# Tranferring savings from US to Italy



## Maxragni (Mar 16, 2015)

Moving to Italy from the US. Need to know how to handle savings $. Do I deposit my monies in an Italian bank? Will it be taxed? Is it Better to keep it in an a
US bank and what problems would I encounter with that?


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

As with many things, the answer is "it depends." Mostly on what you plan on doing with the money in your savings accounts.

If you'll need ready access to the funds, you'll probably want to open up a bank account in Italy and then transfer funds from your US bank to your Italian bank. It's generally a good idea to maintain a US bank account - at least for a while - to use for things like: cash when you're back for a visit ; making purchases back in the States (via mail order or Internet) ; to have available if you should receive payments from the US, etc.

Italian banks appear to withhold taxes on any interest paid on your Italian bank account, so if that is your only source of income in Italy, you may not need to file a tax return. However, you will still have to report your foreign accounts to the US (FinCEN114) and report your interest from both US and Italian accounts on your US tax forms.

As far as transfers goes, you may want to look into using an FX company rather than doing a bank transfer, as you generally get a better exchange rate and can often avoid transfer fees altogether.
Cheers,
Bev


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## accbgb (Sep 23, 2009)

I think it would be helpful to know - in broad terms if you wish - the amount of money we are talking about here. $10,000? $50,000? $250,000?

Also, the likelihood that you will ever return to the US. 0%? 25%?

To visit? Return permanently?


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