My wife is a green card holder from China. She currently has $100,000 USD+ in an account in China and we would like to purchase a house in the US with it. What is theb easiet way to bring it to the US and what are the Tax implications? If she puts it in an international bank in china (Chase, Wells Fargs, etc) can we use it here? Without tax issues? Also what about putting it into a canadian bank (we live close to the boarder) neither of us are canadian citizens or pay canadian taxes is that easier?

Thanks

You need a social insurance number to use a Canadian bank. Why bring your funds to the US. Just do a money transfer when you purchase a house? If your wife is a green card holder working in the US (?), then she pays taxes anyway, and in any event you will still have to pay regular fees, transfers and taxes when purchasing a house no matter where the money is coming from.

Tick

My wife went to school in canada and we still have a bank account over there. I'm just tryint not to have to pay taxes on the money coming in then paying taxes, transfer ext on the house after purchase. But we may be ablt to transfer directly to the bank we are purchasing it from.

MJ:

There are no transfer taxes that I know of when you transfer the money, but she WILL have to complete paperwork to show from where the money came.

The IRS may also want to see an audit trail to shows that the $100K was accumulated before she became a green card holder in order to be sure that she has not evaded U.S. income taxes. If this is the case, then arrange to have the money transferred to a U.S. bank.

She should be reporting the interest income on her U.S. tax return and filing the FBAR to report the foreign account. If she has not been properly reporting these, she may want to consider the voluntary disclosure program that the IRS currently is offering.

The transfer of the funds from China to here does not trigger any U.S. taxes. It is actually a benefit because it simplifies her U.S. tax filings (she doesn't need to file the FBAR annually any more). Puttting the funds in Canada is unnecessarily complex.

Your wife must file Form Form TD F 90-22.1 even if she does not transfer the amount. There is no tax involved on the transfer.

United States Treasury Regulation 31 CFR 103 require that every United States person file this form TD F 90-22.1 if at any time during 2006, you have an interest in or a signature or other authority over a financial account in a foreign country, such as a bank account, securities account, or other financial account and the total amount at any time in the year was $10,000 or more. Read Your U.S. Tax Return: U.S. Citizen or Resident with Foreign Income