# Claim to US Citizenship - Tax Implications



## mixed85 (Nov 9, 2011)

Hello All,

I'm a new member to the board and have been reading several threads for the past many hours. I can't seem to find answers to my situation. 

Basically here is the background info:

I have just recently processed an application for US citizenship (US Passport), as i have discovered recently I'm entitled to US citizenship due to my American citizen parent meeting the requirements. My parents did not register my birth with the US embassy. When my passport arrives, i will officially be an American citizen. Now i had absolutely no idea about the tax obligations required of US citizens living abroad, since i technically on paper just became a US citizen and had no idea i had a claim to US citizenship before.. am i required to backfile any taxes? 

If i'm required to do so, what costs am i looking at for hiring a competent cross-border tax professional to prepare these returns? I hope my case is straight-forward as i only have one savings account and a TFSA account. 

Also, will there be any issues crossing the US border at this time? 

Thank you for all your responses, i really appreciate it.


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## The_Animal (Nov 7, 2011)

mixed85 said:


> Hello All,
> 
> I'm a new member to the board and have been reading several threads for the past many hours. I can't seem to find answers to my situation.
> 
> ...


Simply put. You will be responsible for paying taxes, and filing a 1040 (this is a must do every year) and FBAR declaration (if your foreign (anything outside of the US is considered foreign) bank accounts have a cumulative (added up) balance over $10,000). 

I would however talk to the cross-border tax professional and state that you have "birthright citizenship". Whether your tax obligations predate your actively taking out citizenship with a passport or not is up in the air right now. I would hazard a guess that it does predate...and that you are not in compliance with IRS. But it is best to confirm that with a tax professional. Do not step wrong with the IRS. Other people may call it fear-mongering: I call it "Cover your @**!" which is sound advice when dealing with the IRS.


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