Pre-Residency Planning
General Description
Protax Services Inc. occupies a unique niche in the accounting and financial services market. We have extensive experience working with expatriates, green card holders and immigrants from the Eastern Bloc countries. We assist and guide them through the entire process of becoming U.S. tax residents. We provide accounting, tax and consulting services, and we partner with other professionals specializing in real estate, immigration and trust and estate planning services.
Personal Financial Statement
This is an essential step in order for you to be able to establish what your net worth is prior to becoming a resident. It can also protect you from possible future United States tax assessments. This statement can be utilized not only for pre-residency planning, but also for tax planning, trust and estate planning and for immigration purposes. The United States is one of the few countries in the world, which taxes its residents on their worldwide income, and it is to your advantage to document how much of your wealth was earned prior to becoming a United States resident.
Another benefit of having a personal financial statement is that it helps identify foreign assets with significant appreciation in value. The client often chooses to sell these assets, and if the transaction is completed prior to the date of U.S. tax residency, the sale would not be subject to United States taxes.
After preparing a Personal Financial Statement, we can then use our knowledge of the assets and sources of current income to plan for the client’s income taxes at the time when the individual becomes a US tax resident. Some clients may need to modify their asset ownership structure to facilitate optimization of the tax burden and to ensure asset protection. In some cases, it may be beneficial to the client if we design a compensation package including payroll, an expense allowance to reimburse business expenses, and pension contributions.
Tax Structuring
In some cases, a Personal Financial Statement reveals significant foreign real estate holdings or corporate ownership. We are then able to suggest and help implement a new tax structure to streamline or even eliminate burdensome U.S. tax reporting requirements.
Real Estate Purchase and Financing
The next step is often the purchase and financing of real estate in the U.S. We can help with all aspects of the real estate purchase, such as setup of the most appropriate ownership structure and working with real estate attorneys. In many instances, we provide the financial statements required by lending agencies prior to a purchase. We also provide property management services for those of our clients who purchase rental properties.
Trust and Estate planning
On a more long term basis, we assist many of our clients with trust and estate planning. Significant tax savings are possible through the use of pension plans and trusts. Some clients may already have an offshore trust prior to becoming a U.S. tax resident, and we often work with them to establish domestic trusts to streamline tax and reporting requirements.