Do you have a current Green Card or even an expired Green Card? If the answer is yes to either one of these questions. Surprise! you are an American for tax purposes – this little surprise includes filing a 1040 (US tax return) and any other foreign reporting requirements such as an FBAR, Foreign Trust Return 3520 and 3520 A, the PFIC (8621) etc. This must be done yearly until you officially surrender your Green Card – it does not matter where in the world you reside. Please refer to paragraph three for the USCIS’s official position on this. American citizens in Canada find these requirements burdensome and sometimes annoying, as some Americans have told me – why do it to yourself?
The Green Card allows for permanent residency in the US and that includes the honor of all tax requirements and carries basically the same requirements and rights as the American Citizen. The United States is only one of two countries in the world that taxes on both Citizenship and Residency – the other being Eritrea. Holding a Green Card, expired or not is basically saying “look at me, I’m an American resident.”
“Еven if the USCIS no longer considers a Green Card to be valid (for immigration purposes), the tax-related obligations that come with it will continue to apply – until an official written statement from the USCIS confirms that the Green Card has been revoked or relinquished.”
In my next post – I will address the topic of relinquishing that Green Card.