Nonresident Spouses: Tax Considerations for U.S. Citizens

BarbriSFCourseDetails

Course Details

Course Information

smart_display Format
On-Demand
signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level
Intermediate
work Practice Area
Tax Preparer

Date & Time

event Date
Thursday, August 22, 2024
schedule Time
1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT
timer Program Length
110 minutes

Credit Information

BARBRI is a NASBA CPE sponsor and this 110-minute webinar is accredited for 2.0 CPE credits.
BARBRI is an IRS-approved continuing education provider offering certified courses for Enrolled Agents (EA) and Tax Return Preparers (RTRP).

$197.00

CPE

ALL

This webinar will review the tax choices that must be made by U.S. residents married to nonresidents. Our panel of foreign tax specialists will detail the critical income tax, gift tax, and estate tax concerns of these couples and offer recommendations to mitigate the overall tax burden of these taxes.

Faculty

Rebeccah Fontaine

Senior Manager

Eisner Advisory Group, LLC

Ms. Fontaine is a Senior Manager in the firm's International Tax Services group. With nearly 15 years of experience, she brings a wealth of expertise in the field of International Taxation. Ms. Fontaine focuses on foreign trusts, foreign individuals, treaty analysis, expatriation and immigration planning. She is a highly skilled professional providing advanced US planning, consulting, controversy, and compliance services to international individuals and foreign trusts. Ms. Fontaine has extensive knowledge and experience in international taxation and has been honed through her previous role as a Senior Manager at a mid-sized accounting firm where she specialized in advanced planning and controversy work for large foreign trusts, foreign individuals, and foreign partnerships.

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Christine Sielicki

Senior Manager, Global Mobility Tax

Plante Moran

Ms. Sielicki is a manager within the Global Mobility team. She has over 15 years of experience in personal taxation and has spent the last 10 years specializing in Global Mobility. Ms. Sielicki assists clients during the entire life cycle of a foreign assignment. She deals with employer and employee compliance in relation to both inbound and outbound international employment. Ms. Sielicki has significant experience managing tax return programs, international payrolls, analysis of overseas benefits, advising on residence and domicile matters and providing consulting advice, both pre– and post- assignment.

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Description

Crucial tax decisions should be made by U.S. citizens or expats married to or considering marrying a nonresident. Benefits available to U.S. spouses, such as the unlimited marital deduction, a significant estate tax exemption ($13.61 million in 2024), and the $29,200 standard deduction, are either unavailable, curtailed, or require extra effort.

Although benefits are available when filing a joint return, such as the foreign earned income exclusion and foreign tax credits, the tax ramifications can be severe. The nonresident estate tax exemption is $60,000 vs. $13.61 million compared to a resident spouse. There are tax planning strategies that can be implemented to lower the impact of this meager exemption. International tax advisers need to be aware of the latest tax savings strategies that can significantly reduce the tax burden of nonresident spouses.

Listen as our panel of astute international tax professionals shares tax planning strategies for a nonresident alien spouse.

Outline

U.S. citizens with a nonresident spouse: overview
Income tax considerations
1. Married filing jointly
2. Married filing separately
3. Tax benefits
  1. Foreign earned income exclusion
  2. Foreign tax credits
Trust and estate considerations
1. Gifting
2. Estate tax
3. Qualified domestic trust (QDOT)
Tax strategies

Benefits

The panel will cover these and other critical issues:

When married filing separately should be considered for U.S. citizens with foreign spoues
How a QDOT can be used in estate planning to preserve the marital deduction for a nonresident spouse
Tax strategies to circumvent the lower estate tax exemption for U.S. taxpayers married to nonresident aliens
Using the foreign earned income exclusion to lower U.S. income taxation

NASBA Details

Learning Objectives

After completing this course, you will be able to:

Identify how nonresident status impacts gifting strategies
Determine how a QDOT (qualified domestic trust) can be used to mitigate tax for foreign spouses
Decide how foreign tax credits can be used to mitigate the U.S. income tax obligation
Ascertain when married filing separately would provide tax savings for residents married to nonresidents

Field of Study: Taxes
Level of Knowledge: Intermediate
Advance Preparation: None
Teaching Method: Seminar/Lecture
Delivery Method: Group-Internet (via computer)
Attendance Monitoring Method: Attendance is monitored electronically via a participant's PIN and through a series of attendance verification prompts displayed throughout the program
Prerequisite: Three years+ business or public firm experience preparing complex tax forms and schedules, supervising other preparers or accountants. Specific knowledge and understanding of international taxation including residency determination, foreign entity classifications, application of treaty benefits, as well as GILTI, Subpart F, and the related Section 250 deductions.

Strafford Publications, Inc. is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of Accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE Credits. Complaints regarding registered sponsons may be submitted to NASBA through its website: www.nasbaregistry.org.