# Questions about buying/building a home in PI



## GaryFromIL (Mar 24, 2015)

My wife and I are planning on a retirement in the PI. Luz is a Philippine citizen so she is allowed to own property. In a few years we plan on selling our home here in America and using that money to either build or buy a home. 
I realize that I am still a few years out but I was wondering how the money can be moved to PI without running afoul of the IRS or other government agency.


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## northwoods (Nov 14, 2013)

*building buying ..*



GaryFromIL said:


> My wife and I are planning on a retirement in the PI. Luz is a Philippine citizen so she is allowed to own property. In a few years we plan on selling our home here in America and using that money to either build or buy a home.
> I realize that I am still a few years out but I was wondering how the money can be moved to PI without running afoul of the IRS or other government agency.


what area ,,,have you chosen to live in ?


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## Rogdas (Apr 9, 2015)

Gary where in illinois do you presently live? I presently live in iillinois and just finished building a house in sorsogon city philippines. if you would like you can message me and maybe i could help you out.


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## 197649 (Jan 1, 2013)

GaryFromIL said:


> My wife and I are planning on a retirement in the PI. Luz is a Philippine citizen so she is allowed to own property. In a few years we plan on selling our home here in America and using that money to either build or buy a home.
> I realize that I am still a few years out but I was wondering how the money can be moved to PI without running afoul of the IRS or other government agency.


Move no more than 9999.00at a time as your bank must report 10k or more. You have to report 10k or more to the IRS example I had to report as I had over 10k in my bank.
What I did was I borrowed from a bank here. Then paid on the loan but kept the payments under 10k. Example is sell your place there for 50k. Send 9 k a week to pay on the loan. This way you avoid both the IRS rules


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## Rogdas (Apr 9, 2015)

c_acton98 has a good point but if you build who is going to oversee the work? if it is a family member you will be able to send to there bank account a little at a time during the construction. but you better have good trust with them. when we built are house my wife's sister was in charge and my wife put the fear of god to her lol... and a lot of skyping..


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## lefties43332 (Oct 21, 2012)

Rogdas said:


> c_acton98 has a good point but if you build who is going to oversee the work? if it is a family member you will be able to send to there bank account a little at a time during the construction. but you better have good trust with them. when we built are house my wife's sister was in charge and my wife put the fear of god to her lol... and a lot of skyping..


Fear of god means little to them when money is involved(most)


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## GaryFromIL (Mar 24, 2015)

c_acton98 said:


> Move no more than 9999.00at a time as your bank must report 10k or more. You have to report 10k or more to the IRS example I had to report as I had over 10k in my bank.
> What I did was I borrowed from a bank here. Then paid on the loan but kept the payments under 10k. Example is sell your place there for 50k. Send 9 k a week to pay on the loan. This way you avoid both the IRS rules


I don't really want to avoid the IRS rules because I have heard of examples where people did this sort of thing and the IRS charged them with trying to evade the reporting rules and took their money anyway. 
I have nothing to hide and I plan on paying all due taxes on all my money. I was wanting to know what the procedure for paying for a house in full with money gained from the sale of my house here in America. 
Does reporting the money incur additional taxes or is it just another intrusive form that must be filled out?


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## Rogdas (Apr 9, 2015)

lefties43332 said:


> Fear of god means little to them when money is involved(most)


lefties I have to agree this is true when dealing with most. but I would hope family would be willing to do things right especially if it is going to benefit them also. 
as far as my dealings with my wife and her family after being married 30 years and being there many of times to know my wife's family I new we where in good hands with my wife's sister handeling the construction of the house.


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## UltraFJ40 (May 20, 2014)

My wife's sister is just now finishing up the renovation on another of my wife's houses. She is very frugal. In fact she always has shown the ability to manage money with the best of them. She is boots on the ground for my wife and pays for the material and labor as they are needed.

So far and the project is nearing it's end, my wife has zero complaints. This situation is very likely to be somewhat uncommon but definitely not out of the question. Just be aware that problems are more likely to happen than not.


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## Rogdas (Apr 9, 2015)

UltraFJ40 said:


> My wife's sister is just now finishing up the renovation on another of my wife's houses. She is very frugal. In fact she always has shown the ability to manage money with the best of them. She is boots on the ground for my wife and pays for the material and labor as they are needed.
> 
> So far and the project is nearing it's end, my wife has zero complaints. This situation is very likely to be somewhat uncommon but definitely not out of the question. Just be aware that problems are more likely to happen than not.


Ultrafj40 100% true that sounds exactly like my wife's sister without her none of what we've done could have happened. but because of her we have our house built. a boarding house that she manages with a iron fist i might add lol.. and also a 2 hector rice field that her and her husband plant harvest and take care of there self. no tenant on our field to do the work because all they would do is lie and steel from us.
and she also did all the purchasing of material for the house and paid for labor as work was done...


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## Rogdas (Apr 9, 2015)

GaryFromIL said:


> I don't really want to avoid the IRS rules because I have heard of examples where people did this sort of thing and the IRS charged them with trying to evade the reporting rules and took their money anyway.
> I have nothing to hide and I plan on paying all due taxes on all my money. I was wanting to know what the procedure for paying for a house in full with money gained from the sale of my house here in America.
> Does reporting the money incur additional taxes or is it just another intrusive form that must be filled out?


I'm sure there is no way to avoid the irs when you sell your house anyway with all the paperwork involved. earnings on the house sell will be reported to the irs


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## GaryFromIL (Mar 24, 2015)

Rogdas said:


> I'm sure there is no way to avoid the irs when you sell your house anyway with all the paperwork involved. earnings on the house sell will be reported to the irs


As I said before, I have nothing to hide since I will have already paid the capital gains tax on that money. The rest of my money will be in the form of an IRA and a 401K. That money will be for living expenses and I can just use my debit card. 
I specifically want to know the steps involved moving the proceeds from the sale of my US house to PI so I can pay for a new house.


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## Rogdas (Apr 9, 2015)

GaryFromIL said:


> As I said before, I have nothing to hide since I will have already paid the capital gains tax on that money. The rest of my money will be in the form of an IRA and a 401K. That money will be for living expenses and I can just use my debit card.
> I specifically want to know the steps involved moving the proceeds from the sale of my US house to PI so I can pay for a new house.


Gary i'm not applying that your trying to hide things from the irs.. 
as far as transferring your money to the PI why don't you open up a BDO dollar account I know this can be done in chicago at uni-mart because my wife and I have one. and then once your ready to purchase or build in the PI just do a bank to bank transfer....BDO banks our all over the philippines.


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## GaryFromIL (Mar 24, 2015)

Rogdas said:


> Gary i'm not applying that your trying to hide things from the irs..
> as far as transferring your money to the PI why don't you open up a BDO dollar account I know this can be done in chicago at uni-mart because my wife and I have one. and then once your ready to purchase or build in the PI just do a bank to bank transfer....BDO banks our all over the philippines.


I know no one was insinuating anything less than legal  . 
I was only wondering about the forms, if any and any reporting to the IRS that needs to be done. I am worried about having my assets taken from me if I don't do all the correct steps for moving $70,000 to PI. I know that raises flags these days. I am sure it can be done correctly so there is no questions. 
Since I will be living in PI for the rest of my life I also want everything to be done correctly there also. I know the home and land will need to be only in my wife's name but I want the paper trail to be correct in PI as well.


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## Rogdas (Apr 9, 2015)

GaryFromIL said:


> I know no one was insinuating anything less than legal  .
> I was only wondering about the forms, if any and any reporting to the IRS that needs to be done. I am worried about having my assets taken from me if I don't do all the correct steps for moving $70,000 to PI. I know that raises flags these days. I am sure it can be done correctly so there is no questions.
> Since I will be living in PI for the rest of my life I also want everything to be done correctly there also. I know the home and land will need to be only in my wife's name but I want the paper trail to be correct in PI as well.


I don't see where there should be any problems because your just transferring it from your bank account here to your bank account there. but then again I never moved that much between bank accounts at one time.


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## 197649 (Jan 1, 2013)

As stated. The IRS RULES are transfer 10k you report it period. They don't take anything. Have more than Xxx in a foreign bank you must report it. Those are the rules. Xxx is the amount you must file FBAR. Search Google and you will see what it is. It sometimes changes.
Here is an example of what happened to me this year. My VA disability goes to China Bank. I received a retro pay of 90k. VA disability is NOT taxable. But the cash in the bank is reportable. I accidentally transfered 10k to my bank this year. I filed a FBAR and the 10k was reported. I filed my taxes like a good citizen would. My return is 500$. The interest I earned in the foreign bank was reported. The taxes I paid on my house here was reported.


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## pakawala (Sep 10, 2014)

GaryFromIL said:


> I was wondering how the money can be moved to PI without running afoul of the IRS or other government agency.


Citibank has a Global transfer program to the Philippines. I'm certain that they will have answers to all your concerns. 

https://online.citibank.com/US/JRS/pands/detail.do?ID=InterCiti


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## HondaGuy (Aug 6, 2012)

In the US, moving amounts of money under $10k specifically for avoiding having to report it is actually a crime called Structuring: Structuring - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Since the intended use of the money is to buy a house and lot, if it were me I personally would just go ahead and wire the $70k to my account in the Philippines. I would also make sure to have some documentation showing what is being purchased, who the seller is, etc, in the unlikely event that the IRS comes calling asking about the money.

Yes, you will need to do an FBAR/FinCen Form 114 next year to report that your Foreign Bank account had more than $10k in it, but the form is relatively painless (I did one for FY2013 - online) and the penalties for not filing it are just not worth taking the chance over.


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## GaryFromIL (Mar 24, 2015)

Very good. That is what I was wanting to know! Thanks guys.


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