US Amazon FBA business moving to another country—tax and address advice?

Hello everyone!

Does anyone know how to handle taxes for a US citizen that is self-employed online (amazon fba) and moving to another country?

I think keeping the family home address as the business address is best as the sales are all done in the US. This will be considered my physical presence, as no business will be done in the country I move, correct? I was planning on keeping my US bank account open for payments and charges

Will I be responsible for any taxes in the new country if I do not work there?

My fiance is a citizen of the country I am moving to and I assume I will be eligible for some kind of visa once we move and marry, I thought I would mention that in case it changes anything.

I appreciate your feedback.

Best,

Marie

HI Marie,
As a US citizen, you are taxed on your worldwide income. But only federal, not state tax. You can deduct some taxes paid in your country of residency if that country has a tax treaty with the US (most do). If you live more than 6 months per year in a country, you are considered a tax resident (regardless of visa) and your income is taxed. If it is local income or worldwide income depends on the country. This is the basic rule. You will find plenty of details on the internet (and even at the IRS). How to avoid tax is a different topic altogether. There are loopholes and legal way outs but it depends on the particular situation.

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Hello and thank you for replying.

Interesting, I thought I would be responsible for the state tax my business is registered in.

Yes, there is a treaty and I believe I only need to file the US tax because of that.

I will review the resources, as this is all very new to me and honestly, somewhat confusing.

I guess I will have to speak with a tax professional about those loopholes, I don’t know anything about that but am interested in learning. And maybe I will renounce my citizenship altogether if it will be too expensive. Has anyone here done that?

Thanks for the info :slight_smile:

Best,

Marie

Hi Marie,

If you do not live in the US, you are not liable to state tax but if you have a business in the US, it is still “resident” there, so it is still liable to pay state tax. You moved, the business did not.

I understand that first you pay the taxes of where you live (i.e. the foreign country taxes), then you use the treaty to deduct whatever is possible when you file the USA form. You do not need a tax adviser for that - simply ask the IRS, they provide detailed instructions on what you have to do (or are supposed to do).

If you live in a country where you are liable to substantially lower taxes, you can renounce your citizenship, but you should think about it carefully before you cross that bridge.

On tax avoidance, there issue is that there are myriads of situations and each one has a different approach - in general it depends on individual cases and are only worth the trouble if there are reasonable sums of income involved or if you want to avoid being liable to tax on specific income (inheritance, for instance). In your case, you may find advantageous (or not) to shift your US based business to another place that is more favorable. Check for ‘tax havens’ in the internet. The problem is that you are required to declare all foreign based firms that you have when you file US taxes, which is how they catch you by your feet. The point is evaluating if it is worth the trouble and risk.

It may be, it may be not. Not forgetting that you will also have to deal with the taxes of the country you reside.

V

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