It may be possible, in some circumstances, to transfer a British pension to the United States, but it will likely result in sentences that many will find too harsh. The pursuit of highly paid UK pensions, while you live in the US, means that it may not be worth transferring your pension regardless of potential benefits. The majority of financial advisors offer to use your UK pension in the US (or use a SIPP) and then apply for tax breaks with the UK DOUBLE TAXATION TREATY as soon as you start receiving your pension. `(5) (a) A United States national established in the United Kingdom is employed in the United Kingdom whose income is taxable in the United Kingdom and is borne by an employer established in the United Kingdom or by a permanent establishment established in the United Kingdom and who is a member, beneficiary or member of a pension scheme established in the United Kingdom.` Many countries allow workers to carry pre-tax dollars back to pension accounts, which are then accumulated tax-free until retirement. These deferred savings and investment schemes exist everywhere for the same reasons as in the United States: governments want to encourage workers to accumulate private savings to support pension spending without relying exclusively on public pension systems. A personal pension that is not sponsored by the employer is not an “employment pension” under U.S. tax law – it is an investment. And it is often a fund that leads to a pfic treatment (which is not good). A popular question for our team is how to register tax-exempt capital for the start of the UK pension. == individual supporting documents ==== individual supporting documents == The tax treaty amends this rule by making it clear that income received under the pension plan can only be taxed as that person`s income if it is distributed, which means that the income is taxablely delimited within the plan (art.

18, ¶1). “(c) For the purpose of determining a person`s right to participate in a pension plan established in the United States and to obtain tax reductions in respect of a pension plan established in the United States, contributions or benefits made under a pension plan established in the United Kingdom consist of contributions or benefits under a generalized pension plan to the extent that the person has A significant unintended consequence of FATCA is that the United States can no longer neglect taxpayers who participate in foreign pension plans to report their participation in those plans in their U.S. tax returns. Before FATCA, the participation of U.S. expats in foreign pension plans often dragged them into a pattern of systematic non-compliance – many investors didn`t even think about reporting these retirement plans until pension distributions began. However, FATCA now provides the IRS with a viable mechanism for implementing the rules under which foreign pension plans must be declared and taxed to a extent that was not possible before fatca. While transferring your pension system to a ROPS may or may not be the right thing for you to do, another potential plan could be to move your savings to a 401k or Roth IRA system. It won`t be as easy as transferring money from one source to another, and with tax rules and payment penalties, it may not be a viable solution for most people.