Owning property or business abroad

C

Caramuru

Registered Users (C)
Hi Guys, just want to clear up something.

I'm a LPR who has an apartment/house and a small business in another country. In the course of the statutory five year period I made several trips, 9 in all, to this country to attend to my property and business. Duration of trips is 2 months or more but not one trip lasting over 3 months so it would appear that there is no break in continuous residence. I lived in the same address in NY for the past 19 years and I have leases to prove that. Overall period away from USA is 641 days or approximately 22 months and therefore meet physcial presence requirement.

Question: At the interview I would expect the IO to ask why I was making those frequent trips. Should I mention the apartment and the business? Would there be any negative effect on the decision if I did say that? Are LPRs supposed to remain in the US and earn their livelihood here in general. I know some green card holders who have jobs, properties or businesses outside the US. By the way, I am retired and receive monthly pension.
 
It depends on how close together those trips were. 9 trips of 2 months each, spread out more or less evenly over 5 years, is OK. But 9 back-to-back trips of 2 months each with 1 week in between trips could be a problem.
 
A little off topic...did you include your the CFC forms for you business with your federal tax returns?
 
I am not sure about your apartment but business could be negative if you did not pay tax for that to IRS in US. Have you report your foreign income? IRS said that you (not only a US citizen but also green card holder) have to report all your foreign incomes as well as any financial accounts over $10,000 you have in foreign banks. Please refer followings:



Thousands of US taxpayers, including US expatriates and foreigners living in the United States, may face steep fines if they failed to file a Treasury Department form detailing their foreign bank accounts by June 30.

The requirement obliges any United States person who had more than $10,000 in an offshore account, which can include investment funds, trusts and other types of account, during 2004 to provide details to the Treasury on a little known form called TDF 90-22.1.

Accountants are warning that the requirements affect a broad range of people, many of whom are not even aware of the form or its requirements, let alone Thursday's deadline. The types of people that are likely to need to file the form include US citizens working or studying abroad, US expats who have chosen to permanently reside in another country, and foreign nationals who are living in the US.

The United States is almost unique in that it requires its citizens to pay US taxes even if they have not lived in America for many years.

Taxpayers who fail to file the form now face a fine of up to $10,000. Congress also increased the maximum civil penalty to whichever is the greater between $100,000 or 50% of the value of the offshore account.

Penalties may be waived if taxpayers can show "reasonable cause".
 
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