Stocks and shares ISA for US citizens
Few providers open a stocks and shares ISA to a US citizen, and the ones that do rarely solve the real problem: the funds inside are almost all PFICs, which the US taxes punitively.
A stocks and shares ISA shelters investment growth from UK tax. For a US person two walls go up at once. Most platforms decline US persons on the investment side because of US securities rules, so the account is often closed to you before tax even enters the picture.
Where a platform does accept you, the holdings are the trap. A PFIC, a passive foreign investment company, is the US label for almost any non-US pooled fund: UK unit trusts, OEICs, investment trusts and London-listed ETFs nearly all qualify. The US taxes PFIC gains at the top rate with an interest charge and heavy annual filing, and the ISA wrapper does nothing to stop it.
US persons who invest from the UK usually hold individual shares or US-domiciled funds in a US-friendly account instead. Read why US citizens avoid UK funds and how the US taxes your UK ISA.
Who accepts US citizens
Last checked 27 June 2026| Provider | Verdict | What to know | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interactive Brokers UK | With strings | Opens a stocks and shares ISA to US persons, but since April 2025 US-domiciled ETFs are non-qualifying inside the ISA and KID rules limit US funds; the wrapper is open, its contents are constrained. | 27 June 2026 |
| AJ Bell | Skip | Restricts or excludes US persons from its investment accounts. | 27 June 2026 |
| Fidelity UK | Skip | Expressly excludes US persons from its investment accounts. | 27 June 2026 |
| Hargreaves Lansdown | Skip | Excludes US persons from its investment accounts. | 27 June 2026 |
| Other UK platforms | Skip | Bogleheads identifies Interactive Brokers and Schwab as the only brokers known to accept US persons in the UK; other platforms decline. | 27 June 2026 |
| Vanguard UK | Skip | A mainstream platform that does not accept US persons. | 27 June 2026 |
Provider by provider
Interactive Brokers UK
With stringsOpens a stocks and shares ISA to US persons, but since April 2025 US-domiciled ETFs are non-qualifying inside the ISA and KID rules limit US funds; the wrapper is open, its contents are constrained.
Source on file; last checked 27 June 2026.
If momo earns a commission when you open an account with Interactive Brokers UK, it is disclosed here. Partner links are not active yet, so this slot earns nothing and changes no verdict.
Link inactiveAJ Bell
SkipRestricts or excludes US persons from its investment accounts.
Source on file; last checked 27 June 2026.
Fidelity UK
SkipExpressly excludes US persons from its investment accounts.
Source on file; last checked 27 June 2026.
Hargreaves Lansdown
SkipExcludes US persons from its investment accounts.
Source on file; last checked 27 June 2026.
Other UK platforms
SkipBogleheads identifies Interactive Brokers and Schwab as the only brokers known to accept US persons in the UK; other platforms decline.
Source on file; last checked 27 June 2026.
Vanguard UK
SkipA mainstream platform that does not accept US persons.
Source on file; last checked 27 June 2026.
Why this is the rule
PFIC
Almost every UK-domiciled fund is a PFIC, taxed by the US at punitive rates with heavy filing. This is why US citizens hold individual shares, not UK funds.
TaxISA US tax
The IRS does not recognise the ISA wrapper. Cash ISA interest and stocks ISA gains are taxable on your US return, and fund holdings drag in PFIC rules.