As an American working in the UK, do I have to pay taxes on foreign income?
Short answer: it's complicated. The UK govt pages on foreign income are probably your best starting point: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/Taxes/LeavingOrComingIntoTheUK/DG_10027480 As you can see, it depends on your precise residence status here.  (There is a tax treaty between the UK and the US so you wouldn't be double taxed on the income either way. But there might still be reporting obligations). A) a tax treaty probably covers this for the avoidance of double taxation. Tax treaties can be very cryptic and have little precedence clarifying them http://www.irs.gov/businesses/international/article/0,,id=169552,00.html B) I'm going to say NO since the source of your income is going to be US based. But the UK tax laws might also have specific verbage for resident source income. sorry it is an inconclusive answer, but should be some factors to consider and point you in the right direction. "Yes. You do have to pay taxes in the UK as well but it depends on how much you have already been taxed in the US. http://taxaid.org.uk/situations/migrant-workernew-to-the-uk/income-from-abroad-arising-basis-vs-remittance-basis Say, you have to pay 20% tax in the UK for your earnings here. You ARE required to pay the same percentage on your foreign income as well. Now, if your ""home"" country already taxed you at 10% (for the sake of example), then you only need to pay the ""remaining"" 10% in the UK. However, the tax law in the UK does allow you to choose between ""arising"" basis and ""remittance"" basis on your income from the country you are domiciled in. What I have explained above is based on when income ""arises."" But the laws are complicated, and you are almost always better off by paying it on ""arising"" basis."
"&gt;It's the lion's share of the annual expenditures in the health sector and up there  Dude - no. Healthcare is [almost 4 trillion dollars a year](https://www.forbes.com/sites/danmunro/2014/02/02/annual-u-s-healthcare-spending-hits-3-8-trillion/#1ec0a80276a9) in the US. None of the links you posted show that the majority of that cost is due to regulation. Even if we *did* spend billions and billions on drug research - that's still a minor piece of the whole pie.  &gt;If you don't have a problem with it then contribute the share of your income you see fit voluntarily. But who entitled you to decide for others that they have to do the same  I advocate UH because it would save us money. *All of us*. Even folks like you who don't envision being old or sick. Even rich people who are able to pay ridiculously high premiums without feeling it. Because it brings the total cost of healthcare down as a segment of the economy. Care for which we currently pay [twice as much as other developed nations](http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2015/oct/us-health-care-from-a-global-perspective). This isn't about handouts. This is about saving American money *and* doing the right thing.   &gt;But I'd prefer the US to cut subsidies to 0, replace them with nothing and finally lower taxes. Which will eventually leave a lot more people with enough money to easily get private insurance. Just without the administrative effort and without forcing people to partake.  A simple example to show why this is purely wishful thinking. In the US - a heart stint (which is a big deal when you need one) is 50K. In the UK - it's 17K. In Spain - it's 12K. The median savings for American families is 5K. That means prices in the US need to come down 90% in order for people to be able to afford life saving surgeries.   Do you really, honestly, believe that cutting taxes and allowing mom and pop surgery centers or correspondence course MD schools will bring prices down that much? If so, do you *really* think we'll have favorable health outcomes that way?   Because remember - money isn't the only objective here. Healthy Americans is the desired outcome of this process.   &gt;exploiting a minority against their will is the right thing to do.  The world is more nuanced than that. And this is in general why I think the left tends to look down on the right alot. Very black and white. Very is or isn't. No reasonable person thinks that asking the wealthy or businesses to help pay to *maintain the house they live in with us* is the same thing as slavery or even ""exploitation"".   And do you really think they're paying their fair share now? Romney paid 15% in taxes man. Trump, likely, hasn't paid taxes in years. Apple paid 0%. The list goes on and on. They've built a tax system so complex that *the only people paying* are you and me. And they're so slick with this shit that people like you come out here and defend them while they fuck the both of us. Shit blows my mind.   &gt;You can try to seek refuge behind sources, but you can't refute the moral argument with those.  I've sourced every argument I've made clearly. That's not seeking refuge that's having an informed opinion.   For the latter, you claim taxation is theft.   If that's the case, then I claim it's OK to steal to heal sick people." In a simple case as the sole UK resident director/shareholder of a company, with that company as your only income, you are usually best paying yourself a salary of the maximum tax free amount allowed under your tax code (~£11k for most people at present).  On this you will have to pay some employer and employee National Insurance (NI) contributions (totalling around £1000). Your salary/employer NI counts as an expense, so that is taken off the company profits.  You then pay corporation tax on the remainder (20%).  The first £5k you take as dividends is tax free, the remainder at a lower tax rate than the equivalent combined income tax/NI (starting at 7.5% instead of 20% tax plus employee plus employer NI), giving a significant saving compared to salaried income even after corporation tax. To declare and pay the tax, you would need to complete a self-assessment tax return.  Your company will also need to file a return. The Contractor UK website, although aimed at IT contractors, has some very useful information on operating Ltd companies. That said, finances are rarely that simple so I would concur with the recommendation you engage an accountant, which is a tax-deductible expense. "I agree with Grade 'Eh' Bacon's answer, but there are a couple of ideas that are relevant to your particular situation: If I were you, I would invest at least half of the cash in growth ETFs because you're young enough that market variability doesn't affect you and long term growth is important. The rest should be invested in safer investments (value and dividend ETFs, bonds, cash) so that you have something to live off in the near term. You said you wanted to invest ethically.  The keyword to search is ""socially responsible ETFs"".  There are many, and if this is important to you, you'll have to read their prospectus to find one that matches your ethics. Since you're American, the way I understand it, you need to file taxes on income; selling stocks at a gain is income.  You want to make sure that as your stocks appreciate, you sell some every year and immediately rebuy them so that you pay a small tax bill every year rather than one huge tax bill 20 years from now.  Claiming about $20600 of capital gains every year would be tax free assuming you are not earning any other money.  I would claim a bit more in years where you make a lot. You can mitigate your long term capital gains tax exposure by opening a Roth IRA and maxing that out.  Capital gains in the Roth IRA are not taxable.  Even if you don't have income from working, you can have some income if you invest in stocks that pay dividends, which would allow you to contribute to a Roth IRA. You should figure where you're going to be living because you will want to minimize the currency risk of having your money in USD while you're living abroad.  If the exchange rate were to change by a lot, you might find yourself a lot poorer.  There are various hedging strategies, but the easiest one is to invest some of your money in securities of the country you'll be living in. You should look into how you'll be converting money into the foreign currency.  There are sometimes way of minimizing the spread when converting large amounts of money, e.g., Norbert's gambit.  Shaving off 1.5% when exchanging $100k saves $1500." "&gt; If you are a corporation residing in Canada, you still pay Canadian taxes on worldwide income, even if that income is sourced in another country.  For corporate tax, that's not exactly true see the Foreign Accrual Property Income rules (FAPI). Only for what is considered ""investment business"" income does the company have to pay Canadian taxes on worldwide income. ""Active business"" income, which would but pretty much everything BK is doing, is repatriated tax free like any other inter-company dividend. In the US that active business income would be subject to a CFC tax." But the US has a higher rate than any other OECD country. So you are still taxing profits from money that wasn't made in the US.  Obviously way more complicated, but it's pretty insane. It can be even worse for an individual. Oh, and imagine you'd like to start a sole propietorship overseas as a US citizen. You either renounce or have insane compliance costs. "It depends on how long you stay and where you earn your income. You can be a US resident for tax purposes even if you are not for immigration purposes. The ""substantive presence test"" probably applies to you: You will be considered a United States resident for tax purposes if you meet the substantial presence test for the calendar year. To meet this test, you must be physically present in the United States (U.S.) on at least: https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Substantial-Presence-Test There are some exceptions to this test, and tax treaties may also apply.  See IRS Publication 519 for more information." The United States taxes nonresident aliens on two types of income: First, a nonresident alien who is engaged in a trade or business in the United States is taxed on income that is effectively connected with that trade or business. Second, certain types of U.S.-source payments are subject to income tax withholding. The determination of when a nonresident alien is engaged in a U.S. trade or business is highly fact-specific and complex. However, keeping assets in a U.S. bank account should not be treated as a U.S. trade or business. A nonresident alien's interest income is generally subject to U.S. federal income tax withholding at a rate of 30 percent under Section 1441 of the tax code. Interest on bank deposits, however, benefit from an exception under Section 1441(c)(10), so long as that interest is not effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business. Even though no tax needs to be withheld on interest on a bank deposit, the bank should still report that interest each year to the IRS on Form 1042-S. The IRS can then send that information to the tax authority in Brazil. Please keep in mind that state and local tax rules are all different, and whether interest on the bank deposits is subject to state or local tax will depend on which state the bank is in. Also, the United States does tax nonresident aliens on wages paid from a U.S. company, if those wages are treated as U.S.-source income. Generally, wages are U.S.-source income if the employee provides services while physically present in the United States. There are a few exceptions to this rule, but they depend on the amount of wages and other factors that are specific to the employee's situation.  This is an area where you should really consult with a U.S. tax advisor before the employment starts. Maybe your company will pay for it? You're not physically present in the US, you're not a US citizen, you're not a green card holder, and you don't have a business that is registered in the US - US laws do not apply to you. You're not in any way under the US jurisdiction.  Effectively connected income is income effectively connected to your business in the US. You're not in the US, so there's nothing to effectively connect your income to. Quote from the link: You usually are considered to be engaged in a U.S. trade or business   when you perform personal services in the United States. You ask: If I form an LLC or C corp am I liable for this withholding tax? If you form a legal entity in a US jurisdiction - then that entity becomes subjected to that jurisdiction. If you're physically present in the US - then ECI may become an issue, and you also may become a resident based on the length of your stay.