81–90 of 144 posts
There's already a visa deal for foreign investors, the EB-5 visa. You have to invest at least $1M ($0.5M if you're willing to invest in a bad area of the US) and create 10 jobs. That's why downtown Palo Alto has all those rug stores.
I wish having an advanced degree was a criteria here. A few years ago, I noticed that Britain would give a blanket visa to anyone with an MBA from a list of top international schools. How about something like that for people with Masters/PhDs (in STEM) from top-50 schools in the world. That said, the proposed rule might mean if one gets into YC/techstars, etc. they would be able to get a visa for the US easily. The l…
> That said, the proposed rule might mean if one gets into YC/techstars, etc. they would be able to get a visa for the US easily.
Which is HARD and a very small pool. The executive could pardon those people one on one if they wished, as there are so few of them. Plus, if they are accepted by YCombinator, that's a very very strong case for a O1, just need to cross a couple other Ts.
Usually, "us taxpayer" status is only triggered with a proper visa (H1B, L1, O1, etc.) or permanent resident status (green card). I've never met any mention of tax status on parole.
To someone who has any non-trivial financial life outside the US (which I expect to be true for most people who would apply for this), a us taxpayer status is a horrible curse:
You might get a call from your bank/broker/insurer back home, telling you that they have to close all of your accounts except perhaps a checking and 1 simple saving (and perhaps those too). If you accrued any benefits in your pension plan, you have to report them each year _and_ plan to pay yearly and/or dearly (because it is a PFIC[0]) for any profit made in that account, even though you cannot touch it for 30 years.
Also, if you own another business outside the US -- e.g. you had a previous startup, or operated through some kind of personal LLC providing services -- the "us taxpayer" status means that you have to start filing financial reports to the IRS as if those business were operated in the US (that is, according to US financial standards, regardless of where it operated - and that might mean double taxation despite any treaties in place).
Sure, you can just ignore it, and if your startup fails, no one will come after you. But of course, you plan to succeed, so be sure to read on PFICs, FATCAs, FBARs, and consult a US accountant that specializes in international taxation.
As a general rule, the US tax system assumes any financial dealings you have outside the US are an attempt to evade taxes, and penalizes that (whether by forms or by actual tax). Once it is assumed you plan to make the US the center of your life (green card, H1B, L1), those assumptions, through the "us taxpayer" status, affect you. If it is assumed you won't stay (e.g. F1 visa for studying), they don't.
So, what taxpayer status will parole put you in?
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_foreign_investment_com...
There's already a visa deal for foreign investors, the EB-5 visa. You have to invest at least $1M ($0.5M if you're willing to invest in a bad area of the US) and create 10 jobs. That's why downtown Palo Alto has all those rug stores.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It appears, it has the same issue as H-1B visas. At least in my opinion. If your business fails and you invested 5 years of your life, you are kicked out of the country and have to move your family and everything back to wherever you came from. This big uncertainty of the future is, in my opinion, a huge negative of both H1B and this parole.
If you have a path to a green card then 5 years is a pretty solid amount of time for most places (not india/china). If they made it a separate quota for entrepreneurs then you could get most people a green card within that timeline.
Unfortunately wealthy foreigners are just going to abuse the hell out of this to drive up real estate prices.
The sponsors of the legislation did think hard about this obvious issue and believe they've addressed it (I talked to several people involved). They learned a lot from the EB-2 and EB-5 visa processes, which were sometimes abused by people who weren't really here to create viable businesses. Do you have more specifics about what you think they missed?
Do you have any specifics of what you think they didn't miss, given that you're the one who has supposedly talked to the sponsors of the legislation?
Legislation, like code, should be considered buggy until proven otherwise -- but with the complication that the people who write legislation aren't necessarily interested in fixing the bugs in it.
Since the amounts involved are pretty small (15% ownership of a company that has received at least $350K in funding) there seem to be no end of ways for to make it happen. Six Chinese (say) dudes each pay $100K to some guy who is a "qualified investor" in the US, who invests $350K in a Chinese restaurant and makes them each 1/6th owners. Bam, hello US residency for all involved.
If you move the population of Somalia to Connecticut, what do you think happens?
Anyone here aware of tax implications of the parole status? Usually, "us taxpayer" status is only triggered with a proper visa (H1B, L1, O1, etc.) or permanent resident status (green card). I've never met any mention of tax status on parole. To someone who has any non-trivial financial life outside the US (which I expect to be true for most people who would apply for this), a us taxpayer status is a horrible curse: Y…
Usually you just have the "substantial presence test" to determine if you are a us taxpayer. which is : If you spent >180 days in the US this year, you are considered resident for tax purposes. Otherwise you're non resident.
Visa like the Student visa give you a 5 year exemption, where during that time you only have to report money made in the US, it would be great if that entrepreneur parole status had the same rules.
I tried quickly looking for keywords (IRS, tax, substantial, resident, non-resident) in those 155 pages of proposal but couldn't find anything.
People writing comments to the DHS docket should discuss this.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you have a path to a green card then 5 years is a pretty solid amount of time for most places (not india/china). If they made it a separate quota for entrepreneurs then you could get most people a green card within that timeline.
Why is China and India the exception here? They keep getting mentioned as an exception in this discussion.
https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/law-and-policy/bul...
Anyone here aware of tax implications of the parole status? Usually, "us taxpayer" status is only triggered with a proper visa (H1B, L1, O1, etc.) or permanent resident status (green card). I've never met any mention of tax status on parole. To someone who has any non-trivial financial life outside the US (which I expect to be true for most people who would apply for this), a us taxpayer status is a horrible curse: Y…
You're right, that's an important thing to consider! Usually you just have the "substantial presence test" to determine if you are a us taxpayer. which is : If you spent >180 days in the US this year, you are considered resident for tax purposes. Otherwise you're non resident. Visa like the Student visa give you a 5 year exemption, where during that time you only have to report money made in the US, it would be great…
QualifyingDaysThisYear > 31 AND
QualifyingDaysThisYear + 1/3(LastYear) + 1/6(YearBefore) > 183
For further information: https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/subs...