Planning topic · New immigrants
From the day you first enter the United States as a permanent resident, your worldwide income is reportable and taxable here. Many arrangements can only be made before that day. We help you sort out assets, gifts, companies and the timing of income before you land, and carry it through to the landing-year return.
Why the landing date
Under the green card test, tax residency begins on the first day you are in the United States as a permanent resident. That year is usually a dual-status year: nonresident before, resident after.
A few exceptions need checking first: if you already spent many days in the U.S. in the landing year, residency may begin earlier; a married couple electing to file jointly as full-year residents brings pre-landing foreign income into the return; and U.S. real estate and U.S. business assets are taxed on sale even for nonresidents. So the first job is to pin down your residency starting date.
Timeline
The earlier you start, the more options remain open.
What to settle before landing
Not all of them apply to you. Step one of planning is deciding which do.
Under the green card test it is the first day in the U.S. as a permanent resident; if your days in the U.S. that year already meet the substantial presence test, the earlier date applies.
Days already spent in the U.S. this year, the planned entry date, and the starting date that follows.
Becoming a resident does not reset an asset’s cost. Sell shares, property or a company after landing and the gain from before landing is taxed by the U.S. too.
Which assets to sell or restructure before landing; U.S. real estate and U.S. business assets are a separate case.
Gift tax turns on domicile, not the green card. Before U.S. domicile, gifts of foreign assets and intangibles are generally outside U.S. gift tax; U.S. real estate and tangible property in the U.S. are not. Once resident, foreign gifts above $100,000 are reported on Form 3520.
Who gives what to whom, and by which day; the reporting afterwards.
Owning 10% or more of a foreign corporation usually means Form 5471. Where U.S. shareholders together own more than 50% it is a controlled foreign corporation, and shareholders may be taxed each year on its profits even without a dividend (net CFC tested income, formerly GILTI).
Ownership after landing, CFC status, the timing of dividends and whether the structure should change.
Foreign funds held by a U.S. person are usually passive foreign investment companies (PFICs), reported on Form 8621 under a harsh default regime. Whether a particular Chinese fund or bank product is a PFIC has to be judged product by product.
Whether to redeem before landing, and how to report and elect for what you keep.
The duty starts in the landing year: FBAR when foreign financial accounts together exceed $10,000; Form 8938 with the return at higher amounts (living in the U.S., single: over $50,000 at year-end or $75,000 at any time; joint: $100,000 / $150,000).
The family’s list of accounts, each account’s highest balance, and which accounts go on both forms.
A dual-status year generally allows neither the standard deduction nor a joint return. A couple may elect to file jointly as full-year residents — which brings both spouses’ worldwide income for the whole year into the return.
The tax under joint and separate filing; how to file while one spouse stays abroad.
Property moved into a foreign trust with a U.S. beneficiary within five years before residency may be treated as owned by you once you land. Gifts to a spouse who is not a U.S. citizen do not have an unlimited exemption.
Existing trusts and nominee arrangements, when they were set up, and the reporting after landing.
Common mistakes
Rarely from trying to pay less — usually from not knowing the rule exists.
How we work
The same levels as our tax planning service, built around the landing.
We go through the family’s situation and timing; the CPA identifies what applies and what must happen before landing. You receive a written recap.
Each matter computed and compared, written up as a plan: what to do, by which day, which records to keep — and a meeting to walk through it.
The dual-status return, foreign account and information reports, credit for tax paid in China, and a yearly review afterwards.
Typical situations
Hypothetical situations that show how planning works — not client results. Conclusions differ for everyone.
A couple owns all the shares of a company abroad with years of retained profit, plus two properties and some wealth products.
One spouse has lived in the U.S. with the children for two years and receives the green card this year; the other works abroad on a high income.
The children land this year; the parents plan to send money from abroad toward a U.S. home.
Ideally 6–12 months before the expected landing. Sales, gifts and restructuring take time and must be complete before the residency starting date.
Pre-landing arrangements are closed, but how to file for the landing year, reporting of accounts and companies, and the next few years can still be planned. The sooner, the more room to fix things.
Under the green card test residency begins the first day you are in the U.S. as a permanent resident. If your days in the U.S. that year already meet the substantial presence test, it begins earlier and must be computed.
Gain on a foreign asset sold and paid before the residency starting date is generally outside U.S. income tax — provided that date is not moved earlier by days in the U.S. and the couple does not elect to file jointly as full-year residents. Tax in China applies as usual.
A gift of foreign assets from a non-U.S. person generally involves no U.S. gift tax. Once you are a U.S. resident, foreign gifts from individuals totalling more than $100,000 in a year are reported on Form 3520 — no tax, but heavy penalties for not reporting.
It depends on your ownership after landing and what the company does. You may need Form 5471 every year, and may be taxed in the U.S. on its profits as they arise. It is the matter that most needs arranging before landing.
There is no single rule; each account is judged by its nature. We confirm during planning which ones are reportable.
The treaty has no automatic tie-breaker; the two tax authorities decide by consultation. A green-card holder filing as a treaty nonresident may put permanent residence at risk, and a long-term holder may trigger the exit tax. We generally advise against it.
Yes. Each state has its own residency tests and starting date, not always the same as the federal ones. We plan for the state you will live in.
Fixed fees, quoted before work starts. They follow the scope and complexity of the work, never the amount of tax saved.
Request
About 3 minutes. Sending a request costs nothing and is not an engagement.
Book a one-on-one paid consultation with a CPA to go through what needs arranging early. The fee is credited if you move on to planning.
This page is general information, not tax or immigration advice for your situation. Planning conclusions depend on the facts you provide and the law in force; the dollar thresholds shown were current when written and may change. For questions about immigration status, consult an immigration attorney.
