Yes, as a U.S. citizen or green card holder, you must file a U.S. tax return and report worldwide income even if you live and work abroad. While you must file, you likely won't owe double taxes due to mechanisms like the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (up to $130,000 for 2025) and Foreign Tax Credits.
Yes, if you are a U.S. citizen or a resident alien living outside the United States, your worldwide income is subject to U.S. income tax, regardless of where you live. However, you may qualify for certain foreign earned income exclusions and/or foreign income tax credits.
If you're non-resident, you do not pay UK tax on income or gains you get outside the UK. You may be non-resident the day after you leave the UK - this depends on your situation and how 'split year treatment' applies to you. You may need to pay UK tax if you're non-resident and have UK income.
To avoid the UK's 60% tax trap (an effective 60% rate on income between £100k-£125k), the key is to reduce your adjusted net income back below £100,000 by making tax-efficient contributions, primarily via pension contributions, which reclaim your full £12,570 Personal Allowance, and also through salary sacrifice for benefits like childcare or cycle-to-work, and Gift Aid donations to charity.
However, you may qualify to exclude your foreign earnings from income up to an amount that is adjusted annually for inflation ($107,600 for 2020, $108,700 for 2021, $112,000 for 2022, and $120,000 for 2023). In addition, you can exclude or deduct certain foreign housing amounts.
While the U.S. can legally tax you twice on the same income, most American expats never pay taxes twice. The IRS provides powerful tools like the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion and Foreign Tax Credit that eliminate or significantly reduce double taxation for Americans living abroad.
If you are UK resident, you'll normally pay tax on your foreign income. You may not have to if you're eligible for Foreign Income and Gains relief. Before 6 April 2025, you may not have had to pay tax on your foreign income if your permanent home ('domicile') was abroad.
If you return to the UK within 5 years
You may have to pay tax on certain income or gains made while you were non-resident. This doesn't include wages or other employment income.
Where to live if you want to minimise tax
While there is no Exit Tax in the UK, a number of reliefs can be lost, either immediately or after a short period such as: Personal allowance for Income Tax if not covered by treaty or nationality. Business Asset Disposal Relief – the 14% rate at risk. Gift/Holdover Relief – the exit clawback.
You can usually vote in UK elections if you move or retire abroad. Your UK citizenship will not be affected if you move or retire abroad. If you want to live in an EU country, check the country's living in guide for information about your rights. You may need a visa.
What is Council Tax? Now, you might be wondering, “I'm an expat, do I still need to pay Council Tax?” The answer is generally yes. If you own a property in the UK, you're usually required to pay Council Tax, even if you're not currently residing in the country.
Income tax and national insurance contributions (NICs) will continue to be paid in the normal way, and your tax status is unlikely to change. It becomes a little more complicated when working overseas for much longer periods of time and if paid by a local subsidiary or company.
Generally, you do not need to tell HMRC if you are leaving the UK for a short period, such as for a holiday or brief business trip. However, if you are leaving the UK to live overseas, at the very least you should advise HMRC of your new residential address (and correspondence address, if different).
The most common penalty is the failure-to-file penalty, which is 5% of the unpaid taxes for each month the return is late, up to a maximum of 25%. However, many US expats owe no US tax due to the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE) or Foreign Tax Credit (FTC), so this penalty might not apply.
Many business expenses are 100% deductible, including advertising, employee wages, rent, supplies, and certain business meals like company parties or meals for the public, while personal deductions like student loan interest or charitable donations (depending on the type) can also be fully deductible for individuals. The key is that the expense must be "ordinary and necessary" for your trade or business or meet specific IRS criteria, often differentiating from the 50% rule for client meals.
As the recipient, you do not pay tax on a gift of £50,000. For the giver, this would be a Potentially Exempt Transfer. As long as they live for seven years after giving it, it will be entirely free of Inheritance Tax.
One of the main causes of complexity is the increasing use of the tax system by governments to achieve social and political goals rather than simply using tax systems for what they are good at – raising revenue for government spending.
Overseas tests
You're usually non-resident if either: you spent fewer than 16 days in the UK (or 46 days if you have not been a UK resident for the 3 previous tax years) you worked abroad full-time (averaging at least 35 hours a week), and spent fewer than 91 days in the UK, of which no more than 30 were spent working.
If you're British yet live permanently overseas, earn income from renting out property in the UK, work for yourself in the UK or have other untaxed income from a UK source, you'll need to fill out and send a Self Assessment tax return each year, so that you're UK tax liability can be calculated by HMRC.
If you get British citizenship, you can leave the UK for as long as you want without losing your right to return.
For the 2025 tax year, the foreign earned income exclusion 2025 limit rises to $130,000 per person. This is a meaningful lift from the $126,500 allowed in the prior tax year (January 1 – December 31). The IRS increases these numbers because the law ties the exclusion to annual inflation adjustments under section 911.