Non-residents may have to file if they engaged in business in the United States during the tax year or otherwise earned income from U.S. sources through out the year. Generally, people who are not U.S. citizens are considered non-resident aliens if they fail to meet either the green card test or the substantial presence test for the tax year in question.
International
Non-Residents
Dual Status
If you are a foreign national who moved to the U.S. in the middle of the year, you may be surprised at the complexity of your first US filing.
You are required to file a dual-status return when you have been both a U.S. resident and a nonresident in the same year. In determining your U.S. income tax liability for a dual-status tax year, different rules apply for the part of the year you were a resident of the U.S. and the part of the year you were a nonresident.
Based on your visa, marital status, and your time in the U.S., you can make elections to either be treated as a full-year resident or Non-resident too. These options present choices that should be reviewed so you can make the best decision for your situation.
Foreign Bank Accounts
There are two important filings when it comes to foreign bank accounts and foreign assets. FinCen 114, commonly referred to as Foreign Bank Account Reporting (FBAR) and 8938 reporting. We can help you with both. There are different limits for each, but generally, if you have foreign bank accounts or assets with a value over $10,000 USD during the year these filings are applicable to you.
It is important to note a few things about these filings:
Foreign Income
American tax rules require all U.S. citizens and green card holders, including expatriates, to file returns on their global income. Most other countries only require residents to file or only include income arising in that country. As a result, American expatriates often need to file two tax returns, one in the US and one where they live. To avoid double taxation, the IRS allows them to claim either the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion or the Foreign Tax Credit when they file.
A common misconception is that the excluded or credited income does not need to be reported, but that’s not the case. We can help you avoid this and other common mis-statements.