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I’m Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

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Re: I’m Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#311

Post by ictoan »

sethx wrote: post #300

I am a US citizen, and was born abroad, and live in the EU. I've never lived in the US, nor worked there for a single day of my life. As such, I've never filed income in the states. I never got asked to do so, either. Due to IRS regulation i currently am in tax noncompliance and on the potential hook for what i guess something like 200K in penalties. I work in IT and my dream is to work in the bay area eventually, bu…

Have you looked into Foreign Earned Income Exclusion?

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/fore...

"If you are a U.S. citizen or a resident alien of the United States and you live abroad, you are taxed on your worldwide income. However, you may qualify to exclude from income up to an amount of your foreign earnings that is adjusted annually for inflation ($92,900 for 2011, $95,100 for 2012, $97,600 for 2013, $99,200 for 2014 and $100,800 for 2015). In addition, you can exclude or deduct certain foreign housing amounts."

Re: I’m Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#312

Post by TGreensall »

Hi Peter, This is fantastic you are doing this, thanks a lot!

I came to america 5years ago from the U.K. on an F-1 visa, graduated and now working for a small company (4 full time employees) on an OPT in Minnesota. My company told me when I joined sponsoring me wouldn't be a problem, but I think they underestimated it.

.Could you advice on the total possible cost (including lawyer fees etc) .How early we should reach out to a lawyer .Any material you can recommend I show my employer to make sure they understand the situation.

Once again, thanks a lot!

Re: I’m Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#313

Post by hennsen »

As long as stepping into a us border puts me at risk of „friendly“ immigration officers forcing me to hand out any cryprographic keys(ssh,gpg) and passwords to my harddisks and any online accounts, without any need to name me concrete reason, or worse, being detained and not being allowed legal defense of any kind, again without telling me any reason whatsoever, not even mentioning any kind of due process, well, as long as my fate is dependent solely on the goodwill of the friendly officers that such a thing won’t happen, i guess i dont need further advice on how to enter this otherwise beautiful country with a lot of grwat people i met in previous travels...

Re: I’m Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#314

Post by michaeloblak »

sudhirj wrote: post #47

Is there an immigration path for people who incorporate in the US (LegalZoom Delaware LLC / Stripe Atlas C Corp) and do reasonably well, pay taxes, etc? If yes, what would be the route and what would be a reasonable bar?

Did anyone go this path? With success, or not.

Is there any other path for an immigrant with a company incorporated in the US - paying taxes, books are right, etc.

Re: I’m Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#315

Post by yhn4433 »

sethx wrote: post #300

I am a US citizen, and was born abroad, and live in the EU. I've never lived in the US, nor worked there for a single day of my life. As such, I've never filed income in the states. I never got asked to do so, either. Due to IRS regulation i currently am in tax noncompliance and on the potential hook for what i guess something like 200K in penalties. I work in IT and my dream is to work in the bay area eventually, bu…

If you are making 100k+ a year, why aren't you willing to cough up 2k to get some sound tax advice and realize your "dream?" You may be covered by a tax treaty and owe nothing. It's just paperwork.

Re: I’m Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#316

Post by sethx »

yhn4433 wrote: post #315
sethx wrote: post #300

I am a US citizen, and was born abroad, and live in the EU. I've never lived in the US, nor worked there for a single day of my life. As such, I've never filed income in the states. I never got asked to do so, either. Due to IRS regulation i currently am in tax noncompliance and on the potential hook for what i guess something like 200K in penalties. I work in IT and my dream is to work in the bay area eventually, bu…

If you are making 100k+ a year, why aren't you willing to cough up 2k to get some sound tax advice and realize your "dream?" You may be covered by a tax treaty and owe nothing. It's just paperwork.

A lifetime of paperwork. Thanks, but no thanks.

Re: I’m Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#317

Post by sethx »

JohnStrange wrote: post #306
sethx wrote: post #300

I am a US citizen, and was born abroad, and live in the EU. I've never lived in the US, nor worked there for a single day of my life. As such, I've never filed income in the states. I never got asked to do so, either. Due to IRS regulation i currently am in tax noncompliance and on the potential hook for what i guess something like 200K in penalties. I work in IT and my dream is to work in the bay area eventually, bu…

Are you sure about your noncompliance status? IANAL, but aren't there treaties between the US and all EU countries that avoid any double taxation? You have to pay income tax wherever you live most of the time and conduct your business. You never have to pay income tax twice, in two countries. Unless you obtain your income mainly in the US, you should be exempt from paying US taxes. This is independent of citizenship.…

The noncompliance is not about taxation, its about not reporting income. Every year carries a penalty of 10k. All of this can be reset to 0 by bringing myself into compliance and then it will be pardoned, but from that point on i must comply every year. For now i have a "void all your debt card" which i'd rather keep in my sleeve until i really need it.
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