Will My Wife's Savings be Taxed when Wire-Transferred into US?

[Pte 0]

Hello,

My wife will be having her visa interview in a month, and hopefully she'll get her visa shortly thereafter, and we'll go to the U.S.. She has around $100,000 in savings. As soon as she gets into the U.S., if she makes a U.S. bank account and then wires the money from her Jordanian bank account to her U.S. bank account, will she be taxed at all on this at the time of transfer or next year when she files taxes (or any other time, for that matter)?

I don't know if this will make a difference, but she doesn't have any pay stubs since she's a freelancer, and people in Jordan deal primarily with cash.

Thanks!

[aaron2020 11,651]

The US will not tax her savings when transferred to the US. The US will want to know the source of the money and that it was legitimately earned; i.e., not linked to terrorism, not from illegal activities.

[7Ken 15]

I'm not an authority on this issue but generally anything over $10,000k will be scrutinized.

Would it be possible for you to start making deposits of a lesser amount at this time?

Personally it would worry me about transferring such a large amount of money after leaving the country.

I would think even cashiers checks might be a better alternative to a single wire transfer??

[teanet 20]

I was told everything above 10000 dollars will be taxed, but maybe I was told wrong. it is better to transfer in smaller amounts within months.

[callan83 2]

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/387822-us-tax-do-i-pay-tax-on-funds-i-am-bringing-into-the-us-from-abroad/

Ron-Tanya seems to know what he is talking about

[famictech2000 2]

I'm not an authority on this issue but generally anything over $10,000k will be scrutinized.

Would it be possible for you to start making deposits of a lesser amount at this time?

Personally it would worry me about transferring such a large amount of money after leaving the country.

I would think even cashiers checks might be a better alternative to a single wire transfer??

The banks are not stupid... they each have software that keeps running totals for deposits on their accounts... so you can deposit 1000 dollars at a time everyday for 10 days and it will catch you...

You would have to break up the deposits across different bank branches (BAC, JPM, TD, etc...) to try and get away with it

[famictech2000 2]

Hello,

My wife will be having her visa interview in a month, and hopefully she'll get her visa shortly thereafter, and we'll go to the U.S.. She has around $100,000 in savings. As soon as she gets into the U.S., if she makes a U.S. bank account and then wires the money from her Jordanian bank account to her U.S. bank account, will she be taxed at all on this at the time of transfer or next year when she files taxes (or any other time, for that matter)?

I don't know if this will make a difference, but she doesn't have any pay stubs since she's a freelancer, and people in Jordan deal primarily with cash.

Thanks!

You should be worried about her money.

She has no proof of income (paystubs) and people deal primarily with cash, which translates to they did not pay taxes on it when they earned it in the first place, or they will see it as dirty money, either way the US will tax it.

[Pte 0]

You should be worried about her money.

She has no proof of income (paystubs) and people deal primarily with cash, which translates to they did not pay taxes on it when they earned it in the first place, or they will see it as dirty money, either way the US will tax it.

Thanks.

The only proof of income she has are the invoices she generates for customers, but would this suffice as proof? These self-generated invoices don't account for all of her savings, but I'm guessing for at least 66% of it, if not more (need to gather and calculate all the invoices).

[yuna628 9,676]

While I can't answer you about taxes, anything above a certain threshold ($3,000 according to my bank), and there's going to be some governmental checks regarding that money. My husband wire transferred a very small amount, and I received calls and paperwork from my bank which was required due to the Patriot Act. Consult the bank in question for rules and regulations.

[famictech2000 2]

Thanks.

The only proof of income she has are the invoices she generates for customers, but would this suffice as proof? These self-generated invoices don't account for all of her savings, but I'm guessing for at least 66% of it, if not more (need to gather and calculate all the invoices).

Self generated invoices will not work. I can sit at my computer all day and create bogus invoices.

There will need to be "TRUE" tax identification numbers, that are actually recognized/generated by the government where ever she earned the income. Even if you fake those numbers you will be caught because the US will go to that government to get the tax ids legitimized.

For instance, in Canada any litigate business gets assigned a GST and PST tax id numbers... These numbers are Clearly shown on receipts and/or invoices which ensures that both parties (sellers and buyers) are paying the taxes on the goods and services.

[Pte 0]

While I can't answer you about taxes, anything above a certain threshold ($3,000 according to my bank), and there's going to be some governmental checks regarding that money. My husband wire transferred a very small amount, and I received calls and paperwork from my bank which was required due to the Patriot Act. Consult the bank in question for rules and regulations.

Thanks, that is helpful to know, as this means it would definitely apply in my wife's case.

Self generated invoices will not work. I can sit at my computer all day and create bogus invoices.

There will need to be "TRUE" tax identification numbers, that are actually recognized/generated by the government where ever she earned the income. Even if you fake those numbers you will be caught because the US will go to that government to get the tax ids legitimized.

For instance, in Canada any litigate business gets assigned a GST and PST tax id numbers... These numbers are Clearly shown on receipts and/or invoices which ensures that both parties (sellers and buyers) are paying the taxes on the goods and services.

Thanks. Although what you're saying makes sense, it is disheartening. I suppose it would be very easy for money launderers to just make bogus invoices and transfer large amounts of money in this fashion, too, though.

[Rich and Wen 101]

The feds caught former House Speaker Dennis Hastert paying hush money to a person he victimized during the 70's. Even though he paid the money in smaller amounts, the feds caught him and called it money structuring. He is now awaiting sentencing.

[Umka36 781]

I recommend contacting the US bank you will be transferring the funds to. Ask them what they need from you before sending the funds. I'm unaware of any tax the US government will charge.

Don't recommend doing multiple small deposits, it will trigger a flag and the money can potentially be confiscated by the Feds.

[aaron2020 11,651]

Once again.

The US will NOT tax the money.

The US will want proof that the money is clean.

Breaking it up into smaller amounts will just make it look more suspicious.

Contact a US bank on what is needed to transfer the money.

Stop giving advice when you have zero experience with tax laws and bank rules.

[Cathi 5,748]

Perhaps a call to a US tax attorney would be in order.

Edited April 21, 2016 by mimolicious