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anitajain

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Hello Experts, I am almost 45 yr old and I lived in the USA (California) for 21 years. I recently moved to India. I’ve been a US citizen for 15 years. I only worked 1.5 years in the US and lived on child support for the rest of the years. Yes I am divorced. Now my son is 19 and there is no child support, so I moved back to India. I do not want to lose my US citizenship as I am planning to visit my son/ friends every couple of years. I am not planning to work or buy any property in India as my family will be supporting me. My bank account in the US is in a checking account, so I am not earning any income. I am not eligible for Social Security benefits either and never will be. I do not have a 401K either. I do have OCI status. My questions:

  1. Do I still have to file taxes in the US to maintain my US citizenship?
  2. If I visit the US for 2 to 3 weeks every 1 to 2 years, do I lose my US citizenship?
  3. Is it ok to leave my bank account in US (my bank accept foreign address or US friend’s address) or it has to be moved to the NRI account (I don’t have one). The reason I want to keep my money in the US, so when I go to visit my son, I can use this money instead of bringing or exchanging back and forth from US/India.

Thank you and hope to hear from you, Anita
 
You will NOT lose your U.S. citizenship because you reside abroad. As a U.S. citizen, you have the right to live anywhere you'd like for as long as you'd like, without ever visiting the U.S. again.

In terms of taxes, you still must file a US federal tax return and pay US taxes on your worldwide income regardless where you physically live. If your worldwide income is below a certain bar (around $12,500 for single filers in 2021), you don't have to file. Keep in mind that income includes passive income such as interest, pensions, etc.
 
You will NOT lose your U.S. citizenship because you reside abroad. As a U.S. citizen, you have the right to live anywhere you'd like for as long as you'd like, without ever visiting the U.S. again.

In terms of taxes, you still must file a US federal tax return and pay US taxes on your worldwide income regardless where you physically live. If your worldwide income is below a certain bar (around $12,500 for single filers in 2021), you don't have to file. Keep in mind that income includes passive income such as interest, pensions, etc.
Thank you Veggie3 for taking time and clearing that. No, I do not have any income other than interest from the bank account which is not even $100 a year. So I don’t have to file taxes, right?
 
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