Ivoryguy36

Thank you for the advice, but I have no idea how to find a moderator to ask this.

For anyone who has filed a K-1 Visa for a Filipino beneficiary, there is big news on our Facebook group.  We need your support and involvment!

Send me a private message for the link, as the forum will not let me embed it.  

Suskind confirmed to me in an email that non-banned countries could not join round three.  Had I known about this lawsuit, I would have joined round two in a heartbeat.  Suskind estimated $5000 plus for an individual lawsuit.

39 minutes ago, Ivoryguy36 said:

I would like to know where you get this information.  Googling produced this website:

https://taxacctgcenter.ph/overview-of-donors-tax-in-the-philippines/

 

Which states nothing about marriage exemption except spouse can transfer up to 10,000 php without paying the tax.  

 

There is so much conflicting and outdated information out there that Google serves up, and many website articles have no date!

 

This donor tax is a huge concern.  This transaction is millions of pesos.  Her brother is intending to donate the funds to her from the proceeds of the sale of a house.  There is an attorney involved, so I hope the brother is being properly advised as he will be the one to owe the tax!

It appears that the TRAIN law that took effect on January 1, 2018 completely flattened the tax and removed the differentiation between relatives and strangers.  The donor tax is now a flat 6% of amounts over 250,000 php, and you owe the same for gifts to strangers or relatives INCLUDING spouses.  

The answer to the dilemma is that she has to transfer the money to herself only from a PHP account in her name to a USD account  at a US bank in her name.  Then no donor tax applies.  If my name is on the account, it could be considered a 50% gift triggering the tax.  Once the money is in the US, then US laws apply.

On 1/31/2020 at 11:11 AM, ADW & JOP said:

May or may not be relevant to you, but transferring of money to US citizen spouse is not subject to donor tax because of the unlimited marriage deduction. Transfer of money to non-US citizen spouse, however, is not covered by the unlimited marriage deduction.

I would like to know where you get this information.  Googling produced this website:

https://taxacctgcenter.ph/overview-of-donors-tax-in-the-philippines/

Which states nothing about marriage exemption except spouse can transfer up to 10,000 php without paying the tax.  

There is so much conflicting and outdated information out there that Google serves up, and many website articles have no date!

This donor tax is a huge concern.  This transaction is millions of pesos.  Her brother is intending to donate the funds to her from the proceeds of the sale of a house.  There is an attorney involved, so I hope the brother is being properly advised as he will be the one to owe the tax!

1 hour ago, Hank_ said:

 

Opening a bank acct, PHP, and deposit the funds is the 1st step.   Doubt she will be able to open a USD acct  (there are restrictions, have to check with the bank you choose)    

 

Next would be a wire transfer to a U.S. bank account.  As for exchange rate check with the bank, usually they are pretty good rates.   Wire transfer costs were $55 last time we did it.    No limit on the amount transferred

 

There shouldn't be any issues, government-wise with completing the wire transfer.

 

 

Thanks for all the replies so far.

I think you have to have a US Social Security number or ITIN to open an account in the US.  You have to have a US address (and proof) to get an ITIN.  Sounds pretty hard to do before you get to the country.  If she wires the money, she'll have to do it before she leaves the Philippines and she'll have to send it to my account before she gets here.  I can think of a few reasons this could get complicated.  

My Filipino fiance is currently still in PI.  We've just started the K-1 process.

Her brother is about to gift a fairly large sum of money to her in pesos.  She will likely be transferring most of the money to the US.

Need advice from someone who has been through this before about the best way to avoid scrutiny (from either government) and to get the best exchange rate and lowest fees.

For example, what kind of account should she open?  Would it be best to open an account in USD?

What government pitfalls should we watch out for? (taxes, restrictions, etc.)

Do we need to transfer the funds in steps?  How much each time?

Is there a bank that is more suited to these types of transactions?

Thanks for any advice or referrals.