# Impartial investment and USA/UK tax advice needed.



## J___S (Jul 9, 2015)

My wife and I are US citizens living in the UK. 
We are trying to find impartial investment and tax advice.
A google search brings up a few firms catering to 'high net worth' individuals and families. 
Unfortunately we are either not wealthy enough to qualify or rich enough to afford the fees we have so far been quoted.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a financial advisor who would be qualified to help with USA/UK investment/tax planning?

Thanks all.


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

I have moved your post to the tax forum where you should get more help. 
You should also try expat Facebook groups because this is a question that gets asked I these kinds of groups a lot.


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## J___S (Jul 9, 2015)

nyclon said:


> I have moved your post to the tax forum where you should get more help.
> You should also try expat Facebook groups because this is a question that gets asked I these kinds of groups a lot.


thanks


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

You may want to try finding separate tax and investment advice. Or, perhaps separate tax advice for your US obligations vs. your UK ones. In practice you may find that cross-border tax advice can be difficult to find - particularly given the restrictions the US puts on overseas residents when it comes to investments. Savings or investment plans that are tax-free or tax-advantaged in the UK are generally taxed by the US and, I suspect, vice versa.


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## J___S (Jul 9, 2015)

I'm not sure I understand your reply. It is exactly because of what you write, 


Bevdeforges said:


> Savings or investment plans that are tax-free or tax-advantaged in the UK are generally taxed by the US and, I suspect, vice versa.


,that I need help from someone with knowledge of both countries. 

Investments and taxes are surely very much interdependent things? If I invest in something in the UK which is heavily taxed in the USA it would be a bad investment (and vice versa). So looking for seperate advice seems to go against what you are saying. It does not make any sense to me. 

Thanks


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Just sharing a bit of my experience and actually, I'm an accountant by trade anyhow, which explains why I tend not to bother with financial advisers and tax preparers. I was looking into assurance vie (not really life insurance, but rather a tax advantaged investment here in France) for a very long time but found that the banks and insurance companies that offer those types of contracts know all the French tax advantages, but they haven't a clue about the US tax obligations. And, even for a CPA like myself, parsing through the IRS mumbo jumbo on "Passive Foreign Investment Companies" is next to impossible, given that none of the IRS stuff bothers to mention specific types of investments found outside the US.

It's difficult enough to be able to find a good tax adviser/preparer who understands both sides of the tax situation (US and UK or any other jurisdiction). But good tax advisors are expensive - and I'm not sure I'd want the same person then advising on investments. Also, I used to work for one of the big international accounting firms, and for multi-national situations, they had their local teams handle the various sides of the equation - the UK office did the UK taxes, while the US office did the US taxes. Not sure how that would apply to financial advice, but then again I've never had enough financial resources to have to worry about that.


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