Sending more than $10,000 into my US bank account - Questions?

[kovacs 20]

This is incorrect. The amount remains $10,000.

http://www.irs.gov/uac/Form-8300,-Report-of-Cash-Payments-Over-$10,000-Received-in-a-Trade-or-Business

Actually after 9/11 it went to $4999

It will be taxed as you are married to US citizen and your spouse has to include the amount on her taxes. Spouse needs to add you to IRS tax returns in the spring if spouse has not already added you and asked for ITIN in the past. BTW adding you to tax returns shows co-mingling of funds and accounts and helps in the process for visa (but can only be done during tax season)

[JRF 117]

Actually after 9/11 it went to $4999

It will be taxed as you are married to US citizen and your spouse has to include the amount on her taxes. Spouse needs to add you to IRS tax returns in the spring if spouse has not already added you and asked for ITIN in the past. BTW adding you to tax returns shows co-mingling of funds and accounts and helps in the process for visa (but can only be done during tax season)

Does your answer change if they are married filing separate?

[aaron2020 11,651]

Actually after 9/11 it went to $4999 No, it's still $10,000. Here the CBP link: https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/778/~/declaring-currency-when-entering-the-u.s.-in-transit-to-a-foreign-destination

It will be taxed as you are married to US citizen and your spouse has to include the amount on her taxes. No. It's his separate property. Marriage does not alter that and make it income taxable to her. It's his income. Not hers. Spouse needs to add you to IRS tax returns in the spring if spouse has not already added you and asked for ITIN in the past. No. Wife does not need to add him to her tax return. If he is not a USC or LPR, he does not have to file a tax return. He can elect to be treated as a US taxpayer and obtain an ITIN to file a joint return with his wife. It comes down minimizing taxes owed - whether for the wife to file married filing separately with only her income vs. filing a joint return and including his income. BTW adding you to tax returns shows co-mingling of funds and accounts and helps in the process for visa (but can only be done during tax season)

Please don't give out tax advice. You got everything wrong.

Guy with a tax degree.

Edited September 12, 2015 by aaron2020

[mattmatt 1]

transferred more then that when i moved to the states. Just inform IRS and you'll be fine.

How exactly do you inform the IRS? Is there a special form?

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

How exactly do you inform the IRS? Is there a special form?

When you transfer money, the banks or transfer agents usually take care of any reports. If you brought it in cash in your pockets on the airplane, you would fill out a form with the custom people. The money you bring is not taxed or charged duty. It is a way the U.S. Government tries to track money being used for terrorism, drugs, and other illegal activities among other things like money laundering.

When your big lump of money (say $13k) would create a tax issue is when you deposit it in a bank or investment. If your $13,000 brought earned $20 in interest paid to you by the U.S. bank, then the $20 is taxable income you earned. The $13k you brought is not income. You would report only the interest earned on your tax return.

[Dave&Roza 748]

How exactly do you inform the IRS? Is there a special form?

Yes, the IRS has a special form for gifts from non-citizen relatives or other sources outside the US. The limit before you must report is somewhere around $140,000--I do not remember the exact amount, but I looked this up to determine the tax consequences of my wife and MIL selling their apartment in Kazakhstan. She acquired it while not a LPR, but sold it after we married and she received her GC. So what do I enter for the capital gain cost basis for this property? It is the cost of when she acquired it? Is it the date she became a LPR and subject to US taxes? Or does the MIL sell the property as her own and gift us the money? If the MIL gifts us the money what is the limit? How do I report that to the US government? The transfer is automatically reported by the bank. If this is not your money but a gift you report it on a special form if above the limit. If this is your money, there is nothing to do.

Dave