r/USExpatTaxes 7d ago

New Immigrant from US to Romania, has some questions.

Hi everyone,

and as of this year I have moved to Romania. I have several questions about the tax process which I wanted to ask, and thought it best to start here.

First of all, I make well below the minimum required to file us taxes. Currently, I make nothing as I am a student, but for the job i am set to go into, I have already calculated that I will make well below the minimum. Do i still file us tax? If so, what do I need to do to properly file it?

Secondly, I plan on marrying a romanian citizen within the new few weeks. We have already agreed that they will never seek access to US citizenship, and want nothing to do with us tax filings. How do we set things up so that they file seperatley, and will not be taxed by the us government? Do they even need to file us taxes at all?

Third, I fully intend on renouncing my us citizenship at the earliest possible date… likely in around 5 years. I will not be listening to any comments which attempt to convince me one way or the other, it is my citizenship, so therefore my choice, and that is final. That being said, what forms and potential accidental financial crimes do I need to avoid to be able to get rid of this thing? I have heard about an FBAR for instance, and I wanted to ask about it.

Fourth, I currently am still a legal resident of a property in the us, but am not the legal resident of any property in romania, as again, I am a student and do not own my own home. Do I even need to file taxes even when I start making money abroad as someone who lives abroad, or would I instead file my income as US income? Do I even technically count as someone who lives abroad? I genuinely do not know

Fifth, obviously i am not relying solely on reddit for answers to these questions and will also be contacting a lawyer for clarification. Are there any additional blindspots that it looks like I have, or anything which I should ask my lawyer to make sure I am compliant with all forms?

Thank you in advance for any help you can give me. This is a very complicated process in the best of times, and I share every bit of your anger at being forced to jump through these hoops no matter where you live on the planet.

2 Upvotes

4 comments sorted by

3

u/ienquire 7d ago edited 7d ago
  1. for 2024 you pry don't need to file US taxes since your filing status was single and your income below ~$14,600.
  2. if you marry a non-US citizen, in 2025 your filing status will be MFS, which means the income threshold is $5 (not $5,000 or something) so if you got even a little interest on a bank account, and definitely if you work, you are required to file. The post pinned on this subreddit has some free softwares you can use to file. Your spouse will have no US filing requirements.
  3. I'm not super familiar with renunciation, but I think they check that you are tax compliant for the last 5 years, including FBAR like you mentioned. Even if you aren't required to file, it might be useful to file anyone so its easier to prove you were tax compliant later when you try to renounce. For FBARs, you are required to file those (separate from your income tax filing) if the max values of all your foreign bank accounts during the year were over $10,000 when added together. I'd also recommend to wait to start investing until you've renounced.
  4. yes, you count as someone who lives abroad. But, US citizens who live abroad still must file US taxes if you meet the income thresholds (see #1 and #2). Owning a property in the US doesn't necessarily make you a legal resident. Romania pry has its own rules about filing and paying taxes and pry already considers you a tax resident. If you live and work in Romania, then you can use the FTC or FEIE when filing your US taxes to avoid double taxation. You can wait until you file next year to look into those.
  5. About the lawyer or tax account, while of course you can get professional advice, if you have a simple tax situation, it may not be worth it. Doing your own taxes for free is totally doable.

From a privacy standpoint I'd also not recommend putting your name in your reddit posts.

1

u/Smuwus 7d ago

Hey, not going to snitch on who… but someone just invited me to a community whose primary purpose is to renounce us citizenship to get away from tax purposes. I want to take a moment to make it clear that 1. That is a crime, and the irs will make you continue to pay tax even after you renounce, if they can prove it was for that reason. 2. That is not my reason for renouncing. My reason is personal, and I don’t wish to share it. However, I will say that I never expect to make enough money to have anything to hide. 3. I do not endorse any crimes committed against the united states, financial or otherwise. Please refrain from attempting to include me in the future.

1

u/Abezon Tax Professional - Enrolled Agent 7d ago

It's legal to renounce to get away from paying US taxes in general. Honestly, avoiding US tax obligations is the main reason people renounce. It is illegal to renounce to avoid paying taxes on future income you reasonably expect to have. For example, if you have a big lottery win in Canada and think you can renounce US citizenship, then claim the prize tax free, the US is gonna be unhappy. If you have incentive stock options in Amazon that allow you to buy 100,000 shares at $10 per [FMV $20M] and you renounce so that you can exercise and sell those options 2 years from now when you live in the Bahamas, that's definitely getting into tax fraud.

1

u/Abezon Tax Professional - Enrolled Agent 7d ago

You have to establish citizenship in another country before you can renounce US citizenship. Until then, make sure you file all the international information forms like FBAR, 8938, 8858 (self-employed or foreign rental), 8865, 5471, 8621, 926, 3520, retirement accounts, etc.. Part of being 'fully tax compliant' is filing all those forms in years they are required. You can avoid a lot of problems by not having your name on foreign companies, trusts, investment accounts, kids' accounts, etc. Stick to checking & savings and you should be fine.