Moving between the two, in the right order.
The year you relocate carries the most planning opportunity and the most that can go wrong. Almost all of it is easier to handle before the move than after.
Before you go is when it is cheap
Timing a share sale, a pension withdrawal or a property disposal relative to your move date can change the outcome substantially. Once the move has happened, those options mostly close.
The same is true of accounts and investments. Restructuring holdings that will become problematic under the other country's rules is straightforward beforehand and painful once the reporting has started.
- Model any large gain or withdrawal against both possible dates
- Review investments that become PFICs or lose their shelter
- Check the residence tests you will land on either side
- Note your exact arrival and departure dates
During the move, record everything
Both residence tests turn on facts you will struggle to reconstruct later: precise travel dates, days present, when a home was available to you, when work actually started and stopped.
Keep a simple contemporaneous record from day one. It costs nothing at the time and is the difference between claiming split-year treatment cleanly and arguing for it from memory.
The first return is the hard one
Your first year is typically part-year residence in two countries, with income sourced either side of the move and one-time elections that set the pattern for everything after.
Neither split-year treatment nor US dual-status applies automatically. Both have to be claimed, and both depend on the facts you recorded while moving.
Last reviewed . Thresholds and rates change annually — check figures against the current tax year before relying on them.
Move coming up?
The earlier we look at it the more options remain. Tell us the dates and what you are holding.