Immigrating to the United States entails significant considerations. An immigration attorney is assisting you in obtaining a Visa, residence status or permanent citizenship, however, very strict and sometimes unduly burdensome tax rules apply to foreigners immigrating to the United States. The sooner you are aware of them, the more opportunity you will have to avoid the potential pitfalls. At Dorot Law, P.A., we assist our foreign clients in preparing for the move in most tax efficient manner. By utilizing foreign trusts and pre-immigration gifting techniques we are able to benefit our clients tremendously.
For those citizens and permanent residents looking to expatriate from the United States, new laws enacted in 2008 have changed the expatriation landscape dramatically. The rules are somewhat more complicated and require the expatriate to pay an “exit” tax, however, in the long run, the new scheme is more efficiently enforced and, in the right circumstances, provides for significant tax benefits to the expatriate. While expatriation is not the solution for every client, at Dorot Law, P.A. we help you determine whether it is the right solution for you and, if so, assist you throughout the process to assure that you are maximizing the potential benefits.
Useful Links
In the News and Relevant Publications
May 6, 2011. If IRS Is Like Kryptonite, What Would Superman Do? (Forbes). If you got through tax season unscathed, leaving the U.S. for tax reasons is probably the farthest thing from your mind. If Joe Biden was right that paying taxes is inherently patriotic, then not paying taxes is the other extreme. Still, some U.S. citizens and permanent residents (with green cards) are willing to give it up, hoping to give up paying IRS taxes too. Hey, even American icon Superman may be departing U.S. soil, although the comic hero may be crossways with the Secret Service not the IRS. The Los Angeles Times reported that Clark Kent’s alter ego, reprimanded by the Secret Service for appearing at a non-violent protest against the Iranian government, wants to expatriate. But regardless of why you might leave the U.S., the IRS will care. Combining tax and immigration issues, you’ll need both legal fronts addressed if you’re considering this. But be careful what you read, since the law has changed multiple times in fundamental ways, most recently in 2008…
March 18, 2011. Tax Rules For Resident And Nonresident Aliens (San Francisco Chronicle). Commute from Canada/Mexico – Those who commute from Canada or Mexico to the U.S. on a regular basis cannot count commuting days as days of residence for the purpose of the residence test. Tax Home – Aliens who can prove that they had a tax home in another country during the year and were not in the U.S. for 183 days during the year are usually not required to pay taxes in the U.S. even if they meet the standard residence test described above. In this case, a tax home is usually considered to be either the principal place of business or the primary residence of the person in question. Those in this category are exempt from U.S. taxation, even if they have a residence within the country. Aliens who wish to claim this exemption must file Form 8840 with the IRS…
February 9, 2011. Heart Act-What it Costs to Stop Being an American (EasyExpat). Becoming an expat is one thing. Renouncing your citizenship is altogether different and much more difficult. The federal Register reports that 502 expatriates gave up their U.S. citizenship or permanent residency status in 2009. That is extremely small percentage of the estimated 5.2 million Americans living abroad. So what causes some people to renounce their citizenship and why is this movement growing?…
March 23, 2010. Ten Facts About Tax Expatriation (Forbes). If ObamaCare–or Rush Limbaugh–has you contemplating fleeing the U.S., here’s what you need to know. . .
June 16, 2010. Ten Benefits of Expatriation (Part I). Everybody has their own personal reasons for expatriating, but here are some of the benefits. . .
June 17, 2010. Ten Benefits of Expatriation (Part II). In yesterday’s edition of The Daily Reckoning, Casey Research shared five of the Ten benefits of expatriation. Today, we share the second five. . .
