I am a non-resident alien at US. If I transfer $150000 from my oversea accounts to my US bank account. (transferring money to myself). do I need to file form 3520?

[GeoffreyG · Accepted solution]

Form 3520 (Annual Return To Report Transactions With Foreign Trusts and Receipt of Certain Foreign Gifts) is only required to be filed if you were a United States taxpayer (citizen or resident alien) and recipient of a gift(s) from a foreign national(s) in annual excess of $100,000, or if you were such a person and the owner of a foreign trust account or entity, or had financial interactions with such a foreign trust.

It does not apply to any other foreign bank or financial accounts, or to the many other circumstances that a US taxpayer may have, or encounter, with overseas financial transactions.  It also does not apply to nonresident aliens.

So, for the specific example of your case, therefore, if you are classified under US tax law as a nonresident alien, conducting the type of money movement transfer you describe, then there will be no need for you (or anyone else for that matter) to file a Form 3520.

You are very welcome to confirm this conclusion, for yourself, by reading Pages 1 and 2 of the Form 3520 instructions.  A courtesy link to that document is provided below for reference:

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i3520.pdf


Thank you for asking this important question.

[wsc]

Thanks for the answer. This is very helpful! I have a follow up question. I came to US in 2014 on F1 visa(student visa), and changed visa status to H1B visa last year Oct. 1. 2016, Am I a non-resident alien for tax year 2016?

[GeoffreyG]

Hello wsc:

Thank you for your kind words and your follow-up question.

The answer to it is yes, you are a nonresident alien for 2016 under these circumstances.  The reasoning is as follows.  Since you were on an F1 student visa (since 2014), your time from 2014 to October 2016 is considered an "exempt" period, for purposes of the IRS Substantial Presence Test.  Once you converted to an H1B visa, there were not enough calendar days remaining in 2016 for you to meet the 183 days required to satisfy the Substantial Presence Test.  Thus, you are a nonresident alien for 2016.  However, if you continue to remain in the United States for 2017, under an H1B visa, your US tax status will change to that of resident alien for the 2017 tax year.

Thank you again for your inquiry.

[wsc]

Thank you so much!

[rspr]

If you instead are a resident alien transferring money from a regular European bank account (not a trust) to a US bank account, both of which you own, do you need to file form 3520? Is this just a reporting requirement? Is this considered a gift (to yourself?), or any tax owed? Is there a threshold on the money transferred for taxation and/or reporting?

[Ciball]

Do I have to pay tax on the amount transferred? Or is there any tax consequences of doing so? Assuming non-resident alient

[CharlotteC]

Hi, I am having the same question and would like to know if you have figured out whether you need to report this transfer or not. Thanks in advance! @rspr 

[DawnC]

U.S. persons (and executors of estates of U.S. decedents) file Form 3520 to report:

• Certain transactions with foreign trusts.
• Ownership of foreign trusts under the rules of sections Internal Revenue Code 671 through 679.
• Receipt of certain large gifts or bequests from certain foreign persons.

A transfer of money from one account you own to another account you own is not reportable income.  However, if you have foreign assets, those may need to be reported.  

You'll need to report these assets and file Form 8938 (Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets) if any of the following are true: 

• - If you are living in the U.S. and are not married filing a joint return, you should file Form 8938 if the total value of your specified foreign financial assets is more than $50,000 on the last day of the tax year or more than $75,000 at any time during the tax year.
• - If you are living in the U.S. and are married filing a joint return, you should file Form 8938 if the total value of your specified foreign financial assets is more than $100,000 on the last day of the tax year or more than $150,000 at any time during the tax year.
• - If you are living abroad and are not married filing a joint return, you should file Form 8938 if the total value of your specified foreign financial assets is more than $200,000 on the last day of the tax year or more than $300,000 at any time during the tax year.
• - If you are living abroad and are married filing a joint return, you should file Form 8938 if the total value of your specified foreign financial assets is more than $400,000 on the last day of the tax year or more than $600,000 at any time during the tax year.

If you are required to file Form 8938 but do not file a complete and correct Form 8938 by the due date of your federal income tax return (including extensions), you may be subject to a penalty of $10,000. Continuing failure to file Form 8938 could result in additional penalties up to $50,000.

See the IRS instructions for Form 8938 for more information.

@CharlotteC