Could IRS or California come after me somehow? I'm a resident alien with non-US permanent address on W8.
This is a complex post but it's crucial for my survival (I'm from a destabilized country) so I wanted to give all the relevant details. Thanks in advance for your advice
I left US before becoming a tax resident [0]. I never filled out any tax related forms other than W8. I didn't pay any taxes to the IRS. I didn't earn any income when I was in the US. I didn't have a SSN.
My US bank accounts are still open. Also credit cards. No issues so far.
I am categorized as a resident alien in bank's system. My last CA address is on file so I am categorized as a US resident. This is not true obviously but I was suggested to do this [1].
My permanent address on bank's system is a US address but my permanent address listed on W8 is a non-US address. Maybe this is what counts as far as IRS and California is concerned? This is also my mailing address. Banks send W8 once a year here.
My US and non-US phone numbers are in the system. Not sure if this is relevant? Sometimes I heard it could be relevant. E.g Canada claims you still owe them taxes even after you move your residency elsewhere because you didn't close down your phone number. They use it as an evidence of ties, and they use the ties to prove you are still a tax resident in Canada, but this is for citizens I believe. Point is if a country can use phone number to tax you, I guess they could also use being categorized as a resident to tax you?
Obviously US has my records of entering and leaving the country and they can see how many days I spent in US each year and they can see which visa I was on so they can determine I wasn't a tax resident, I think
[0] Students under an F, J, M, or Q status are exempt from counting days for five years for Substantial Presence Test. Which was the case for me.
[1] I talked to two bank tellers from different bank branches before I left US. They suggested me I could just leave the address as is. They told about some other students who came back to US after 6 years who did the same thing without issues. But not sure if this is the correct advice.
Also on the internet I see that expats suggest each other to not change their permanent address to a non-US one. But they are not aliens. And maybe they're applying for FEIE, to tell IRS that they are not a US tax resident (despite the banks categorizing them as a US resident). FEIE is also only for US persons.
So that's the situation.
1) Can this cause me some tax obligation or any legal issues in any way in the future? Can IRS or California tax me somehow or cause me any trouble? I don't plan to go back to the US but I might visit as a tourist. Highly unlikely but I might move back on H1B or E2 or EB5. I want to be able to keep money there without any concerns. That's my main goal.
2) After leaving US, I created US brokerage accounts, remotely, with ONLY non-US address. My banking history cannot cause me any trouble with my brokers in any way, right? E.g Maybe IRS and CA thinks I'm a US resident because that's how I'm categorized by my banks (despite the W8 including my permanent non-US address). So they want me to pay taxes on my capital gains that originate from my brokerage account somehow?
3) If I move my money from my broker to my bank, could that cause any problems in the future? Maybe CA or IRS assumes its income and since I'm a "US resident", they can demand tax? Maybe I appear as a tax evader or avoider in CA or IRS' system already and they are waiting for the interest to fatten up and after 10 years maybe they will directly take their cut from my bank or brokerage accounts automatically?
4) As far as I know, money transferring between your own accounts do not create any taxable event, Bank <> bank, broker <> broker, bank <> broker, regardless of the jurisdictions. --- I can get paid from a US business to my US bank account and I wouldn't owe any taxes to the US since I'm not a tax resident there (assuming being categorized as a US resident by my bank doesn't make me US resident). --- I do not owe any taxes to US on capital gains on my US brokerage account, it's only for dividends. --- Anything I'm missing? Asking just in case
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/immigration/comments/r1yfqz/could_irs_or_california_come_after_me_somehow_im/