{"id":1742,"date":"2011-12-29T23:13:47","date_gmt":"2011-12-29T23:13:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.accidentaluscitizen.com\/?p=67"},"modified":"2015-11-04T14:33:51","modified_gmt":"2015-11-04T19:33:51","slug":"67","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.flottco.com\/accidentaluscitizen\/67\/","title":{"rendered":"A Mountain or a Molehill?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"US<\/p>\n

A letter (yes, an old-fashioned, sent-by-post, paper letter) arrived in my office today from an overseas lawyer seeking advice for his client.<\/p>\n

The client was born in the United States. When he was a month old, he returned with his parents to their home country, where he has now lived for more than 40 years. This client lives, works and pays taxes in his \u201chome\u201d country, and carries that country\u2019s passport.\u00a0 At some point in the past \u2013 the specifics of why and how are not described in the letter \u2013 the client obtained a U.S. passport.\u00a0 Apparently, this passport expired many years ago. The client has not formally renounced U.S. citizenship but, despite his brief possession of an American passport, has also never voted or filed tax returns in the United States.<\/p>\n

My foreign colleague provided this thumbnail sketch of his client\u2019s U.S. connection as a prelude to asking for advice on three questions:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Is the client obligated to file U.S. tax returns on the client\u2019s worldwide income, even if all of it is earned outside the United States?<\/li>\n
  2. Is the client subject to U.S. tax on earnings generated outside the United States?<\/li>\n
  3. Is the client\u2019s property subject to U.S. estate tax at death?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The simple answers to these questions are: yes, yes and yes.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. U.S. citizens are subject to U.S.tax on their worldwide income, regardless of where they live.<\/li>\n
    2. Any property owned by them at death is subject to U.S.estate taxes.<\/li>\n
    3. A U.S. citizen is required to file a U.S. tax return annually if that citizen\u2019s gross income is at least $9,500. If the citizen is married and filing separately for his or her spouse, the threshold amount can be as little as $3,700.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      That said, this client may not owe any U.S. tax. First of all, the client would be entitled to exclude earned income up to $92,900 in 2011, and would be able to apply any tax paid to his \u201chome\u201d country on any income not covered by the earned income exclusion. Earned income means any remuneration for work, which could include consulting fees or other self-employment income. It does not include interest, dividends, capital gains or rental income. However, on those items of income, the client would be entitled to credit any foreign taxes paid to his or her home country against any U.S. tax that might be due on such income. The good news is, failure to file a U.S. tax return generates a penalty only if tax is in fact owed. Otherwise, the penalty is $100. In other words, the trick is distinguishing between a molehill and a mountain.<\/p>\n

      In addition to the tax returns this client should have been filing, he also should have been filing Foreign Bank Account Reports (FBAR\u2019s) each year.\u00a0 While failure to file those reports could theoretically have created a much more serious financial concern for the client than not filing the tax returns, as you my have read in my last post, the IRS recently confirmed the obvious in declaring that it will not penalize people who do not owe any tax and are otherwise tax compliant in their home countries.<\/p>\n

      The real question is whether the client wants to retain U.S. citizenship.\u00a0 If not, there are two options to consider \u2013 renunciation or relinquishment. Most people are familiar with renunciation. Few are as familiar with relinquishment. I will address the differences between them in my next post.<\/p>\n

      IMPORTANT NOTICE TO READERS<\/strong><\/p>\n

      The information contained on this blog is not legal advice. \u00a0It is provided only as general information, and may or may not reflect the most up-to-date legal developments. \u00a0This information is not provided in the course of, and receipt of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.\u00a0 It certainly does not substitute for obtaining legal advice from a licensed attorney. \u00a0Legal advice should take into account the specific facts and circumstances applicable to each individual situation. \u00a0Viewing this site and reading this blog does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and our firm.\u00a0 Likewise, sending me an email does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and the firm.\u00a0\u00a0 While I would be happy to hear from you, Flott & Co. PC cannot represent you until we have determined that doing so will not be a conflict of interest. \u00a0The only way for you to initiate legal representation with the firm is to call me\/us at\u00a0(703) 525-5110\u00a0(X126). \u00a0If and when Flott & Co. PC \u00a0enters into an engagement agreement with you, you will be a client of the firm, at which time we will be able to exchange information freely.<\/p>\n

      Unless otherwise indicated by Flott & Co. PC in writing, any US federal tax advice contained in this blog is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for either (i) avoiding penalties under the US Internal Revenue Code, or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any matter addressed within. For further information regarding this notice, please see\u00a0http:\/\/www.flottco.com\/emailnotice.pdf<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      A letter (yes, an old-fashioned, sent-by-post, paper letter) arrived in my office today from an overseas lawyer seeking advice for his client. The client was born in the United States. When he was a month old, he returned with his parents to their home country, where he has now lived for more than 40 years.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,11],"tags":[8],"class_list":["post-1742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us-citizenship","category-us-tax-returns-for-non-residents","tag-stephen-flott"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.flottco.com\/accidentaluscitizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.flottco.com\/accidentaluscitizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.flottco.com\/accidentaluscitizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.flottco.com\/accidentaluscitizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.flottco.com\/accidentaluscitizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1742"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.flottco.com\/accidentaluscitizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1742\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1772,"href":"http:\/\/www.flottco.com\/accidentaluscitizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1742\/revisions\/1772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.flottco.com\/accidentaluscitizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.flottco.com\/accidentaluscitizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.flottco.com\/accidentaluscitizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}