Tax knowledge of American immigrants' real estate investment

Tax knowledge of American immigrants' real estate investment

Foreigners who have not set foot in the United States of course retain their status as foreigners, but foreigners who only temporarily live in the United States may become American taxpayers as long as they stay in the United States for 183 days, and pay taxes on the income of the world like Americans.

If a foreigner lives in the United States for 65,438+083 days or more in a year, even if he has no permanent resident status, he is regarded as an American taxpayer for tax purposes. Secondly, if you have lived in the United States for 365,438+0 days or more this year and have lived in the United States for the past three years, you must add one-third of your residence time this year and one-sixth of your residence time the year before last. If the total amount reaches 183 days, you will automatically become an American taxpayer.

A few special cases do not count as the time spent in the United States: the time when students can't leave the United States for health reasons, the first five years of studying in the United States, Canadian and Mexican residents transiting the United States during the day, transiting the United States on their way to foreign countries, and foreign ship crew staying in the United States.

Foreigners are exempt from capital gains tax:

If you meet the tax requirements of foreign countries, the income from federal bonds, bank interest and capital gains obtained by buying and selling stocks or mutual funds in the United States is completely exempt from any US tax, and banks or stockbrokers do not need to deduct 30% withholding tax.

Foreigner W-8BEN:

Because foreigners don't have a social security card number, when opening an account in a bank or stock brokerage company in the United States, they must fill out the W-8BEN form to prove their foreign status, and they can be exempted from paying bank interest and stock profits tax. This W-8BEN form is valid for three years, and must be filled in after three years, otherwise the bank will deduct the withholding tax.

Parents with foreign status, if they jointly open a bank or stock account with the children of American citizens or residents, and the children are not eligible to fill out the W-8BEN form, the account will not enjoy the preferential treatment of withholding tax and income tax for foreigners.

Foreign real estate income tax:

Foreigners are free to buy rental properties in the United States, but the rental income and the value-added income from future sales belong to personal income and need to pay income tax, just like ordinary taxpayers in the United States.

Foreigners declare income tax at the same rate as Americans. According to the new tax law, foreigners cannot enjoy the preferential treatment of standard deduction:

For the standard tax relief, American single taxpayers can enjoy the standard tax relief of $654.38+$2,000, and married families can enjoy the standard tax relief of $24,000. However, foreigners cannot use any standard relief.

Therefore, although the income tax rate of foreigners is the same as that of Americans, the actual tax is slightly higher than that of American taxpayers.

Income tax for foreigners selling houses:

The Tax Law on Foreigners' Investment in Real Estate stipulates that the value-added income from the sale of houses by foreigners is regarded as ordinary income and should be taxed at the tax rate.

Foreigners also face the problem of withholding income tax. According to the tax law, if the seller of the house is a foreigner, and the house is not self-occupied and the price exceeds 300,000 yuan, the buyer or the escrow party (a third-party notary company) has the responsibility to deduct the withholding income tax from the sale of the house and then pay it to the IRS. The amount deducted is 10% of the selling price. Withholding tax should be deducted whether there is capital appreciation or not, no matter how much capital appreciation.

In addition to the tax deduction required by the IRS, the state government may also stipulate that withholding tax should be deducted. According to the regulations of the California Inland Revenue Department, it is also the responsibility of the buyer and the custodian (the third-party notary company of the transaction) to deduct 3.3% of the selling price.

Both are withholding taxes. If the actual tax is lower than the prepaid amount, you can of course ask for a refund of the overpaid tax when filing tax returns. Need to be reminded that the owner who sells the house applies for the tax number to the IRS in advance, and can get the returned tax quickly after filing the tax.

American inheritance tax and gift tax:

Every American resident and citizen has an estate tax exemption. If the market value of the estate does not exceed this amount, there is no inheritance tax at all.

At present, the legacy allowance is $0.4 million per person1/kloc-0. This inheritance allowance can be given in advance before death, that is, giving your assets to others, as long as it is within the scope of the allowance, can be exempted from gift tax. In addition, each person can give another person $65,438+$5,000 a year, which is also exempt from gift tax.

Alien inheritance tax and gift tax:

If foreigners own real estate in the United States, how to calculate the inheritance tax after death? In addition to bank deposits in the United States, other stocks, bonds and even real estate in the accounts of American stockbrokers are considered as heritages. The legacy of foreigners in the United States is only $60,000, and there may be quite heavy inheritance tax.

Foreigners also have a gift tax allowance of $65,438+$5,000 per person per year, but only a legacy tax allowance of $60,000, which cannot be given in advance before death. Therefore, it is difficult for foreigners to give up their assets in the United States.

The method of tax-free gift of foreigners' real estate to their children:

Foreigners can give their property in the United States tax-free to their children. They can set up a company first, put the real estate into the company, and then give the company shares as gifts.

Living trust:

If a foreigner dies, the property can only be inherited by the beneficiary through the process of court authentication, unless the foreigner has established a living trust before his death. In other words, if foreigners invest in real estate in the United States as individuals, and if lawyers set up living trusts, they can avoid future court certification.

Further reading: the change of American immigration policy

1, H- 1B, L- 1 visa, the visa refusal rate in Britain is still or continues to rise.

H- 1B applications will continue to maintain or approach the high proportion of the US government in the previous three years. In March, 2020, the US Citizenship and Immigration Service will release the software of the academic qualification certification system. Enterprises will use the system software to submit the information content of professionals applying for H- 1B visa. The newly implemented academic certification will increase the total number of applications, and then reduce the winning bid rate of newly established companies or other enterprises with fewer employees.

The US Immigration Service plans to publish a standard that will clearly define the changes in vocational skills, show the definitions of student employment and employers and employees, and ensure that employers pay L- 1 visa holders a moderate salary. The overall target time of the proposed standard is September 2020.

2. The right to work on an H-4 visa may be revoked.

For the H- 1B immediate family visa, the US government once again put the revocation of the H-4 visa work right on the control agenda. The overall target time of the proposed standard is March 2020.

3. Can the 3.S.386 Bill be passed in the Senate?

In July this year 10, the Senate and the House of Representatives passed the fairness and justice bill for high-tech immigrants by 365 votes to 65 votes. The bill will abolish the quota system of employer loans to guarantee global immigrants, and increase the quota system of family immigrants from 7% to 15%.

4. OPT and waiting time of overseas students may be limited.

ICE plans to revise the current policies and regulations in 2020, and revise the OPT standards for non-immigrant students with F and M visas. August 2020 is the suggested overall target time.

There is a content in the management agenda of the Department of Homeland Security that emphasizes: "ICE suggests that certain senior officials in all colleges and universities be inspected to ensure that ICE can obtain accurate data information of students through the information management system of students and communication visitors."

5. The current refugee and asylum policies may be tightened again.

In September this year, the U.S. government announced the annual quota for accepting refugees in fiscal year 2020 with the shortest history, which was 6,543.8+0.8 million, which was 84% lower than the quota of 6,543.8+0.110,000 set by U.S. government departments in the last year. In 2020, it will not be easy for the US government to raise the restrictions on accepting refugees this year.

6. Will the people's court revoke the ban on the new sexual coercion law?

The latest policy of the US government clearly stipulates that immigrants who receive public welfare within a certain period of time will be regarded as "people under public pressure" and will be refused to apply for residence permits or partial visas, including tourists, students, short-term jobs and short-term interviews. Green card applications will naturally be restricted.

7. The cost of immigration application will increase again.

The U.S. government issued a new immigration proposal, raising the application fee for immigration to the United States, and deducting the fee for asylum seekers for the first time in an attempt to restrict their access to American protection and immigration benefits. If the bill is passed, the cost of immigration application will increase.

The proposal will deduct the application fee of $50 for asylum seekers and the work permit fee of $490 for all asylum seekers. The application fee for applying for a true American citizen has also increased from $750 to $65,438+065,438+070, which will be higher for some unique immigrants.

Further reading: application conditions and policies of EB 1C administrative immigrants in the United States.

American EB 1-C immigrants allow multinational companies to send their overseas senior technicians to American subsidiaries to engage in senior management again. It is stipulated that American enterprises have recognized cooperative relations with American overseas foreign enterprises. China head office or companies from all countries outside the United States can apply for EB 1-C if they are related to existing or about to be established multinational companies in the United States.

I. American EB 1C Administrative Immigration Policy

EB 1-C is a very popular immigration method of the American government. The policy orientation can be seen only from the fact that the annual quota of EB 1 immigrants is as high as 40,000. Since 1992, this quota has not been completed in one year.

EB 1-A and EB 1-B are outstanding talents (Nobel Prize winners, artists, athletes who have won medals in international competitions, etc.). The difference between A and B is that EB 1-B needs an American employer, while EB 1-A does not need an employer to apply directly. These two types of people are very scarce, so most of the 40 thousand places are actually given to EB1-C.

EB 1-C immigration allows multinational companies to send their senior managers outside the United States to branches in the United States to continue their senior management work. American companies need to establish recognized transnational cooperative relations with foreign companies outside the United States. If your parent company in China or enterprises in any country outside the United States have established or will establish multinational enterprise relations with enterprises in the United States, you can apply for EB1-C.

Second, the United States EB 1C administrative immigration application conditions

The Chinese enterprise has been established for more than three years, and the applicant has held a senior management position in the Chinese enterprise 1 year or more.

The annual income of enterprises in China is not less than 2.5 million yuan.

Enterprises in China have no less than 10 employees.

China enterprises have no bad credit records.

The US Immigration Bureau accepts enterprises quickly with their overseas investment certificates.