When exactly do I become a U.S. tax resident?

Rarely on the date you expect. With a green card it is generally the first day you are present in the U.S. as a lawful permanent resident. Otherwise it comes from the substantial presence test, which counts all of this year's days plus a third of last year's and a sixth of the year before — so people cross the line without moving anywhere. Students and exchange visitors on F, J, M or Q visas can be exempt individuals whose days do not count at all for a period, which pushes the date later. The year residency starts is usually a dual-status year with different rules either side of the line.

Why are my index funds a problem in the U.S.?

Non-U.S. funds, ETFs and unit trusts are generally passive foreign investment companies for a U.S. taxpayer. The PFIC regime taxes gains and distributions at the highest ordinary rates with an interest charge for the years the tax was deferred, and it applies to an ordinary low-cost index fund exactly as it applies to anything exotic. For most people arriving with a portfolio, this is the single most expensive item they are carrying.

Should I sell everything before I arrive?

That is a question for a person who can see your whole position, not for a web page. It depends on what the assets are, what gain is sitting in them, what your home country would do about a sale, whether a treaty helps, and what you plan to do afterwards. Anyone who answers it from a checkbox form is guessing with your money.

Does my foreign pension follow the same rules as a U.S. retirement account?

There is no general rule. Depending on the plan's legal form, what it holds and whether a treaty article covers it, growth inside the plan can be currently taxable in the U.S. even though your home system defers it — meaning U.S. tax on money you cannot access. Plans holding pooled funds also raise the PFIC question inside the wrapper.

What if I have already arrived?

Options narrow but do not disappear. Elections, treaty positions and the first-year rules still matter, and the first filing is the one where getting the residency start date right has the largest effect. If a year has already been missed, that is a compliance question with established routes, and it is better raised early than found later.

Is this tool giving me tax advice?

No. It names which U.S. reporting regimes are likely to reach the categories of asset you selected, and what has to be established before anyone could say more. It does not know your numbers, it does not ask for them, and it does not recommend a course of action.

Before you arrive

Moving to the U.S. with foreign investments? Check your U.S. tax exposure.

The fund your bank recommended, the pension your employer set up, the company you started — all of it was unremarkable at home. On the day U.S. tax residency begins, several of those things acquire U.S. reporting obligations with penalties attached, and nobody in the immigration process mentions it.

This checker names what is likely to come into scope. It asks for categories, never amounts, and it takes about a minute.

Check my foreign assets

What changes on day one

Worldwide income becomes U.S.-taxable

From the residency start date the U.S. taxes income from everywhere, including income your home country also taxes. Relief usually arrives as a foreign tax credit rather than an exemption, and the match is not always exact.

Ordinary funds become PFICs

The index fund your bank sold you becomes a reporting regime with its own form, its own arithmetic and an interest charge. Nothing about the fund changes; the taxpayer holding it does.

Accounts become reportable

Foreign accounts totalling more than $10,000 at any point in the year trigger an FBAR — measured at the highest point, not at year end, and filed separately from the tax return.

Structures get looked through

Pensions, trusts, foundations and insurance wrappers that are efficient at home are frequently not recognised as such by the U.S., and what sits inside them comes back into scope.

Check what is likely in scope

Three questions and a list of categories. Nothing you enter leaves your browser unless you ask us to look at it.

When do you expect U.S. residency to start?

How are you entering the U.S. system?

Which country are you coming from?

Used only to note whether a tax treaty is available. Optional.

What do you already own outside the U.S.?

Categories only. This tool never asks what anything is worth, and there is nowhere on this page to tell it.

Funds, ETFs or unit trusts outside the U.S.A brokerage or investment account outside the U.S.Bank accounts outside the U.S.A workplace or personal pension outside the U.S.A company I own all or part ofA trust or foundation I created or benefit fromLife insurance or an investment wrapper (assurance vie, offshore bond)Property outside the U.S.

What this page will not do

It will not tell you to sell anything, move anything or time anything. Pre-immigration planning is advice: it depends on what the assets are, what gain is sitting in them, what your home country does on a sale, and what treaty is available. Those are facts a form cannot see, and a page that answered anyway would be guessing with your money.

What it does is name the regimes, say how much time is left, and be clear about which facts decide the rest.

Questions

When exactly do I become a U.S. tax resident?: Rarely on the date you expect. With a green card it is generally the first day you are present in the U.S. as a lawful permanent resident. Otherwise it comes from the substantial presence test, which counts all of this year's days plus a third of last year's and a sixth of the year before — so people cross the line without moving anywhere. Students and exchange visitors on F, J, M or Q visas can be exempt individuals whose days do not count at all for a period, which pushes the date later. The year residency starts is usually a dual-status year with different rules either side of the line.
Why are my index funds a problem in the U.S.?: Non-U.S. funds, ETFs and unit trusts are generally passive foreign investment companies for a U.S. taxpayer. The PFIC regime taxes gains and distributions at the highest ordinary rates with an interest charge for the years the tax was deferred, and it applies to an ordinary low-cost index fund exactly as it applies to anything exotic. For most people arriving with a portfolio, this is the single most expensive item they are carrying.
Should I sell everything before I arrive?: That is a question for a person who can see your whole position, not for a web page. It depends on what the assets are, what gain is sitting in them, what your home country would do about a sale, whether a treaty helps, and what you plan to do afterwards. Anyone who answers it from a checkbox form is guessing with your money.
Does my foreign pension follow the same rules as a U.S. retirement account?: There is no general rule. Depending on the plan's legal form, what it holds and whether a treaty article covers it, growth inside the plan can be currently taxable in the U.S. even though your home system defers it — meaning U.S. tax on money you cannot access. Plans holding pooled funds also raise the PFIC question inside the wrapper.
What if I have already arrived?: Options narrow but do not disappear. Elections, treaty positions and the first-year rules still matter, and the first filing is the one where getting the residency start date right has the largest effect. If a year has already been missed, that is a compliance question with established routes, and it is better raised early than found later.
Is this tool giving me tax advice?: No. It names which U.S. reporting regimes are likely to reach the categories of asset you selected, and what has to be established before anyone could say more. It does not know your numbers, it does not ask for them, and it does not recommend a course of action.

Already a U.S. person living abroad? The rest of this site is for you — start with PFICs and UCITS ETFs or the free PFIC checker. Moving between two countries abroad rather than into the U.S.? That is a different question.