Would I be subject to US tax and should I tell the bank yes?

ggearbox162

(Repost because I prematurely put out the other post by mistake and it won't let me edit or delete.)

Heya

Sorry, if this is the wrong forum, please do move this post and let me know. I recently posted here two weeks ago asking about whether I was correct or not to opt for the everyday current account or whether I should go for the basic one first.

So, I went to the branch this Wednesday like I said I was going to so I could apply and I couldn't go through because of two factors. One was my TIN (social security number) but that was more on me for not noting it down or taking a screenshot before it had expired, but also, although my memory is foggy, given what an agent said over the phone, I thought they might have been able to override it but I guess not, but again, I could have misunderstood or heard incorrectly. But my dad was surprisingly co-operative and emailed it again, and this time I managed to get that in

The thing is, with my dual citizenship, I am not sure whether or not I would be subject to any tax further than the supposed £100k tax rule that the US has, and am unsure whether I should answer with a yes or a no about whether or not I might be subject to tax.

Can anyone point me in the right direction because I've already failed twice at applying for a bank account and I do not want to fail for a third time?

Ergates

I can't answer the US tax question - but you should definitely tell your bank you are a US citizen. Your bank won't know about the tax liability either - but under FATCA they have a duty to report on the bank accounts of US citizens to the US government.

born_again

Part of the account opening process is do you hold dual nationality.

ggearbox162

born_again said:

Part of the account opening process is do you hold dual nationality.

Yes, but my question is more about tax

ggearbox162

ggearbox162 said:

born_again said:

Part of the account opening process is do you hold dual nationality.

Yes, but my question is more about tax

Thanks anyway

eskbanker

ggearbox162 said:

The thing is, with my dual citizenship, I am not sure whether or not I would be subject to any tax further than the supposed £100k tax rule that the US has, and am unsure whether I should answer with a yes or a no about whether or not I might be subject to tax.

Sounds like your fundamental question is whether or not your financial circumstances would lead to any US tax liability, but you'd need to share far more information about them in order for anyone to offer meaningful guidance.

Once you've established that, then it should be clearer how to answer questions asked on a bank's application form, but again you'd need to clarify exactly how they're worded.

wmb194

ggearbox162 said:

ggearbox162 said:

born_again said:

Part of the account opening process is do you hold dual nationality.

Yes, but my question is more about tax

Thanks anyway

Whether you owe tax to the US isn't really the issue, what you're going to find is that a great many non-US financial institutions don't want to deal with US citizens anymore because of the Facta reporting requirements. If I were you and I never planned to live in the US I'd renounce my citizenship and save myself this headache, but that's me.

AmityNeon

You are always subject to US tax, as you are a US citizen. You should be filing your US taxes every year, even if you don't owe a cent. You should be declaring to any financial provider that you are subject to US tax; if you declare you are not, you will eventually be asked (via letter) for either proof of your US citizenship renunciation, or your US SSN/TIN. Providers also periodically review their records for any customer with a birthplace registered in the US, and requests are sent if there is no corresponding record of citizenship renunciation.

ggearbox162

eskbanker said:

ggearbox162 said:

The thing is, with my dual citizenship, I am not sure whether or not I would be subject to any tax further than the supposed £100k tax rule that the US has, and am unsure whether I should answer with a yes or a no about whether or not I might be subject to tax.

Sounds like your fundamental question is whether or not your financial circumstances would lead to any US tax liability, but you'd need to share far more information about them in order for anyone to offer meaningful guidance.

Once you've established that, then it should be clearer how to answer questions asked on a bank's application form, but again you'd need to clarify exactly how they're worded.

At the moment, I think no, but if it changes then I might be liable.

ggearbox162

AmityNeon said:

You are always subject to US tax, as you are a US citizen. You should be filing your US taxes every year, even if you don't owe a cent. You should be declaring to any financial provider that you are subject to US tax; if you declare you are not, you will eventually be asked (via letter) for either proof of your US citizenship renunciation, or your US SSN/TIN. Providers also periodically review their records for any customer with a birthplace registered in the US, and requests are sent if there is no corresponding record of citizenship renunciation.

Thanks for the help!

GeoffTF

I have a friend who has British and US citizenship. He not only has to fill in a US tax return every year, but also has to disclose his world wide assets to Uncle Sam every year. He is living here and his US citizenship causes him a lot of problems, but does not want to give it up for reasons that are not relevant here.