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Tax Treaties for Residency Status and Cross-Border Tax Planning

Treaty Tie-Breakers

If, for the purposes of a tax treaty, you are resident of one country but also a resident of the United States you will need to use tie-breaker rules to work out a single country of residence. The 2006 US Model Treaty states that this should be achieved by examining the following factors in the following order:

  • The location of your permanent home: You have a permanent home in the US if you can be said to reside in it, have a room continuously available, use it to store personal property, have an office in the home or use it as an address for the purposes of a driving licence or insurance. Certain treaties consider the question of the individual’s family life in order to answer this question.
  • The centre of your vital interests: This is answered by looking at the location of your major personal, economic and community interests.
  • Your habitual abode: This is answered by looking at where you spend most of your time during the calendar year.
  • Your nationality: This is determined by your citizenship or state of nationality.

Blacktower, for cross-border tax planning

The specialist financial advisors at Blacktower can help you with all aspects of your cross-border tax planning, including issues relating to your residency status, FATCA, FBAR and your pensions and retirement accounts.

For more information contact us today.

This communication is for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice, investment recommendations or investment research. You should seek advice from a professional adviser before embarking on any financial planning activity. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the information contained in this communication is correct, we are not responsible for any errors or omissions.

Other News

The Fuss About FATCA and Financial Data Sharing

We recently reported on why it is likely that the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is likely to remain in place in the US in favour of the Common Reporting Standard, but pressure is mounting in a number of foreign jurisdictions for governments to act.

In France, a group of so-called ‘accidental Americans’, who are being asked by the IRS to pay tax on global income based on their citizenship alone, have already lobbied US Democrats and have now taken a discrimination lawsuit to the French court because they have been denied access to loans and banking services as a result of FATCA.

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Retirement Account Rules and Restrictions for Non-Resident Aliens

Non-resident aliens are those people who are citizens of a country other than the United States but with legal permission to live and work within the US. If you are in this position you should be aware that your status means you have some very particular obligations to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and that these have an impact on any 401k or IRA accounts you might hold.

So, what are the 401k and IRA management considerations for US non-residents and what are some of the restrictions affecting non-residents in relation to these accounts?

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