Contact UsWho is considered a U.S. person for tax purposes?
What is the difference between a U.S. citizen and U.S. person?
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Tax Professional Answers
Olivier Wagner, EA CPA
The U.S. government imposes the income tax on U.S. persons based on their worldwide income. The following are considered to be a U.S. person for tax purposes:
A citizen born in the United States or outside with at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen
A naturalized citizen
A resident of the United States for tax purposes if they meet either the green card test or the substantial presence test for the calendar year
Any other person who is not a foreign person
The rules of U.S. citizenship are complex, anyone who is born a U.S. citizen or considered to be one under U.S. nationality law is subject to tax unless they renounce their citizenship. You do not necessarily need to have an American passport. For example, an accidental American is an individual who was born in the foreign country to one U.S. parent, who emigrated from the U.S, or was born in the U.S. and then returned to their own country in early childhood.
If you were born outside the U.S., have dual citizenship, and have never lived in America, you will be considered a U.S. person for tax purposes, and are still obligated to report and pay U.S. taxes until you terminate your U.S. citizenship.
Green card holders and tax residents are also subject to U.S. income taxation on their global income. Those whose green cards have expired after moving back to their country of origin, and have never formally canceled their U.S. immigration status, still have to file their U.S. tax returns. Even if they are not in the U.S. anymore, green card holders need to remember that their tax responsibilities do not change until they surrender the card or there was a final administrative or judicial determination to revoke or abandon it. Even if your green card isn’t valid anymore, you are still obligated to file tax returns until there has been a final determination that your green card has been revoked or abandoned.
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72 weeks ago
A citizen born in the United States or outside with at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen
A naturalized citizen
A resident of the United States for tax purposes if they meet either the green card test or the substantial presence test for the calendar year
Any other person who is not a foreign person
The rules of U.S. citizenship are complex, anyone who is born a U.S. citizen or considered to be one under U.S. nationality law is subject to tax unless they renounce their citizenship. You do not necessarily need to have an American passport. For example, an accidental American is an individual who was born in the foreign country to one U.S. parent, who emigrated from the U.S, or was born in the U.S. and then returned to their own country in early childhood.
If you were born outside the U.S., have dual citizenship, and have never lived in America, you will be considered a U.S. person for tax purposes, and are still obligated to report and pay U.S. taxes until you terminate your U.S. citizenship.
Green card holders and tax residents are also subject to U.S. income taxation on their global income. Those whose green cards have expired after moving back to their country of origin, and have never formally canceled their U.S. immigration status, still have to file their U.S. tax returns. Even if they are not in the U.S. anymore, green card holders need to remember that their tax responsibilities do not change until they surrender the card or there was a final administrative or judicial determination to revoke or abandon it. Even if your green card isn’t valid anymore, you are still obligated to file tax returns until there has been a final determination that your green card has been revoked or abandoned.