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First-year US–UK tax document checklist

Collect more than year-end tax forms: preserve move and travel evidence, both payroll systems, account and investment statements, tax payments, property and pension records, prior returns, and correspondence. Organise each item by jurisdiction and period without assuming it proves the final treatment.

Coverage period
General record-organisation checklist. It does not determine tax residence, filing requirements, form eligibility, retention deadlines or any person’s tax treatment. References to named forms are examples, not a complete list; use versions for the relevant tax year.
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Treaty Growth
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General Counsel (AI review)
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Start with chronology evidence

Keep travel records, tenancy or completion documents, employment start and end records, and other evidence supporting when homes and work arrangements changed. Keep these records in your own secure storage or share them directly with your chosen adviser through their secure channel. This checklist does not ask you to upload documents to Treaty.

Collect documents from both systems

A W-2 and a P45 or P60 describe different payroll systems and periods. Add payslips, bonus statements, equity-award records, tax-payment evidence, and employer explanations so later work can reconcile gross income, withholding, and service periods.

Inventory assets before choosing forms

Make an inventory of your accounts, investments, property, pensions and any interests in trusts or entities, including accounts over which you have signature authority. Keep the statements you have and flag gaps for review. This inventory does not decide whether an account or asset must be reported, which form applies, or which values are needed.

Worked example

Synthetic example: Taylor has a W-2, P60, UK bank statements, US brokerage statements, and a lease ending two months after the move.

  • Index each document by issuing organisation, original period, and the fact it may support.
  • Flag the overlapping lease as residence evidence requiring context rather than silently choosing a move date.
  • Route account and investment records to separate income, asset, and reporting reviews.

Possessing a document does not establish the underlying fact, tax treatment, form requirement, or Treaty support.

Seven evidence folders

  • Move, home, travel, and immigration records
  • Employment, payroll, bonus, and equity records
  • Bank, brokerage, pension, and investment records
  • Property, self-employment, entity, and trust records
  • Tax withheld, paid, refunded, and foreign-exchange evidence
  • Prior returns, elections, notices, and adviser work
  • Open questions, conflicts, and missing-document log

Sources

Read the tax guides