Does anyone know how to denounce their British Citizenship

[Leaannb]

My 18 yo who is a dual citizen of the UK and US would like to denounce his British citizenship due to tax reasons. Any idea how?

Thats what people are not understanding. If he makes more than a certain amount a year (UK tax Attorney told me 103,000 American dollars) that he can be taxed on his US goverment wages plus his passive income made in the States which is considerable. He does not jave the protection of SOFA due to being a citizen of the UK. Just like me when I was active duty. My husband was protected but I was not
Attorneys are not accountants
you need a better accountant
as you still do not understand Double Taxation treaties

H&R Block are really helpful.

SOFA is a forces specific thing, right? But double taxation treaty rules must surely apply in the absence of anything else - if he was just a normal UK citizen, they'd apply. They're about making sure you don't pay tax twice on the same income. Either I'm misunderstanding something about your situation or you are, but in any case I don't think you're going to get the advice you need from Mumsnet. Because it appears that either you've misunderstood something, or your situation is so unique that you need specific, specialist advice from a professional.

Someone better tell Inland Revenue about the citizen thing and unremitted foreign income. I don't think they know.

They seem to think it's all about double taxation agreements, residency and domicile; dopes.

Under what basis will be residing in the UK for 4 years if he renounces his UK citizenship?

@thegcatsmother

If you are posted abroad with the military, it is under a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), as was mentioned by a PP.

We spent 7 years abroad with the Royal Navy. Tax was paid by dh in the UK. No tax was due in Belgium.

I agree with this

When my dad was posted to the states he was paid British taxes not us taxes

I think your son needs to contact someone in the military for advice. Along with the British accountant and tax advisor

He won't be living on base. He will be living on the economy I assume you mean in the community? Why?

CherryValanc When dh was posted abroad by HM Forces, neither the RN, nor HMG told the Belgian authorities anything about our financial status, as we were under SOFA.

As the OPs son is serving in the US military, would they divulge to HMRC that he holds dual citizenship? Would they tell HMG?

As the OPs son is serving in the US military, would they divulge to HMRC that he holds dual citizenship? Would they tell HMG?
Not a chance

@ListeningQuietly - actually the OP does understand the Double Taxation treaty. It is a very unusual case but she is probably correct. If her son does not get the benefit of SOFA as a result of his UK citizenship then he falls back under the normal rules and the terms of the tax treaty. Then his military income is taxable in the UK and not the US under the terms of the (non diplomatic/consular) government service provision in treaty (s19 from memory) that gives the taxing right to the state of residence rather that the paying government where the recipient is a citizen of the state of residence.

His investment income in the US might also be taxable in the UK as it exceeds £2000pa - as a non dom he has the choice to pay tax on it in the UK (with the benefit of US tax credits per the treaty) or to not pay tax on it in the UK (provided he doesn't remit it here) and give up his tax allowances. He will need to do his sums as it is $35,000 pa per the OP as to which option is the best result for him.

London
But the point of the DTT is that you get credited by each country for the tax suffered in the other
you do not get double taxed
I'm a UK tax accountant who has also done IRS forms for high earners
so if Leann has paid double, she needs a better accountant

OP doesn't understand because the $103k she keeps talking about is the US federal tax threshold. It has nothing whatsoever to do with UK tax law.

OP if your lawyer is actually telling you that earning over $103k is a trigger for UK tax to be payable, sack them and report them for negligence. Not joking.

Get a better accountant. Someone who can explain this to you in a way you can understand.

(except it's more like 106k now anyway)

Is get a better accountant akin to cancelling cheques? Or checks in this case I suppose!

OP: You think that the NHS care is any better? 2 years for a simple k ee operation. Don't want to call you a hypocrite but you are a hypocrite. He would die waiting for help on the NHS.

OP: As far as NHS....For the most part I love it. I jad wonderful care at Addenbrookes. I still pay NI even though the VA provides me with free coverage and I have private insurance. I just wish they get their shit together so other Americans will see that having Goverment insurance is a good thing

And you called me a hypocrite for defending the NHS vs. leaving your son at the mercy of the American medical system... yes, I can see that clearly how I’m the hypocrite in this conversation.

I have no idea what to say to you. You’re an American, you spent 20 years in the USAF, then you should know people die waiting for the VA. I know some of them. Do you want the sources? You should also know people die on emergency room floors in America waiting for care. Did you want the sources for that as well? You have British property and military retirement so maybe that’s enough insulation for your son if he ends up out of the military next year, but unless American money is in a trust, I’ve watched a million dollars be wiped out by one go with aggressive cancer in America. I’ve seen your comments on other threads and once I realized it was you, I should NEVER have replied.

It’s residency not citizenship that is affected by tax. I’ve just moved to Portugal and had to ‘cancel’ my U.K. residency by declaring a statement at the embassy. I’m now a fully fledged resident (tax also) of Portugal

Can we renounce British citizenship because we are sick to death of the arseholes who call themselves our Government??

You aren’t making any sense. The US citizenship causes the tax hassle, not the British one!

how much tax is he paying that losing his UK citizenship would be worth it?

Recent posters - PLEASE read the whole thread, not just the opening post.
Or
Al least flick through all the OPs posts

@ListeningQuietly - . My understanding of what the OP is saying is that the UK tax is quite a bit more than the US tax which would be payable if the UK citizenship wasn't in play, rather than that her son would have to pay double tax. In most of my clients' cases US tax is quite a bit less as their reliefs are more generous. So the DTA isn't that useful as the US tax creditable against the UK tax is not enough to wipe out the UK liability altogether.

@Londonmummy66 I'm not sure how being a UK citizen changes that? Many US nationals who work outside of the USA (not just in the UK) end up paying more tax overall than they would have done had they solely worked in the USA owing to the exact point you make.

I'm not an expert on SOFA but I can only assume either it excludes dual nationals or OP's son has a separate (non-military) source of income which is causing him this grief.

Let’s hope it’s easy for him and when he gets ill he won’t be able to come here and get treated for free.

So let me get this straight:

You have a solicitor who you will talk to tomorrow, you've already spoken to an accountant re: American tax and they've told you what you need to know plus you have personal experience of this process due to similar career path yet you have chosen to come on MN to post a drip feeding thread (that you can't actually be bothered to read all the responses on before responding yourself), then you argue with posters and complain that people don't understand the situation (no shit Sherlock) when you could simply ask the solicitor tomorrow?

What a complete waste of your time and ours.

On the other hand, we all know that OP has many, many houses.