Skip to main content
US✦UKTax Accountants

Guides

Guides

The forms and rules that come up most often, explained without assuming you already know the vocabulary.

Guide

Form 1040 returns

The annual return every US citizen and resident files on worldwide income, wherever they happen to live.

Read the guide

Guide

Form 1040-NR returns

For people who are not US tax residents but have US income — rent, business profits, or certain investment returns.

Read the guide

Guide

Foreign earned income exclusion

Form 2555 lets qualifying expats exclude a capped amount of earned income — useful in low-tax countries, often not the best answer in the UK.

Read the guide

Guide

Foreign tax credit (Form 1116)

Credit for tax already paid abroad, set against the US liability on the same income — usually the stronger relief for anyone in the UK.

Read the guide

Guide

PFICs (Form 8621)

Most UK funds, investment trusts and ISA holdings are PFICs to the IRS, taxed under a regime designed to be unattractive.

Read the guide

Guide

Form 5471

Annual reporting for US persons with sufficient ownership or control of a non-US corporation, whatever the company earned.

Read the guide

Guide

Form 3520

Reporting for US persons who deal with a foreign trust, or who receive a substantial gift or inheritance from abroad.

Read the guide

Guide

US state tax returns

States are not bound by the US–UK treaty, set their own residency tests, and are frequently where the real exposure sits.

Read the guide

Guide

US–UK tax treaty

What the treaty actually does, where the saving clause takes it back, and why it does not remove either filing obligation.

Read the guide

Guide

183-day rule

How the substantial presence test actually counts days, and why it catches people who spent well under 183 days in the US this year.

Read the guide

These are general explanations rather than advice. Cross-border tax turns on detail, and two people with apparently similar situations can need different answers.

Ask about your position

Tell us what you are trying to solve and we will put the right specialist on the call.

About you
Your situation

None of this is required, but it lets us put the right specialist on your reply instead of asking these questions back.

How can we help?

Please do not send tax reference numbers or documents yet — we will agree a secure route first.

0/5,000

Stay informed with our latest publications and insights.

Latest

Read our insights

Specialists who work in both tax systems every day, not one with a view on the other.

About us

Discover how we work