Edward Kurzen

Tax & estate planning

Pre-Immigration Tax and Estate Planning for Future U.S. Residents

U.S. residents are required to pay tax (up to 37% - only federal, not state tax) on their income earned in any country in the world (World Wide Income). Such income in some cases includes profits of foreign companies owned by the resident. In addition, U.S. tax residents pay inheritance tax (up to 40% federal, excluding state tax).

The U.S. tax residency rules can be counterintuitive. Under some circumstances you can become a tax resident even if you spend only one month in the U.S. on a tourist visa in a particular calendar year. A green card holder becomes a U.S. tax resident from the day he enters the U.S. on an immigrant visa and may be required to file a tax return even if he enters on December 30.

Restructuring assets and income before becoming a U.S. tax resident can legally save a very large share of income and inheritance tax. That doesn't mean you have to get rid of the assets and income at all. Sometimes it is enough to sell and buy back the shares at the current market price, put the property in a trust or contribute to the company's capital.

Our specialists are familiar with the corporate and tax laws of Russia and the United States, which allows them to optimize the process of restructuring on both sides of the border.

Nonimmigrant visa

L-1A, intracompany transferee

If you do not have close relatives in the U.S. and an employer who wants to hire you immediately, the easiest and most reliable way to relocate to the U.S. with the right to work is L-1A visa (Intracompany transfer).

The main idea of the visa is to enable a multinational company to transfer an executive from a foreign office to a U.S. office. However, the visa also allows you to transfer an executive from a foreign company to a newly established U.S. office.

We not only handle the entire immigration case from filing the documents for a visa to obtaining citizenship, but also help to open a company in the United States, prepare a business plan necessary in this case and translate the documents of the Russian company into English.