I am a UK citizen... married to a US citizen for many years now... several years ago my parents in their house in my name. What obligation do I have to report this asset to the US govt? Now my parents have passed and a family member in the UK is living in my home (in UK) where I am making NO profit on the asset. What obligation do I have to report this asset to the US govt?

Certainly I understand if I was making money on the asset as rental property then I would need to report that income to the US govt... but what about when it is NOT?

Thanks.

QUOTE," . . . several years ago my parents in their house in my name. What obligation do I have to report this asset to the US govt?"--- You must file the FORM 3520( if the FMV of the gift, the house, from a relatede person, in this case your parents, exceeds $100,000 at that time. However, the 100k limit applies to a single gift. If you receive, as gifts, two houses of 99k, there may be no reporting requirement. A penalty generally applies if Form 3520 is not timely filed or if the information is incomplete or incorrect. Generally, the penalty is: "35% of the gross value of any property transferred to a foreign transferor failure by a U.S. transferor to report the transfer, or.. .
For further info. Please visit the web site. Instructions for Form 3520 (2009) (http://www.irs.gov/instructions/i3520/ch01.html#d0e144)


"Certainly I understand if I was making money on the asset as rental property then I would need to report that income to the US govt...but what about when it is NOT?"-----Then unless you are a real estate professional, more than 50% of whose income is generated from rental activities, you should carry forward your NOLs, net operating losses, from your rental properties( primarily used for rental purposes. This means that you use it for personal purposes for not more than 14 days or 10% of the days rented, whichever is greater) and offset against your other active, passive or portfolio income,i.e. ordinary gains, dividend income or interest income, rental income from another real estate or gains from limited partnership or etc.I don't believe that there is a limit on how much you can carry forward or how long you can carry it forward for.(if unused - will be deducted at the time you sell the rental property.)

At ANY time in your marriage, have you EVER filed a joint return with your spouse?

If not, you have NO reporting requirement to the U.S. government because you are NOT a U.S. resident.