Retirement Funds from the USA - Access and Taxes

tujeste

I have some retirement funds in the USA and I am now looking at taking these. I have now retired and am in my 60s. I am trying to work out the easiest and most cheapest / tax efficient way to get these back to the UK.

Does anyone have any experience of this - any gotcchas I should avoid. I have filled in my W8Ben form and sent it to the institution where the account is held. I do have a bank account in the USA (actually a Credit Union joint account with my wife who is a dual USA/UK citizen) I'm looking at using something like TransferWise to get the funds across - anyone with experience of them or any other suggestions?

And also - thinking ahead to tax reporting in the UK - how do I report the income to HMRC ?  ie taking $1000 would tranfer to  approx £715 at the moment but I would only receive c £690 in the UK because of transport costs. Do I report the pre or post sum received.   Any thing else I should consider.

Thanks in advance for your comments and suggestions

TVAS

I use Transferwise are the best. You said you were retired and in your 60s so if you complete a self assessment form you would ell them on that form or you can call them but good luck with the latter.   I do not understand £715 and £690 transport costs do you mean the Transferwise fee? I just looked at TW $1,000 gives you £712.10 net of fee is $3.09 if you pay by bank transfer. I pay money to Spain using TW and I use my Bank app on my phone. You always report what is paid into your account as that is what you have received. Good luck.   

OldMusicGuy

I have moved a 401(K) from the US to the UK. It all depends how you take the money out. I did this three years ago, but based on what I can remember there is a big difference between taking it as a single withdrawal compared to taking several periodic smaller amounts. I took this as a single lump sum and if you do this there is nothing to report to HMRC. You pay US tax and on top of that withholding tax will be deducted (even if you have filled out a W8BEN) so you will need to complete a US tax return to reclaim the withholding tax. 

If you plan on taking periodic withdrawals the situation is more complex and you may have to report this as income to HMRC. If you plan on doing that, I would suggest you get some advice from someone that knows about UK/US taxation treaties.