Surprisingly US citizen

Scamp247

Yesterday (during the process of opening a bank account) I discovered that I am apparently still a US citizen. I was born in the US in 1966 to British parents and have lived in the UK since being 2 weeks old. Although having a US passport at birth to return to UK I have only ever since had a uk passport and voted married etc as a UK citizen. I am unclear as to the implications and legalities around this and would like advice on this matter please. 

Jeremy535897

It means that, from a tax point of view, you should have been filing US tax returns every year. Do you actually intend ever to visit the US?

EdSwippet

You appear to fit the classic description of an accidental American. There is a Facebook group that tracks issues and pushback against US extraterritorial tax law for people in your situation:

https://www.facebook.com/AccidentalAmericans/

The positives: you can get a US passport; you have the right to live, work and vote in the US. These might or might not be benefits, depending on your life plans.

The negatives: the US will seek to tax your entire worldwide income no matter where you live; many UK and other non-US banks and investment providers now reject US citizens outright due to FATCA; renouncing US citizenship is expensive and time-consuming. These can be significant disadvantages for anyone for whom the positives are not benefits.

xylophone

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accidental_American

Andy_L

Well if you break the law the Home Secretary could strip you of your UK citizenship as you're a dual national

EdSwippet

Andy_L said:

Well if you break the law the Home Secretary could strip you of your UK citizenship as you're a dual national

Hardly likely. Perhaps technically true, but of no use whatsoever to the OP.

Cook_County

Assuming your parents were not present in the United States on diplomatic visas at the time of your birth, you became a US citizen at birth and have remained a US citizen. This situation is quite common. Nothing to be panicked about. Most folks would use the official penalty-free IRS Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures (SFOP) as the lowest risk and lowest cost way of catching up. https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/u-s-taxpayers-residing-outside-the-united-states.

Cook_County

You are currently due a few thousand dollars in stimulus refunds from the US government. You'll need to file US tax returns to claim the refunds.

EdSwippet

Cook_County said:

You are currently due a few thousand dollars in stimulus refunds from the US government. You'll need to file US tax returns to claim the refunds.

But only providing annual income falls below the cut-off for these payments. If it does, once claimed, the OP could use this money to fund the US's exorbitant $2,350 fee for renouncing citizenship.

pjread

Cook_County said:

You are currently due a few thousand dollars in stimulus refunds from the US government. You'll need to file US tax returns to claim the refunds.

I'm not sure I'd be poking that hornet's nest for the risk of being pulled for 35+ years of back taxes personally...

SMcGill

I'm not sure I'd be poking that hornet's nest for the risk of being pulled for 35+ years of back taxes personally... 

I’m in a similar situation to you and I think you only need to go back 5 years using the Streamlined Procedure as mentioned above. If you don’t have a social security number or if you’ve decided you want to renounce your US citizenship then you can use Relief Procedure. It’s a palaver but the penalties if IRS think you’re avoiding tax then the penalties are harsh.