I am going to answer the last two posts in two different posts here, so look for your name. I wish Forumosa would bring back multi-quote! This copying and pasting stuff is getting old…
[quote=“Indiana”]So technically, you could hold multiple accounts with the total of each account kept under $50,000 and this would not be reported by any of the banks. I guess that would be one way around it.
I keep my accounts under 10,000 at all times as well so that I don't need to report them when I file taxes. My husband keeps the in accounts under his name (he is British and does not hold a green card, residency, etc for the US). American spouses of Taiwanese could do the same.
I can’t wait till the day when I can renounce. As soon as I am settled in Europe somewhere when I semi-retire, I’m going to work on gaining citizenship wherever we are living and the tax issue is the main driver of that for me.[/quote]
As I am not a lawyer or expert I cannot offer specific advice. However, what I can say is this so that there is no confusion. This is based on what I have read and seen and understood, if you want to know more you probably need to contact the IRS or review their website.
It is NOT 50,000 per account, it is 50,000 PER BANK. I am still trying to confirm this though, I seem to not be able to find a reference, I may again have been led to believe something wrong, but perhaps safer to limit it per bank, not per account.
Review this article: blogs.angloinfo.com/us-tax/2014/ … committee/ I think I have posted it about 4 times in several threads.
Keeping your accounts under $10,000 only can avoid the bank sending your data to the IRS, it does nothing for FBAR. FBAR is aggregate. So if you 5,000 in one foreign account and 2,000 in another foreign account and 9,000 in another foreign account, you are over the 10,000 limit. You have to write ALL accounts on FBAR and submit it to the US Treasury. If you have not been doing this, you have violated FBAR and could be penalized to the streets or be put in jail. FEAR, that is what they want all of us to feel.
If your husband is a British citizen it is fine, however, their could come a day when the IRS asks you to provide proof of where your money went or how you got and at that point they may ask to see his accounts, yes you read that correctly. If you refuse, they will tax you on any income they think you are hiding.