Introduction: The Gold Card Visa Is a Tax Decision Before It Is an Immigration One
The Gold Card visa gives a wealthy Briton US permanent residence in exchange for a $1 million payment, and it gives the IRS a claim on that person's worldwide income from the first day. Most coverage treats the programme as an immigration story. However, the price of a Gold Card visa is the smallest number in the calculation. The larger numbers are the UK tax on raising the money, the US tax on everything you own afterwards, and the cost of leaving again.
The programme's own website is direct on the point. It states that successful applicants will be subject to US tax, including on non-US income, like all citizens and permanent residents. Therefore, a British founder who takes a Gold Card visa brings a UK company, ISAs, pensions and property into the US tax system on arrival. Furthermore, nothing in the programme resets the US cost of those assets.
This guide sets out the tax position on both sides of the Atlantic, with verified 2026 figures. Additionally, it explains what must happen before the card is issued, because most of the savings open to a Gold Card visa applicant disappear on the day US residence starts. TaxYork prepares the US and UK returns for families making this move, so the focus here is the tax file and not the visa form.
What the Gold Card Visa Actually Is in 2026
The Gold Card visa in one paragraph
The Gold Card visa is a fast-track route to a US green card created by Executive Order 14351, signed on 19 September 2025. An applicant registers on the official programme website, pays a non-refundable $15,000 processing fee, and files Form I-140G through a USCIS online account. After vetting, the applicant makes a $1 million gift to the US government. In return, the applicant receives lawful permanent resident status in the EB-1 or EB-2 category, subject to visa availability.
The payment is not an investment. You receive no shares, no loan note and no right of return. Consequently, the $1 million is a pure cost, and that single fact drives much of the tax analysis below.
What a family pays
The headline figure applies per person. The programme's own guidance says each family member is subject to an additional $15,000 fee and an additional $1 million gift. A spouse and unmarried children under 21 can be included. Therefore, a couple with one teenage child pays $3 million in gifts and $45,000 in fees.
That arithmetic matters when you compare routes. Under the EB-5 investor programme, a single qualifying investment covers the investor, the spouse and children under 21, and the capital can come back. Our guide to EB-5 visa tax for British investors covers that route in detail. In contrast, the Gold Card visa buys speed and certainty of category, and the family pays for it three times over.
The Corporate Gold Card and the Platinum Card
Two sister products sit beside the individual card. Under the corporate version, an employer makes a $2 million gift per sponsored employee, plus the $15,000 fee. The employer can later move that sponsorship to a different employee. However, the programme charges a 1% annual maintenance fee and a 5% transfer fee when it does.
The Platinum Card is different in kind, and it has not been released. It would cost $5 million and would allow up to 270 days a year in the United States without US tax on non-US income. We deal with it in its own section, because it matters a great deal to anyone weighing a Gold Card visa today.
Where the programme stands
The Gold Card visa opened for applications in December 2025. Uptake has been slow. The latest official figures we found, reported in mid-2026, showed 338 requests, 165 paid processing fees, 59 petitions filed and one approval. Additionally, a lawsuit filed in the federal district court in Washington on 3 February 2026 asks the court to declare the programme unlawful. We found no ruling on that case at the time of writing.
Those facts carry a tax consequence. A family that restructures its affairs for a US move, and then waits a year for a decision, can end up with the UK cost and none of the US benefit. Therefore, the order and timing of each step needs care.
US Tax: Worldwide Income From the Day You Land
When US residence starts under the Gold Card visa
Every Gold Card visa holder is a green card holder, and a green card holder is a US tax resident under the green card test. For someone who was not already resident, the residency starting date is generally the first day in the calendar year on which you are present in the United States as a lawful permanent resident. The approval letter does not start the clock. Your first entry as a resident does.
That gives you a lever. A holder of a Gold Card visa who enters on 3 January is resident for almost the whole US tax year. A holder who enters on 20 December is resident for twelve days. In both cases the first year is a dual-status year, with worldwide taxation only from the starting date. Consequently, large disposals belong before that date, and the date itself is a planning choice.
What the IRS taxes afterwards
From the starting date, the United States taxes a Gold Card visa holder on income and gains from every country. That includes UK salary and dividends, rent from London property, interest on UK accounts and gains on UK shares. The top federal rate on ordinary income is 37%. Long-term gains bear 20%, plus the 3.8% net investment income tax, which makes 23.8%.
Importantly, the United States gives no step-up in cost on arrival. A share you bought for £100 in 1998 keeps that cost for US purposes. Therefore, a gain that built up over 25 years in Britain becomes fully taxable in America if you sell after your starting date. State tax then sits on top. Florida and Texas charge no income tax, while New York and California charge some of the highest rates in the country.
Your UK company becomes a controlled foreign corporation
A UK limited company that you control becomes a controlled foreign corporation on your starting date. You must file Form 5471 every year, and the penalty for missing it starts at $10,000 per form. Moreover, the US rules on net CFC tested income can tax you on the company's profits each year, whether or not it pays a dividend.
UK corporation tax at 25% usually allows a high-tax election that removes most of that annual charge. Nevertheless, the election is a filing position that needs calculating every year, and UK reliefs such as research and development credits can pull the effective rate below the threshold. Our US tax return preparation for expats covers these company filings alongside the personal return.
ISAs, UK funds and pensions
The US tax code does not recognise an ISA. Interest, dividends and gains inside it are taxable every year. Furthermore, most UK funds and investment trusts are passive foreign investment companies, which need Form 8621 for each holding and can attract punitive tax and interest charges on sale.
UK pensions are better protected. The US-UK treaty generally lets growth inside a UK registered pension continue untaxed in America. However, the pension is still a reportable foreign asset. Foreign accounts above $10,000 in aggregate need an FBAR each year, and larger holdings need Form 8938. Missed reporting of a pension, an investment account or an ISA is the most common failure we see in the first US year.
The UK Cost of Raising $1 Million
What £760,000 costs to extract
At recent exchange rates, $1 million is roughly £760,000. Few people hold that in cash. Instead, they sell assets or draw funds from a company, and HMRC taxes both while you remain UK resident. The capital gains tax rates are 18% and 24%. The additional rate of tax on dividends is 39.35%.
The difference is large. To net £760,000 from a dividend at 39.35%, your company must pay out about £1,253,000. To net the same sum from a sale that is entirely gain at 24%, you need proceeds of £1,000,000. Therefore, the route by which you raise the money can change the true cost of one Gold Card visa by more than £250,000.
The payment earns no tax relief in either country
The Gold Card visa programme calls the $1 million a gift. Nevertheless, it does not behave like a charitable gift for tax purposes. A deduction under section 170 requires a payment made without receiving a benefit in return, and a green card is a substantial benefit. Moreover, most applicants are not US taxpayers when they pay, so they have no US income to deduct against in any case.
The UK position is equally plain. HMRC gives no relief for a payment to a foreign government in exchange for residence. Additionally, the payment creates no asset. It has no base cost, it cannot be sold, and it cannot produce a capital loss. In effect, a Gold Card visa is bought entirely from taxed money.
When your employer pays
The corporate route moves the cost to a company, and it raises a question that neither tax authority has answered. If a UK employer pays $2 million to secure an employee's personal immigration status, HMRC may regard some or all of that payment as a taxable benefit. The IRS may take a similar view once the employee is US resident.
No published guidance settles the point. Consequently, the employment contract should record who bears any tax on the payment, and what happens if the employee leaves. The 5% transfer fee and 1% annual fee make the card an asset of the employer in practice, which supports the employer's position but does not close the question.
What to Finish Before the Gold Card Visa Is Issued
Reset your cost base while you are still outside the US net
Because America gives no step-up, you create your own. A sale before your starting date is outside US tax altogether. For assets in an ISA, the sale is also free of UK tax. Therefore, selling and rebuying ISA holdings shortly before arrival resets the US cost at no tax cost in either country. The same step lets you leave UK funds and move into holdings that are not passive foreign investment companies.
Assets outside an ISA need more thought. A sale triggers UK capital gains tax at up to 24% while you remain UK resident. However, that tax is often lower than the combined US federal and state charge on the same gain later. Our guide to pre-immigration tax planning for Britons moving to the US sets out the sequence.
Decide the US status of your company first
A UK private limited company can choose its US tax classification on Form 8832. An election that takes effect before your starting date treats the company as liquidated for US purposes while you are still a non-resident. As a result, the US cost of the underlying business is reset to current value, and no US tax arises on the deemed liquidation.
The election has consequences. The company becomes transparent for US tax, so its profits flow to your personal return each year, with UK corporation tax available as a credit. In contrast, UK law still sees a company. This mismatch needs modelling before you elect, and the deadline is fixed by your arrival date. Accordingly, it is the first decision to take, not the last.
Time the UK departure
Leaving Britain is a separate test. The statutory residence test decides your UK status for the whole tax year, and split-year treatment applies only if you meet a specific case. Furthermore, HMRC can tax certain gains and company distributions if you return within five years under the temporary non-residence rules.
UK property stays within UK tax wherever you live. Rent remains taxable, as the rules on UK income when you live abroad explain, and gains on UK land remain chargeable for non-residents. Meanwhile, the US taxes the same rent and the same gains, so foreign tax credits have to be matched carefully. Our treaty and foreign tax credit work deals with that matching.
Illustrative Case Study: A Founder, a Family and Three Cards
The starting position
Oliver is 52 and owns all of a UK software company worth about £18 million. His shares cost £100. He also holds a stocks and shares ISA worth £900,000 with £350,000 of unrealised gain, a pension of £1.4 million and a London home. He plans to move to Florida with his wife and their 17-year-old daughter. Three applicants mean three gifts, so the Gold Card visa route costs $3 million plus $45,000 in fees. That is about £2,311,000.
The cost of raising the money
Oliver first planned a dividend. At 39.35%, his company would need to pay out about £3,810,000 to leave £2,311,000 after tax. We compared a sale of part of his listed portfolio and a company purchase of own shares treated as capital. At 24%, a disposal that is entirely gain needs proceeds of about £3,041,000. The capital route therefore saves roughly £769,000 before any other planning.
The work done before arrival
We then dealt with the assets he keeps. Oliver sold and rebought his ISA holdings before travelling and replaced his UK funds with direct shares. That step cost nothing in UK tax and removed about $461,000 of gain from future US tax, worth roughly $110,000 at 23.8%. Next, he filed a classification election for the company, effective before his first entry as a resident.
Without that election, a sale of the company six years later would face US tax on almost the whole £18 million, about $23.7 million. At 23.8%, the federal charge would approach $5.6 million, with no UK tax to credit once he had been non-resident for more than five years. With the election, only growth after arrival is exposed.
The result
Oliver entered the United States in early January, so his first US year is nearly a full year and his final UK year qualifies for split-year treatment. His first US return includes Form 8858 for the company, an FBAR and Form 8938. The planning cost a fraction of the £769,000 saved on funding alone. In contrast, a Gold Card visa family that pays the gift first and plans afterwards loses every one of these steps.
The Platinum Card and the Trap for Gold Card Visa Holders
What is promised
The Platinum Card is advertised at $5 million plus the $15,000 fee. Holders would be able to spend up to 270 days a year in the United States without US tax on non-US income. For a Briton with large UK and overseas income, that outcome would be far more valuable than a green card.
Why it does not exist yet
Current law points the other way. Under the substantial presence test, a person who spends 183 days in the United States in a year is a US tax resident, and section 7701 of the tax code sets that rule in statute. An executive order cannot rewrite it. Therefore, the tax benefit needs an Act of Congress, and none has passed. The programme's website confirms that the card has not been released and that the price may change.
The eligibility bar that catches Gold Card holders
One line on the programme's website deserves attention. It says that people who have ever been subject to US tax on non-US income, such as citizens and resident aliens, are not eligible to apply for the Platinum Card. A Gold Card visa holder becomes exactly that on arrival.
Consequently, the two products may be alternatives and not steps. A Briton who takes a Gold Card visa now, intending to switch later, may close the door on the Platinum Card permanently. If your real aim is long stays in America without worldwide US taxation, waiting may be worth more than moving first. That judgement depends on your income, your assets and how long you intend to stay.
Leaving Again: The Exit Tax Clock
Eight years in fifteen
A green card obtained through a Gold Card visa is easy to get and expensive to give up. A person who holds a green card in at least eight of the last fifteen tax years is a long-term resident. Surrendering the card after that point can trigger the US expatriation tax under section 877A, which treats most of your worldwide assets as sold on the day before you leave.
The charge applies to covered expatriates, which includes anyone with a net worth of $2 million or more. Almost every Gold Card visa holder meets that test on day one. Moreover, part-years count as years. A card first used in December 2026 and surrendered in January 2033 already spans eight calendar years.
Treaty claims count as leaving
The US-UK treaty contains a residence tie-breaker, and the treaty documents are public. A green card holder who returns to London can claim UK treaty residence and file as a US non-resident. However, for a long-term resident, that claim is itself treated as giving up residence for exit tax purposes.
Therefore, the exit needs planning from the start. Our guide to green card abandonment and the UK exit tax trap explains the mechanics. For many families, the right answer is a decision in year six or seven: stay and naturalise, or leave before the eighth year begins.
How TaxYork Can Help
TaxYork provides comprehensive tax preparation and compliance for wealthy families moving between Britain and America. For a Gold Card visa case, we calculate the UK tax on each way of raising the payment and prepare the UK returns that report it. Furthermore, we prepare the classification election for your company, the first-year dual-status return, Form 5471, Form 8621, the FBAR and Form 8938.
We also prepare your final UK Self Assessment return with the split-year claim, and the continuing UK returns for rent and UK property gains. Additionally, our FBAR and FATCA reporting service keeps pensions, investment accounts and ISAs properly reported from the first year. Our clients are investors, investment bankers and company owners, and we build each file so that the US and UK returns agree.
Conclusion
The Gold Card visa is a simple immigration product with a complicated tax result. The $1 million payment earns no relief in either country, and each family member needs a separate payment. From your first entry as a resident, the United States taxes your worldwide income, treats your UK company as a controlled foreign corporation and ignores your ISA. Britain, meanwhile, taxes the money on the way out and keeps its claim on UK property.
Therefore, the sequence decides the cost. Choose how to fund the payment, reset the cost of your assets, settle the US status of your company, and pick your arrival date. Only then should you make the gift. Ultimately, the families who plan before they pay keep far more than the price of the card.
Contact Us
If you are considering a Gold Card visa, speak to us before you pay the processing fee. You can book a consultation with our US-UK team, email hello@taxyork.com, or call 020 3488 8606. We will set out the UK cost of funding the payment, the US tax on your existing assets, and the filings your first year requires.
Written by the TaxYork Expert Team — US-UK tax specialists.
Disclaimer
This article provides general information only and reflects US and UK rules and published programme details as understood in October 2026. The Gold Card visa programme is new, subject to litigation and liable to change. This article is not legal, immigration or tax advice for your circumstances. Always obtain professional guidance from a qualified specialist before you make a payment, file an election or change your country of residence.