KeithJB

I saw this old entry back from 2005:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=309717

Just wondered if there have been any updates since then? I have some and I'm not sure if I'm allowed to, living in the US and whats the tax status if I win a big prize??!! Also, do they count towards the $10,000 I believe you are supposed to report to the US government?

I'd appreciate any advice or updates.

Keith

nun

If you are liable for US tax I think Premium Bond winnings would be taxed as gambling winnings.....there's a line on the 1040 for that. If you have more than $10k in your premium bonds account you'd have to file an FBAR.

MidAtlantic

I recall several years ago, when I moved to the USA, that technically you could hold premium bonds but that the NS&I could/would not pay out proceeds to someone resident in the USA. Something I believe about international transfer of the proceeds of gambling.

Why not call them and ask?

Cook_County

Winnings would be taxable...but gambling online is illegal in the US so you cannot legally play unless you want to risk jail time.

robin1234

Surely that wouldn't apply to Premium Bonds, would it? I thought Premium Bonds weren't considered gambling, since at no point do you lose your investment.

Pulaski

You could make an argument that your "stake" is the interest you have foregone (if you had invested in other government bonds, but IMO it sounds like a tenuous argument, and so long as you pay taxes on the dividends (as if they were foreign government bond interest payments), I sincerely doubt that there is going to be any US law enforcement interest in investigating a holding of Premium Bonds.

robin1234

Well, assuming you lived in the UK, they would extradite you. After a lot of humming and hawing, HMG would acquiesce and you'd be sent to the US. You'd be "persuaded" to plead guilty to a lesser charge, and you'd spend ten years in the federal slammer.

celticgrid

I went through this learning curve in 2008. As far as I know the law has not changed since then.

It is not illegal for a US person to hold Premium Bonds.

It is illegal for any correspondence, particularly winnings, to be sent to or from the US. (I think it is in the US Mail regulations somewhere.)

The Premium Bond people will get upset if you try and change your registered address to a US address. They will not send anything to that address. They will not use an alternative, private carrier such as Fedex.

robin1234

Interesting, thanks. I have premium bonds purchased between 1959 and 1975. As far as I know, I've never won anything. Years ago, I registered them at my mother's house. In 2007 we sold that house, it was demolished, and the address doesn't exist anymore. I need to dig out the paperwork, and maybe actually cash them in! I think the total proceeds would buy me a pub lunch!

thinbrit

As at 5 June 2013 we are holding over 898,000 unclaimed Premium Bond prizes worth more than £44 million.

If you find your bonds, you can check online to see if you won anything.
http://www.nsandi.com/savings-premium-bonds-have-i-won

robin1234

Wow that's amazing. I found my bond holders number in my files, and searched. I won £25 in November 2012. That was a premium bond I bought in 1975. Funny thing is, I selected the "unclaimed prizes" search, which is supposed to be searching prizes more than eighteen months ago, and November 2012 is obviously more recent.

I'll have to strategise about how to claim this without falling foul of the coercive powers of the Americans. I suppose I could try to get my address changed to my son's or my sister's, but I don't know if I could deposit the £25 in my IoM current account, since LTSB know I'm a US citizen and resident.

lansbury

You were talking about this in 2009 Robin

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=593831

robin1234

Scary, isn't it. I just read through that thread, I have no recollection of it. I honestly thought I hadn't checked or even thought of Premium Bonds for at least a decade, maybe more. I knew my short term memory was piss poor, but this was 2009, which is more medium term!

I'd better get hold of that £25, go to England and eat that pub lunch while I can still enjoy it! If I leave it much longer, it'll be strained carrots in the nursing home!

Yorkieabroad

First direct are aware of my status, and are still more than happy to accept cheques from NS&I....but if you're really worried, there's a geezer hangs out down the Walmart can sort you out with fake ID, new identity, passports, the lot. He can hang drywall too, and his brother is a dab hand at grass cutting....

robin1234

OK, cheers, say no more, a nod's as good as a wink.