Dual Citizen Decisions

[Ted Hoppe]

Re: Dual Citizen Decisions

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I can see the fun, cute attraction.

Living in Europe could mean a better quality of life and food. The affordability of California makes Europe seems quite reasonable annd affordable. Might be smarter as we begin to age out since Mexico is as expensive as many places as Italy or France.

[Joe (SoCal)]

Re: Dual Citizen Decisions

But but but the Socal lifestyle??? and you're riding the wave man.

A) This is a retirement plan
B) I always like moving and trying new things. I love the SoCal lifestyle, but there are many waves in this world to ride man.

[Gerarddm]

Re: Dual Citizen Decisions

I tried for years to get my dual Italian-American citizenship. Spent thousand$ on acquiring and translating documents, etc. Could never get the requisite in-person appointment at the consulate. Italian bureaucrats defeated me, I gave up. No wonder Italy is still a joke.

Now I'm too old to care anymore, that ship sailed and I missed my tide.

[Joe (SoCal)]

Re: Dual Citizen Decisions

I thought the subject was living outside the country, not doing an extended Club Med so you could tell your friends how cool you are.

I don't have to tell my friends they already think I'm cool

[WI-Tom]

Re: Dual Citizen Decisions

I thought the subject was living outside the country, not doing an extended Club Med so you could tell your friends how cool you are.

You still would use the Foreign Income Exclusion even if you are living in a foreign country, unless you prefer to pay U.S. taxes while you live there.

And it might be handy to know that you can't qualify for the "bona fide resident" test unless you have already lived in a foreign country as a legit resident for 1 full tax year. Because, if you don't qualify by being physically present in a foreign country for 330+ days during that first year, you have to pay full U.S. taxes, no exclusion.

Tom

[Ted Hoppe]

Re: Dual Citizen Decisions

I don't think you really need dual citizen if you want a home aboard. Electronic banking make life easy. Opening a bank account in the EU isn't that big a deal. Paying most things with a debit or credit card cuts through a lot. A Swiss bank would be a clever way to work around until you got it together in the country of your choice.

Like I mentioned before - Malta citizenship would be very quick to get. You would have your EU passport in less than 9 months.

[Joe (SoCal)]

Re: Dual Citizen Decisions

You still would use the Foreign Income Exclusion even if you are living in a foreign country, unless you prefer to pay U.S. taxes while you live there.

And it might be handy to know that you can't qualify for the "bona fide resident" test unless you have already lived in a foreign country as a legit resident for 1 full tax year. Because, if you don't qualify by being physically present in a foreign country for 330+ days during that first year, you have to pay full U.S. taxes, no exclusion.

Tom

OK regarding the tax implications I currently have a CPA for our corporate and personal obligations and currently have a Italian real estate attorney. I may seem spur of the moment but I do cross my "T"'s and dot my "i"'s

Regarding our franchise by the time we are retiring there will be a CEO and CFO as well as an operational manager as well as a full support staff that it should be able to run itself with very little input from us. Also I can Zoom, and operate from anywhere. Hell I ran the whole company for a month last year without too much trouble.

[WI-Tom]

Re: Dual Citizen Decisions

You seem to be upset

You do have a knack for failing to understand what you read. I'm not upset at all--why would I be?

over the tax code's definition of residence. "Living" to them means 11 months out of the year abroad. Less than that is "visiting" and not subject to the tax break.

I'm just pointing out that if you actually move, not go visit, then you get the first $123,000 income US-tax-free. Still have to file, tho. Just like Eritrea and North Korea, the only other countries in the world who do this.

Not quite that simple. It takes a full tax year, 12 months, to qualify as a bona fide resident. So for the first year living abroad, you have to spend 330+ days in a foreign country to qualify via the physical presence test. If you visit the U.S. a couple of times, you could easily fail to qualify, and have to pay U.S. tax on all your earnings that year.

That's worth paying attention--I posted it because I thought Joe and others might find the information useful, that's all.

Tom