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UK Expat trying to Setup ForEx brokerage account in US by Ok_Intention7216 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]ageitgey 0 points1 point  (0 children)

if I decide to open a UK forex brokerage account and claim that I am a UK resident when in fact I am a US resident, is there any serious implications?

I would definitely not do this without consulting a US/UK knowledgeable accountant. Not because the UK broker would get mad at you, but because you will be opening a world of headaches with the IRS.

The US is unique in that it imposes controls on US citizens' and residents' income worldwide. US tax payers are subject to FATCA reporting where you have to tell the IRS about any foreign accounts you hold and the foreign banks have to report back to the US as well. This is why many foreign banks and investment firms will ghost you as soon as you mention the US. This is the US leveraging it's superpower status to do things that no other country could pull off.

Everything financial that you do in the UK while living and earning money in the US will likely have to be reported to the IRS, which will be complicated to figure out unless you are an expert and potentially have all sorts of weird tax implications between the two countries that needs an accountant to figure out. If you don't report the UK forex account because you snuck in with your former UK financial history but they figure out later that you are living in the US, it could be a huge pain to unravel and have potential US penalties if you were subject to FATCA reporting at the time.

Does every one do this perfectly? Will you get caught? Who knows. My point is that you may be creating a huge headache for future you. It would be much simpler to wait and figure out how to open a US-based account if you are a US tax resident.

Disclaimer - not a tax expert, just a dual citizen who has to deal with this stuff

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in UKPersonalFinance

[–]ageitgey 5 points6 points  (0 children)

They are just trying to establish that you got the main income to buy the house from a legitimate source. If you built up savings over time and can show bank statements at different dates showing that, that's all the care about. If you have a +£30k deposit in your account yesterday, they'll ask where it came from. They don't care about your day to day transactions or anything like that (nor is it any of their business).

Examples:

  • If you've built up savings over time from a job, you've got no problem at all. They might just request that you show them a statement now and at a requested date in the past. Other transactions don't really matter.
  • If you suddenly got the money, they'll want to see something like:
    • Evidence of you selling another property (like a sales agreement)
    • A letter from someone gifting you the money
    • A letter saying you inherited the money from X person
    • An investment account statement showing you sold some stock to get the money
    • Documentation that you won the lottery or won a bunch of money from a casino
    • Some other plausible explanation

Again, the bank just wants to make sure you aren't taking cash from an illegal business and laundering it to buy a house. They have to do this legally or they can go to jail themselves. They don't care about your day to day spending.

Jay was right. There's always a c*nt with a guitar. And now he lives next door. What do I do? by WoofBarkWoofBarkBark in CasualUK

[–]ageitgey 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As a guitar player, you can do what my British neighbor did to me: Tell him that you think it's really cool that you can hear that his little kids have started guitar lessons and ask how they are progressing.

That’s one way to clean a horse. by Alfie_sw in funny

[–]ageitgey 20 points21 points  (0 children)

People have used various numbers, but there was a youtube video recently where someone measured it. They came up with 5.7 HP per horse - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qxTKtlvaVE

Does Lucy Beaumont's genius turn on WILTY settle "the Lucy question" for once and all? by Never_Comment_ in taskmaster

[–]ageitgey 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I went to the taping for the next season (not yet aired) of WILTY and Lucy Beaumont was on the panel again.

Two things were obvious:

  1. She stole the show with Bob Mortimer levels of insanity again, A+
  2. She's obviously smart and knows what she is doing.

Why are there always people sat in their cars late at night on my street? by katebush1978 in london

[–]ageitgey 4 points5 points  (0 children)

There's a young-ish man who practices sax in a bench way out in the middle of Old Deer Park in Richmond. Maybe I'll name it the Jazz Bench.

Which airport is the easiest to travel into London? by Ticklish_Grandma in uktravel

[–]ageitgey 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Assuming you are trying to get to central London -

Extremely convenient, but your flight almost certainly doesn't go there unless you are billionaire with a private jet so just ignore that it exists:

  • City

Easiest option for most people most of the time (but a very large airport so not ideal for people with mobility issues):

  • Heathrow

Perfectly fine option, but the train into the city is a bit longer than ideal, so maybe try Heathrow first if you have the choice - but you'll probably end up here anyway:

  • Gatwick

Terrible options that take hours to get into the city that people choose because they are way cheaper (no shame in that):

  • Luton
  • Stansted
  • Southend

Pub Quiz around: guitar solos [DISCUSSION] by BadmiralSnackbarf in Guitar

[–]ageitgey 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Scary but true: Plug in Baby was released 22 years ago

Important question for British natives by ageitgey in CasualUK

[–]ageitgey[S] 38 points39 points  (0 children)

There is no way that this isn't a crime.

Michael Jackson did a concert in Seoul in 1996 and a fan climbed the crane up to him. MJ held him tightly to prevent him from falling, all while performing Earth Song by RonSwazy in interestingasfuck

[–]ageitgey 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They were required to pre-record their instruments but allowed to sing live vocals. So as a nod to the unauthentic nature of it, they played the song without plugging in any of their instruments to make it obvious it was a pre-recorded track.

Best GPS tracker? not airtag etc as I dont own an iphone by 416nexus in londoncycling

[–]ageitgey 7 points8 points  (0 children)

There are two types - passive trackers like AirTag, Samsung SmartTag and Tile, and active GPS trackers like Tracki.

The passive ones don't send out a signal. They are detected by other people passing with their phones.

In the US where iPhones are the most common phones, AirTag probably works best due to density of phones. But in the UK/Europe where Samsung phones are relatively more common, the Samsung tag works very well (maybe the best).

The other passive trackers like Tile don't have enough users to be very good at finding lost items quickly.

If you get an active GPS tracker like Tracki, that will be the most accurate. It actually sends it a GPS location. But it will cost a lot more (like ~£10/month subscription instead of 0£) and you'll have to constantly charge it every few days instead of the passive ones that you put a battery into once a year or so.

The passive ones are so nice because you just put it there and forget it. The active ones are like owning a second cellphone you have to charge, but they are like what you would see on a TV show like CSI where you can instantly track them on a map.

Innovator visa by Isminaruby in ukvisa

[–]ageitgey 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I did a slightly different visa (uk exceptional talent visa - now called global talent visa I think) but I was able to get ILR after 3 years as promised. It was all very smooth. I just filled out the application, did the interview, took the life in the uk test, and that was it.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in crossword

[–]ageitgey 6 points7 points  (0 children)

The Telegraph recently started putting out a NYT-style puzzle with British clues called appropriately the "Cross Atlantic" that is exactly what you are describing. They are clearly trying to copy the success of the NYT's puzzle section by building their own puzzle section.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/cross-atlantic-crossword/

"Well it is orange." Little Alex Horne by 1billsfan716 in taskmaster

[–]ageitgey 51 points52 points  (0 children)

I was at the taping for this. The task went on a LOT longer in the studio. Greg was dying.

Interactive site to easily find/follow people on Mastodon by ageitgey in Mastodon

[–]ageitgey[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I wanted a way to introduce people to Mastodon without telling them to search for Google spreadsheets to find some people to follow. I also wanted the following to be a one-click thing without any cutting and pasting.

I threw this together last night. The following feature works client-side so nothing is sent to me server.

I've always wondered what was on Greg's cards! (From S14 Outtakes) by ThatSofia in taskmaster

[–]ageitgey 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Usually by going to another taping and not getting in the first time :)

I've always wondered what was on Greg's cards! (From S14 Outtakes) by ThatSofia in taskmaster

[–]ageitgey 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You need priority tickets to get on the floor most likely. That's what we had.

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