Insights

Here are 10 common tax-filing mistakes encountered by immigrants. As you prepare for tax season, take care to make sure you’ve avoided them!

What will happen to my family and belongings after I die? This is one of the most uncomfortable, but necessary, questions we must ask ourselves for the sake of our family. A properly executed estate plan can thoroughly answer this question before your death to reduce the emotional stress that your passing will bring.

Before heading to the airport, make sure you’ve met the requirements for entering or reentering the United States. This includes traveling with large amounts of money. Here’s what you need to know about bringing money into the USA on a plane.

If you are a US Citizen or resident alien for tax purposes, you may have income from foreign sources. US Citizens and resident aliens must report all income from all sources globally (including those outside of the U.S.). But you should know the 4 ways to reduce taxes on your foreign income.

If you’ve ever electronically transferred money to another person or business, you’re likely familiar with the term remittance. When you remit, you have several options. There are also things to watch out for!

One of the most common questions we are asked is about the tax implications of inheriting property or assets in/from a foreign country. Under most circumstances, you will not pay tax on the receipt of an inheritance from abroad - but you still may have to report it!

In general, it is not advisable to withdraw money early from your 401K. Some of our clients ask us if they should take an early distribution from their 401K when they move back to their home countries. The answer is still usually no because there are penalties and tax consequences of doing so. You can leave your 401K right where it is and benefit from it in retirement, wherever you are living in the world. However, in some cases, especially financial hardship or early retirement, an early withdrawal (or distribution) from your 401K may serve as a viable strategy.

Most non-citizens are eligible for social security benefits if they meet certain requirements. Here are the top five things you need to know.

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) was passed to mandate U.S. taxpayers to report their foreign account assets. This is the United States’ effort to identify tax evasion by citizens holding financial assets abroad. Immigrants need to be aware of how this law impacts the insulation of foreign assets.

Living and working in the US is undoubtedly attractive but for a variety of reasons you may decide to call it a day, reuniting with family or simply pursuing other opportunities abroad. Yet keeping your green card or US citizenship when you’ve settled abroad may imply intrusive, annual US tax filings even though you’ve left the country.

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Whether you are just beginning your education at a United States institution of higher learning or you’ve yet to decide, knowing your employment options in advance will help determine how long you can stay in the United States after graduation.

Investing in and starting companies while on an H1B visa is not prohibited but it can be challenging. There may be hurdles that you have to jump through and you have to be careful that your activities do not cross into “unauthorized work” and compromise your status.

US immigrants are often most focused on achieving permanent residency status. But estate tax planning should happen in tandem to pre-residency planning. US estate tax burden issues must be addressed, especially for high net worth individuals.

While you are on an H1B visa, you can work only for your authorized employer specified on your I-129. However, there may be reasons that you want to generate additional income outside of your work. Most ways of generating additional income on an H1B visa are prohibited. However, there are a very few select ways that you can generate additional income outside of your H1B authorized job.

Merely being admitted to a college or university in the United States does not mean that you will receive Form I-20. Before a DSO can provide Form I-20, the international student must certify financial responsibility. This process is distinct from meeting admission requirements and being accepted to the school.

Investors that invest in an Opportunity Zone may be eligible for preferential tax treatment on their capital gains from other investments (incl. stocks and real estate). In some cases, if Opportunity Fund shares are held for more than 10 years, the entire appreciation on the shares may be excluded from capital gains tax.

While on an H1B visa in the United States, you may want to volunteer your time to a nonprofit or community organization. You can volunteer your time unpaid for a nonprofit organization while you are on an H1B visa as long as the work you are doing would typically be performed by unpaid volunteers.

The F1 visa does permit some very specific kinds of work while you are studying in the United States and immediately thereafter. This article is a guide to the types of work that are permitted.

While you are working for a US employer on an H1B visa, you may be offered opportunities to take on additional work through another employer or entity, sometimes as a freelancer. Unfortunately, these types of work are almost always forbidden while on an H1B visa.