What are you most worried about after emigration?

As we all know, the United States is a global tax power. After immigrating to the United States, everyone will be more or less worried about American tax returns. Today, let's talk about the tax that you are most concerned about when you immigrate. In addition to the familiar property tax and transaction tax, we should be more concerned about the capital gains tax when the property is sold.

If there is no tax avoidance design, paying these taxes and fees in full will inevitably shrink the growth of wealth. Then, is there any way to pay less or even not to pay these taxes and fees?

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When selling a house, the difference between the purchase price and the selling price is the capital gain and loss. If the selling price is higher than the buying price, there will be capital gains; If the selling price is lower than the buying price, there will be capital loss.

Capital gains/losses are divided into short-term and long-term according to the length of holding time. If the holding time is less than one year, it is regarded as short-term holding; If it is held for more than one year, it is regarded as long-term holding. The holding time is calculated from the day after the asset is acquired until the day when the asset is sold.

So what is capital gains tax? What is the specific tax rate?

Capital gains tax

Capital gains tax (CGT) is a tax levied on capital gains (gains from buying assets at low prices and selling assets at high prices). Common capital gains are gains from buying and selling stocks, bonds, precious metals and real estate.

The capital gains tax in the United States applies to the capital gains income in the United States. The capital gain of real estate refers to the difference between the sale and purchase of the house. If the price of a house is $2 million when it is bought and $3 million when it is sold, then its capital gain is $654.38+$00,000, and the tax levied on this $654.38+$00,000 is the "capital gains tax".

Capital gains tax rate

In the United States, both individuals and enterprises have to pay capital gains tax. But for individuals, the capital gains tax rate of long-term investment (investment 1 year or more) is lower.

If it is held for a short period (that is, within one year), the capital gains tax is equivalent to the personal income tax rate, with a maximum of 39.6%; If it is held for a long time (that is, more than one year), the capital gains tax rate is 0%-20%.

Please refer to the figure below. Take the single declaration as an example. If the net income from selling assets exceeds $460,000, the maximum tax rate for holding assets for one year is 39.6%, and the maximum tax rate for holding assets for more than one year is 20%.

If there are no immigrants, how much tax do you have to pay to sell a house in the United States?

If a non-U.S. resident sells a house in the United States, and the house price exceeds $300,000, the tax deducted is 15% of the house price, that is, the withholding tax of 15% should be directly deducted from the house sale price and paid to the IRS.

The seller who sells the house in the next year can confirm the tax payable according to the capital gains tax rate by filling in the non-resident income tax form. If it is lower than the withholding tax, he can ask for a refund of the overpaid withholding tax.

Tax saving strategy

1. We need to pay attention to some details in order to achieve maximum tax savings when selling houses. For example, the receipt of house decoration and renovation fee should be kept with the purchase contract for a long time. Although the tax can't be deducted in that year, the renovation expenses can be used as the house cost when selling the house, which reduces the net profit of selling the house to a certain extent and can achieve the purpose of tax saving.

2. If the real estate appreciation income can be regarded as capital appreciation income, a lower capital appreciation tax rate can be applied, ranging from 15% to 20%. Generally speaking, the capital appreciation tax rate can be applied to properties held for more than one year.

But in some cases, you may be disqualified from enjoying the capital appreciation tax rate. For example, if you sell your house after a large-scale renovation, it is equivalent to generating income through labor, and you have to pay income tax; If you buy and sell a lot of houses, it means that buying and selling houses has become your profession or business, and the value-added obtained in this way should be levied according to income tax.

3. If the house sold can meet the conditions of self-occupation, then the seller can enjoy the tax exemption of $250,000 for singles and $500,000 for couples.

How to define self-housing? The most important criterion is to live in this house for two years in the past five years. Therefore, it can be seen that if you really meet the conditions of self-housing, you can not only enjoy the tax allowance, but also apply the relatively low capital appreciation tax rate of about 15%.

There is another way, you don't have to pay any taxes for the time being. What do you mean? This brings up the tax extension clause of 103 1 transaction: when you exchange one set of investment property for another, you can enjoy the tax extension discount. In other words, if you buy a similar house after selling the house, the tax on the value-added part can be postponed until the next time you sell the house.

After selling the house, the proceeds must be kept by a third-party middleman until it is used to buy a new property. Within 45 days after the sale, you must inform the middleman in writing of the new property you want to buy, and then the delivery will be completed in 135 days.