Money from house

[Hammy]

First post so sorry if its a repeat. We are planning on moving to the US next year and will be living with my sister in Virginia until we get jobs and buy our own property. I wanted to know the best option for moving money from our house sale in the UK to the US. Hopefully it will be around £200k.

[Bevdeforges]

You'll get lots of different answers here regarding exchange companies and the like, but for my money, the simplest and easiest way to transfer lump sums like that is simply to open a bank account in the US when you get there, and then have the bank arrange an inter-bank transfer from your bank in the UK.
Cheers,
Bev

[Hammy]

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

You'll get lots of different answers here regarding exchange companies and the like, but for my money, the simplest and easiest way to transfer lump sums like that is simply to open a bank account in the US when you get there, and then have the bank arrange an inter-bank transfer from your bank in the UK.
Cheers,
Bev

Thanks for the quick reply. Will we be liable to pay any US taxes for transfering that amount of money.

[Bevdeforges]

Originally Posted by Hammy

Thanks for the quick reply. Will we be liable to pay any US taxes for transfering that amount of money.

There is a reporting requirement for transferring that sort of sum, but if the bank does the transfer, they are the ones who have to do the reporting. (They will ask you where the money is coming from, and what you plan to do with it.)

As far as the taxability of the proceeds from the sale of your house in the UK, it depends on what your tax/residence status is as of the date of the sale. If you're still resident in the UK at the sale date, then UK tax law applies. Transferring the funds to the US at a later date should have no tax effects.

If you don't sell your house until after you've moved to the US, you most likely can exclude most or all of the gain for US income tax purposes. You'll need to take a look at Publication 523 on the IRS website (when the time comes) to find the precise requirements. They have changed the laws on this significantly since I last lived in the US.
Cheers,
Bev

[Davis1]

Originally Posted by Hammy

First post so sorry if its a repeat. We are planning on moving to the US next year and will be living with my sister in Virginia until we get jobs and buy our own property. I wanted to know the best option for moving money from our house sale in the UK to the US. Hopefully it will be around £200k.

These statement always worry me ...

Have you got a visa that permits this move already

XE - The World's Favorite Currency and Foreign Exchange Site is very popular with expats

[Hammy]

What do you mean "These statements always worry you"

[Bevdeforges]

Originally Posted by Hammy

What do you mean "These statements always worry you"

I think what Davis is saying is that we've had lots of queries in the forum that start out with "I'm moving to XXX next year..." (or "next month", or "by the end of the summer") where it turns out the poster hasn't yet considered the issues involved in obtaining a visa for wherever they're looking to settle.

The US is a very tough country to immigrate to. If you're going over on a family reunification visa (which is what it sounds like from your original post), you've no doubt had a long wait while your papers were getting processed. If you're still in the application process, it may be a little premature to establish your schedule for the move.
Cheers,
Bev

[Hammy]

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

I think what Davis is saying is that we've had lots of queries in the forum that start out with "I'm moving to XXX next year..." (or "next month", or "by the end of the summer") where it turns out the poster hasn't yet considered the issues involved in obtaining a visa for wherever they're looking to settle.

The US is a very tough country to immigrate to. If you're going over on a family reunification visa (which is what it sounds like from your original post), you've no doubt had a long wait while your papers were getting processed. If you're still in the application process, it may be a little premature to establish your schedule for the move.
Cheers,
Bev

Ok thanks. Although it has been our plan to emmigrate for several years we are only now in the position to do anything about it . As we don't know how long each process takes we have to start somewhere. I figured it wouldn't do any harm to start by asking questions regarding house.

[jamescruz]

Originally Posted by Hammy

First post so sorry if its a repeat. We are planning on moving to the US next year and will be living with my sister in Virginia until we get jobs and buy our own property. I wanted to know the best option for moving money from our house sale in the UK to the US. Hopefully it will be around £200k.

I would simply suggest you to open a bank account in any American Bank that would be easy for you to inter city transfers and bank will arrange for all that.

[Davis1]

Originally Posted by Hammy

Ok thanks. Although it has been our plan to emmigrate for several years we are only now in the position to do anything about it . As we don't know how long each process takes we have to start somewhere. I figured it wouldn't do any harm to start by asking questions regarding house.

still not sure how you are going to do next year
If you are using your sister to file for you ...the wait for the visa will be about 12 years