Sale of Home in USA /transfering funds to the UK

duduanna

Hello all

I am in the process of selling my home in the USA and relocating back to the UK as am in my twilight years.I am in the position of having to transfer the money from dollars into sterling as wish to buy a home in the UK.What is the best and economical way to do this? I have also been advised I need to pay a transfer tax of almost 15%.This whole process will mean loosing almost a tenth of the value of the home in taxes.Does any community member know of the best way to gain the best possible outcome from the sale so that I am left with a decent amount of sterling for my UK purchase.Many thanks for any contribution made.

G_M

I suggest posting on the banking or savings forum for advice on money transfers.

Never heard of the transfer tax. I assume its american not UK? And imposed on property funds or all money tranfers?!!

Paul_the_Painter

Transfer Tax is a US State tax on the transfer/sale of property and varies from state to state (from Wikipedia from 0.1% to 4%) a bit like Stamp Duty in the UK (however apparantly convensions vary from state to state, in some states the buyer pays, in some the seller, and in others split 50/50)
The 15% figure probably represents a realistic (if perhaps a bit high) figure to account for all the costs of the sale, including any local taxes to pay, and capital gains taxes, and estate agent fees.

In the US a capital gain is taxed on your private home, you do however get an exemption of $250,000 (or $500,000 married) of the gain. So if you bought for $500,000 and sell for $1,000,000, as a single person you will get taxed on a gain of $250,000 (at the rate that applies - it's complex) If you were married you and filed taxes jointly you would have no tax to pay, as you have an exemption of $500,000.

I would have a chat to a tax person to confirm in the US

If you have an idea of the price you bought it for, roughly how much you are selling it for, where the house is located (just the city) and some idea if you have any other capital gains, I could probably work out a rough figure of capital gains you would have to pay.

Estate Agents (Realtors) in the US charge a lot more than in the UK - 6% in not uncommon but can be negotiated down.

The cost of actually transferring the cash to the UK, in comparison to all these other costs is minimal.