US/UK Tax & Financial Advice

[Chick]

Hi! I'm seeking a tax accountant in London specialising in US and UK tax; I've used the same firm for a number of years but the cost has become outrageous. Does anyone have someone they're happy to recommend? Thanks for your help!

[Bevdeforges]

I'm a CPA myself (living in France) and I have found that it's pretty difficult to find a single accountant anywhere to handle both US and UK (or any other country) taxes. The best placed are the big public accounting firms, because at least those guys have associates back in the US to confer with. But, as you have noticed, their prices are outrageous.

You might try asking around some of the US expat groups in the London area. Many times they have a member or sponsor who does US and UK taxes - either a tax attorney, a tax accountant or an enrolled agent.
Cheers,
Bev

[Chick]

Thank you!

[boyojohnquinn]

Yeah I had to look for them for a while until a mate put me on to these guys: Tax Advisory Partnership

they can do both.

regards,
John

[Bevdeforges]

You may want to look into using an enrolled agent - there's a locator here: https://portal.naeacentral.org/webpo...ch.aspx?Token=

Enrolled agents are certified by the IRS for doing US taxes, but there are several in the UK and they may have further qualifications in UK taxes. Depending on how elaborate your tax situation is, you may get as good or better tax assistance from an EA, and at a significantly lower price. (An online friend of mine is an enrolled agent in San Francisco and I know she does very good work.)
Cheers,
Bev

[esteban]

Originally Posted by Chick

Hi! I'm seeking a tax accountant in London specialising in US and UK tax; I've used the same firm for a number of years but the cost has become outrageous. Does anyone have someone they're happy to recommend? Thanks for your help!

yes,prices are more than i've ever seen.
my current$$$$$$$$ is buzacott.
what's yours?

[Chick]

Originally Posted by esteban

yes,prices are more than i've ever seen.
my current$$$$$$$$ is buzacott.
what's yours?

Yes, I was using Buzzacott - they're the ones I thought expensive. They're pretty good but the fees went up every year. I'm now trying US Tax...not satisfied yet but, as a mid-sized firm, probably a bit cheaper than the big boys (but not a lot!).

[Punktlich2]

Originally Posted by esteban

yes,prices are more than i've ever seen.
my current$$$$$$$$ is buzacott.
what's yours?

What kind of prices are being charged? There are a couple of retired IRS accountants in London I have met and who are said to be very reasonable because they work out of home.

I use tax software and have never seen it necessary to hire anyone, and I do expatraigte friends' returns too. But although qualified and licensed I have never done work for the general public and wouldn't know what to charge if I did.

[Chick]

Originally Posted by Punktlich2

What kind of prices are being charged? There are a couple of retired IRS accountants in London I have met and who are said to be very reasonable because they work out of home.

I use tax software and have never seen it necessary to hire anyone, and I do expatraigte friends' returns too. But although qualified and licensed I have never done work for the general public and wouldn't know what to charge if I did.

The specialists such as Buzzacott and US Tax charge a range "up to" £1200 for a US return, although it can be more when there were additional forms such as rental income, depreciation, self-employment, etc. I've experienced a range of hourly rates for certified accountants who specialise in US taxes from £275 to £350 an hour, so any questions, advice, etc., beyond the return also add more cost. In addition, most expats want the same person or firm doing both US and UK returns. If you're not offering it now, it's potentially a lucrative area. However, having had a bad experience with one "lone ranger", I'm sticking to companies that have more than one person I can rely on!

[Punktlich2]

Originally Posted by Chick

The specialists such as Buzzacott and US Tax charge a range "up to" £1200 for a US return, although it can be more when there were additional forms such as rental income, depreciation, self-employment, etc. I've experienced a range of hourly rates for certified accountants who specialise in US taxes from £275 to £350 an hour, so any questions, advice, etc., beyond the return also add more cost. In addition, most expats want the same person or firm doing both US and UK returns. If you're not offering it now, it's potentially a lucrative area. However, having had a bad experience with one "lone ranger", I'm sticking to companies that have more than one person I can rely on!

Those are quite incredible prices, thanks for the info. I do individual, partnership and corporate returns for the US, UK, Canada and Switzerland but, as I said, only for extended family and acquaintances. I am not soliciting business, and anyway I'm not a tax accountant but a tax lawyer: I write on this stuff and practice to the extent needed to know the issues practitioners face.

I know that mass layoffs in the City of London and the end of employer-paid tax returns done by the Big 4 have left many brokers and traders who chose to stay in London adrift. I had a chat with a head hunter a few weeks ago; she said that she has a new client who undercuts the big boys and is hiring to expand their practice, but I forgot the name.

As a lawyer, albeit one who rarely sees the inside of a court unless I'm tagging along with my barrister daughter, I am aware of a great deal of malpractice in this area, more's the pity. Mostly the client never finds out.

Similarly with wills and trusts, and investments too. Mostly people never get caught out, but the potential traps between the US and the UK (the latter now that long-term residents don't get non-dom benefits in most cases) promise to give rise to real hardship. Who knows about the taxation -- in effect double taxation -- of trust accumulations and mutual fund/unit trust earnings? Who thinks to ask about all those reporting forms for the IRS and Treasury: 3520, 5471, TD F 90-22.1? The penalty for not filing a 5471 is $10,000.

What are "accidental Americans" who have never lived in the USA and who live on modest self-employment earnings or have small businesses to do? The IRS admits in its literature that the penalties for nonreporting can grossly exceed the value of assets. And one can never discharge them in a US bankruptcy. (Under the principle of the Lord Mansfield dictum the UK will not enforce such foreign taxes penalties in its courts. but recent models of tax treaties make certain exceptions to that ancient "rule".

I have graduate law degrees from three countries and sometimes the rules are indecipherable to me and to my university colleagues. It's my opinion that the IRS quite enjoys being in the position of that French bureaucrat who, with a tight smile, tells you, "Monsieur, vous êtes en situation irréguilère", knowing you are now at his mercy.

Fortunately most expat tax returns are in fact trivial, which is why £1,200 is a bizarre amount to charge. But estate planning is not: what is one to do about a QDOT when the result of placing the family residence in a foreign trust would potentially be -- stamp duty aside -- an annual charge on shadow director income based on rental value and onerous UK taxation of the foreign trust itself. But a UK court wouldn't enforce the QDOT law, and many widow(er)s are better off abandoning US assets, or else evading US tax and never visiting the US or Canada (under the current treaty Canada enforces some US tax laws).

The US distrusts, and some would say despises, "foreignness". Perhaps it's the War of 1812 fought over perpetual allegiance all over again. The UK, with hastily and carelessly drawn legislation has made things worse for expats.

Fortunately though, most expats will stay below the radar. In looking at the returns of others I find that most mistakes never get found out, and that is true whether the errors result in too much tax or too little.

Finally, read this: http://www.emailthis.clickability.co...ToID=402687364 (WSJ.com - IRS Gets Tougher on Offshore Tax Evaders) The link should be valid for seven days.