking out my own information. I'm not lazy, I just can't know what I don't know.

I am a member of several online communities, and I know first hand how frustrating it is when the 'noobs' comes in and ask the same stupid questions over and over and over again... this community was a wealth of information and support when going through the visa process, so naturally it is - make that was - my go-to resource for all things related to the nuances of blending US and UK lifestyles.

I deeply apologize for being "that person" who barreled into your community, interrupted your chatter about recipes and the Premier League and who got booted off American Idol last night to beat the dead horse and ask the same stupid question that's been asked a thousand times before. I will just go ahead and read 975 unrelated threads about transferring your pension from the UK, getting a mortgage in Spain and moving funds to Canada and Sweden while I painstakingly try to find out on my own whether or not my immediate family member will face a hefty tax hit for loaning us some money.

Cheers then

Pulaski

Excuse me?

If you put those words into the search form you should see the recent threads on the subject. I contribute to most FX/ transfer threads, and always mention xe.com. Using that should selectively find mostly threads on the US subforum.

Transferring money internationally certainly has zero tax consequences in the US or the UK. Loaning money doesn't either, "gifting" money might have some consequences in the UK with respect to UK inheritance tax.

ETA I just searched for xe.com and found 9 threads in the US forum on the first page that have been active in the past three months.

MidAtlantic

You can search on the US Forum only. Use "Money Transfer" as the keywords and that will also give you many of the relevant threads.

GeorgeMartell

Blinkgoddess,

1) Cheapest way is usually through a currency broker but double check with your bank for what they can offer - the only fees you could get is a transfer fee and the margin the currency broker/bank takes from the rate you see online.
2) I believe there is no implications that you need to worry about.
3) Get quotes from a couple of brokers to guarantee a decent exchange rate (Shop around for the best rate). You will only get a true representation of the exact rate you will get if you register with them otherwise they will give you 'indications'. Make sure that the company you use can transfer funds from the US to the UK. Regulations have changed for currency brokers which means that they need a license to transfer funds from the US.

BunnyGirl

Wow. Why the attitude? People just suggested that you might find what you're looking for on some other threads. That's all.

lansbury

I noticed last night that no one had answered your post. I had just got home from a meeting organizing a charity event. I was tired, and hungry as I had missed dinner but I saw your post while waiting for some meatloaf to heat up in the microwave.

Normally I tend to answer the questions on money transfers as since 2006 I have done quite a few each year. But as I said I was hungry and the microwave timer was ringing to say it was time to eat. So I quickly gave you a pointer to find the information you wanted. Sorry that it invovled a bit of effort on your part, and I didn't put my dinner to oneside to fully post information I and many others have happily repeated many times in the past. Pity you didn't put the effort into searching as you did throwing your toys out of the pram.

YouWantFriesWithThat

Tips for others reading this thread later -

* Use the 'Search This Forum' (with the down arrow symbol beside it) located at the end of the blue bar header for the main USA forum or the USA sub forums.

* If you were to use the 'search' facility on the second blue down from the top of the page you would then have to specify which forums to search and it's more complicated.

* Try combinations of different key words e.g. 'transferring money', 'transfer funds' etc

YouWantFriesWithThat

If the OP is still reading -

Just out of interest and me being nosey, what's the circumstances surrounding money going from the UK, to the USA, and then back to the UK? (If I read your first post correctly!)

sherbert

Use transferwise. Message me here on this forum. I have a promo code which means can get your first transfer for free. Anyone else want one?

WinglessDragon

I'd also recommend TransferWise, I am still employed by a UK company even though that I now live in Orange County, CA. Every month I transfer my salary from the UK bank account to my account here in the US. Never had any troubles with them and the charges are simply hilarious, I am very happy with them. I hope you find this info useful.

tht

I used to use OANDA for a company I worked for, to transfer large amounts of money, the difference between a banks rate and a service like that can be substantial. That said with most services like that are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, so your money is not protected the way it is in a bank, and transfers often take a few days. When I was sending smaller personal amounts I used my bank, which did free real time international transfers for Premier customers. I don't recall the exact break point at but I think the worse rate vs.fee and better rate had a break even of between GBP 3-5k for me.

You should also consider how it may look transferring money UK-US-UK to an outsider as well. 50k is enough to trigger a report so make sure you have some paper trail to back up what you are doing and why.

Pulaski

A wire of $10k or more into or out of the US generates an automatic report in the US. Do NOT send multiple wires to avoid the $10k reports (which are entirely transparent to the sender and receiver), because the consequences of f@rting around with your wires may be much worse than having the existence of the wire reported.

Not only should you ensure that the wire memo field contains some sort of relevant and meaning description about the source and or the purpose of the wire, it is also good practice to contact your bank and alert them that you are about to receive a wire, who is sending it to you (even if you are sending it to yourself), and where the money came from e.g. sale of a house or an inheritance.