Moving to the US with savings

[SerbCA 86]

Hi everyone, me and my fiance are planing on starting our K1 journey soon after our next trip together, but my question is about the actual move to the US on the K1 visa

 

I have been working very hard and saving up quite a bit, and plan to bring those funds with me when I make the move eventually. How do I do this without losing a whole bunch in taxes? (about half of the savings will come from me selling my small condo, which I will have proof of paying taxes for, but a bit worried about the rest) 

 

Thanks in advance, I'm really glad I found this forum since it has so much usefull information.

[mallafri76 1,012]

Are you in a country that has a tax agreement with the US? If so, you should have no issues transferring your money tax free to the US. I transferred all my money via normal bank transfer when I immigrated to the US. The flat fee per transfer is $16 with Bank of America, regardless of how much you transfer.

 

When you transfer more than $10,000, your bank will report it to the IRS but that's it. And don't be stupid and try splitting up your transfers into amounts under $10,000. That's called structuring and is illegal, you can have your money ceased and even go to prison.  

 

Also remember that next year when you do your tax return, you have to report to FBAR any foreign bank account that has had a balance of $10,000 or more at any time during the year.

[SerbCA 86]

Thanks for responding, just checked and Serbia is not on the list of countries that has the tax agreement: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/united-states-income-tax-treaties-a-to-z

 

So not sure how I would go about doing it, do I just bring it with me in cash and declare it, or do a bank transfer once I have an account set up in the US.

The taxes are my biggest concern, so just wanna figure out the best way to deal with it.

[LJ75 3]

Well, we are in a similar situation, and here's the topic where we discussed it;

 

 

 

In a nutshell, based on everything we found out, you / we should not need to pay tax on the money you transfer into the US. 

 

If you discover anything new, pls let us know, or you can pm me.