Money Transfer for K1 Recipient

[soprano82 5]

My fiancee received her K1 visa a little over a month ago, and she is going to be entering the US within a few weeks. We have been getting everything in order, but we have been having issues finding a clear cut answer on how to best transfer her money from her home country, Japan, to the US. I understand of course you can do a wire transfer, but we are really worried about being taxed on the money she brings in as additional income (or something of the sort during tax season), when in reality, it is her money that she has saved over many years of working in Japan. Is there a limit to how much can be transferred annually (if the money is viewed as a gift), which might lead me to believe we will have to transfer the money in steps? Recently, she transferred all of her money to an account her father has in Japan, where we are going to leave it until we can figure out how to best transfer it. Any input on this matter would be very much appreciated. I'm thankful to have this community to consult when questions arise during this lengthy process.

[Matthew Navarre 0]

10 minutes ago, soprano82 said:

My fiancee received her K1 visa a little over a month ago, and she is going to be entering the US within a few weeks. We have been getting everything in order, but we have been having issues finding a clear cut answer on how to best transfer her money from her home country, Japan, to the US. I understand of course you can do a wire transfer, but we are really worried about being taxed on the money she brings in as additional income (or something of the sort during tax season), when in reality, it is her money that she has saved over many years of working in Japan. Is there a limit to how much can be transferred annually (if the money is viewed as a gift), which might lead me to believe we will have to transfer the money in steps? Recently, she transferred all of her money to an account her father has in Japan, where we are going to leave it until we can figure out how to best transfer it. Any input on this matter would be very much appreciated. I'm thankful to have this community to consult when questions arise during this lengthy process.

HI you can bring not more than 10,000$ cash to the US..

[Crazy Cat 39,759]

14 minutes ago, Matthew Navarre said:

HI you can bring not more than 10,000$ cash to the US..

Where did you hear that information?

[FamousJerry 47]

You can bring in more than 10k us cash, it just has to be declared when you arrive in the states. I have brought back and fourth over 10k in cash many times. I always declare it when i arrive in the us and have had no issues at all. They just want to be sure you are not trafficking drug money or illegal money.

 

If you are clearing out an account from Japan, if it was me , i would get cashiers checks in her or your names in different values but less that 10k and then deposit them weekly and that will not set off any alarms for the banks having to report over 10k deposits to the GOV. As long as the money earned was earned honestly you shouldn't have any issues.

[nativeson 47]

Ignore the advice above.

 

You only have to declare $10k if it's cash, a check or wire transfer doesn't need to be declared at all. The government wants large transactions to be traceable, that's the purpose of the form 8300. They don't care about every single transaction above $10k and getting a bunch of sub-$10k checks made or otherwise structuring your deposits would be a giant waste of time. Japanese banks can do an international wire transfer: just transfer directly to her US account. They'll probably stiff her on the exchange rate. If they have strange/bizarre fees, rules or troublesome paperwork (Japanese banks are pretty stupid) you can try Transferwise.

 

Taxes are on income, transferring ones own savings that have already been taxed is not income and therefore not taxable. It's unlikely she will need to file taxes for 2017 as she wasn't a US resident for any part of the year so her US-taxable income was zero. Regardless there's a Foreign Earned Income Exemption and she would get tax credit for any income over that: basically the US won't double tax her if she already paid JP taxes. If you're uncertain then find a CPA with foreign tax experience and ask for a consultation. I wouldn't bother though.

 

One thing to do is make sure her local Japanese taxes are paid before she leaves. Japanese local taxes are usually paid following year (e.g., 2017 taxes are paid in 2018, etc.) so she might need to pay those up front. She should visit her local kuyakusho or shiyakusho and make sure she doesn't owe anything.

 

おめでとう！

Edited December 30, 2017 by nativeson

[Umka36 781]

On 12/26/2017 at 11:11 AM, FamousJerry said:

You can bring in more than 10k us cash, it just has to be declared when you arrive in the states. I have brought back and fourth over 10k in cash many times. I always declare it when i arrive in the us and have had no issues at all. They just want to be sure you are not trafficking drug money or illegal money.

 

If you are clearing out an account from Japan, if it was me , i would get cashiers checks in her or your names in different values but less that 10k and then deposit them weekly and that will not set off any alarms for the banks having to report over 10k deposits to the GOV. As long as the money earned was earned honestly you shouldn't have any issues.

Actually doing multiple deposits of less than 10k would do the opposite. It would draw attention and the funds could be confiscated. 

 

I recommend just wiring the entire amount, and have the bank do the paperwork. 

[FamousJerry 47]

1 hour ago, Umka36 said:

Actually doing multiple deposits of less than 10k would do the opposite. It would draw attention and the funds could be confiscated. 

 

I recommend just wiring the entire amount, and have the bank do the paperwork. 

Odd i have been doing this for about 2 years an no one took my money. And i send it back and fourth between USA and thailand and have yet to have a problem. I have even brought just cash with me, i had 30,000 usd i brought back from thailand and just declared it when i arrived and had zero issues with it. They looked at it asked where it came from and said welcome to america. 

[Umka36 781]

http://mobile.wnd.com/2014/10/irs-seizes-life-savings-for-deposits-under-10000/

 

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-irs-can-seize-your-cash-through-forfeiture-2014-10

 

 

[nativeson 47]

1 hour ago, Umka36 said:

http://mobile.wnd.com/2014/10/irs-seizes-life-savings-for-deposits-under-10000/

 

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-irs-can-seize-your-cash-through-forfeiture-2014-10

 

 

 

Note that these articles are about people structuring cash deposits to avoid the IRS. They don't apply at all to wire transfers or checks, and definitely don't apply to OP's question.

 

[Umka36 781]

I stand corrected as the IRS is looking for intentionally splitting cash deposits and not electronic transfers/checks of under 10k. 

 

Still doesn’t make sense to do split checks under 10k for checks, but whatever works for folks.

[payxibka 10,044]

On 12/26/2017 at 12:33 PM, soprano82 said:

My fiancee received her K1 visa a little over a month ago, and she is going to be entering the US within a few weeks. We have been getting everything in order, but we have been having issues finding a clear cut answer on how to best transfer her money from her home country, Japan, to the US. I understand of course you can do a wire transfer, but we are really worried about being taxed on the money she brings in as additional income (or something of the sort during tax season), when in reality, it is her money that she has saved over many years of working in Japan. Is there a limit to how much can be transferred annually (if the money is viewed as a gift), which might lead me to believe we will have to transfer the money in steps? Recently, she transferred all of her money to an account her father has in Japan, where we are going to leave it until we can figure out how to best transfer it. Any input on this matter would be very much appreciated. I'm thankful to have this community to consult when questions arise during this lengthy process.

I don't know why people think that transferring previously taxed income to the US causes a taxation problem in the US.   

[Paul & Marina 53]

I would go to bank and speak with one of bankers not tellers and speak with them. They would love to have her money and would do it legally and in a way to avoid taxes. 

 

 

[Matthew Navarre 0]

On 12/26/2017 at 1:01 PM, missileman said:

Where did you hear that information?

check out borders and custom rules

 

[Crazy Cat 39,759]

14 minutes ago, Matthew Navarre said:

check out borders and custom rules

 

I did....I think you should re-read it.....You CAN bring more than $10,00 into the US.  However, you must declare any amount over $10,000........big difference...

Edited January 5, 2018 by missileman

[mich923 23]

Try having the bank wire it. There shouldn't be an issue if it's from bank account to bank account for large sums of money. I was a Western Union agent, and would advise you not to send multiple smaller transfers because that would raise red flags and both governments might think you are hiding something.