# Surrendering Green Card Tax Implications



## zymorian

I am a US green card holder living in Canada and plans to abandon my green card soon. However, I understand that there may be an expatriation tax law on long term residents (LTR) defined by IRS as follow:

“You are an LTR if you were a lawful permanent resident of the United States in at least 8 of the last 15 tax years ending with the year your status as an LTR ends. In determining if you meet the 8-year requirement, do not count any year that you were treated as a resident of a foreign country under a tax treaty and did not waive treaty benefits applicable to residents of the country.”

I entered the US and got my green card on January 2005 and moved to Canada on May 2010. As a Canadian work permit holder, I filed Canadian taxes and with the IRS on my Canadian income. I also visited US on a number of occasions for vacation only.

Considering that Canada has a tax treaty with the US, am I still a Long Term Resident based on the last sentence of the LTR definition above? 

I suspect that I’ve not met the 8 year rule above but would like to receive confirmation.

Many thanks.


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## Bevdeforges

If I were you, I would hand over my green card asap and be done with it. Immigration won't consider you a permanent resident any more - the sister in law of a friend of mine has just found this out the hard way, despite having filed tax returns all this time. The IRS sees things differently, but turning in your green card is the first step in the process of bowing out of that system.
Cheers,
Bev


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