Hi,

I'm moving to US next January from Japan under H1B visa. I have my savings that I've earned while living and working in Japan that I'll have to transfer to US upon moving. Right now my money is split between my bank account (US$ 100k) and my paypal account (US$ 80k). I'll open an account on US as soon as I get there and I'll be transferring my money from my personal account in Japan to my new personal account in US. My questions are:

1- Will I need to pay any kind of taxes to IRS for the money transferred from my bank account in Japan? Do I need to declare it? How?

2- If I transfer my money from my paypal account to my US bank account, will I need to pay taxes to IRS for that money? (just remembering, all the money was earned before going to US). Will I need to declare this money? How?

Any help is much appreciated.

Best Regards,

You could always convert your existing Japanese account into an offshore account.
This way you can bring over just what you need to your US account, and bring the rest when you need it.

An offshore account has special tax status.
Your bank should be able to sort it all out for you.

The transfer of your OWN money (or any other money) is NOT subject to U.S. taxes, though you will need to complete and submit Form 3520 to declare from where the money originated.