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Give Birth in HK vs USA?

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  1. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by jgl:
    Do you have kids?

    The US tax system, especially for how it affects overseas citizens, is so completely fucked that yeah, is one factor that we considered. Not in a huge amount of detail, but it wasn't trivial.

    Even if you don't hit the threshold for paying tax whilst overseas, you're still supposed to file an annual returns. And if you don't you can be opening yourself up for a world of hurt further down the line.
    Agree but this doesn't really make sense in OPs case. The family lives in the US and plans to continue to do so for the next 10 years. The husband will become a US citizen meaning he will be subject to tax. The wife and child if they stay for 10 years would likely get green cards if not citizenship making them subject to it as well.

    The only way to really avoid overseas taxation as a family is to leave the US in the next few years and not get citizenship or permanent residency. Focusing on the unborn child's taxes is odd when the parents will be on the hook for it much sooner!
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  2. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by merchantms:
    Agree but this doesn't really make sense in OPs case. The family lives in the US and plans to continue to do so for the next 10 years. The husband will become a US citizen meaning he will be subject to tax. The wife and child if they stay for 10 years would likely get green cards if not citizenship making them subject to it as well.

    The only way to really avoid overseas taxation as a family is to leave the US in the next few years and not get citizenship or permanent residency. Focusing on the unborn child's taxes is odd when the parents will be on the hook for it much sooner!
    I wasn't referring specifically to the OP's case as it seems quite complex, rather that the attitude that the tax complexities associated with American citizenship or holding a green card are a trivial matter unworthy of consideration.

    We've had to think about this, and we went with the "more options are better" route, but I still have some reservations about it.
    Last edited by jgl; 20-07-2017 at 11:39 AM. Reason: typoes
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  3. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by jgl:
    I wasn't referring specifically to the OP's case as it seems quite complex, rather that the attitude that the tax complexities associated with American citizenship or holding a green card are a trivial matter unworthy of consideration.
    We went with the same. As a parent I'm happy to help my child figure out how to renounce citizenship at 18 if that's their choice. On the other hand it seems like a crazy option to throw away given
    A) child might settle in the US so irrelevant
    B) child might not earn more than USD100K a year as most people don't
    C) child might become insanely wealthy in which case will have the resources to handle this themselves!
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  4. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by merchantms:
    We went with the same. As a parent I'm happy to help my child figure out how to renounce citizenship at 18 if that's their choice. On the other hand it seems like a crazy option to throw away given
    A) child might settle in the US so irrelevant
    B) child might not earn more than USD100K a year as most people don't
    C) child might become insanely wealthy in which case will have the resources to handle this themselves!
    Yeah, the option is a good one which is why we chose it. But we still had to think about it.

    You've left out a couple of considerations involved with taking it:

    1. Your children will have to file taxes every year regardless of income, and if they don't get can get royally screwed over by the IRS.

    2. If they renounce, I would expect that opens them up to all sorts of additional complexity- they still have to file, the IRS has power over them for something like 5 years afterwards, will they face additional scrutiny or barriers if they ever try to enter the US? I know one person who renounced his green card because he never intended to live there again, and was permanently banned from entering the country even as a tourist. Kinda sucks if you can't even use the country as part of an international flight route.

    Like I said, we chose the same option, but knowingly signed them up to annoying paperwork probably for the rest of their lives.
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  5. #15

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    Personally I don't see any benefit of getting the US citizenship if you do have the UK option.

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  6. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by cookie09:
    Personally I don't see any benefit of getting the US citizenship if you do have the UK option.
    Except the fact that they live in the US and plan to for another decade? I'm not sure it makes any sense to fly to HK to give birth in this situation.
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  7. #17

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    I am talking about citizenship not where to give birth. I know they are linked, but the argument should be practical logistics in this case and not citizenship


  8. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by cookie09:
    I am talking about citizenship not where to give birth. I know they are linked, but the argument should be practical logistics in this case and not citizenship
    All children born in the US are automatically US citizens. Therefore if they stay and give birth in the US then that is the choice made.

  9. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by cookie09:
    I am talking about citizenship not where to give birth. I know they are linked, but the argument should be practical logistics in this case and not citizenship
    Ability to work without restriction in the US might be beneficial to many. Just a thought..
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  10. #20

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    If you are not sure if your family will be in the US on a permanent basis, just give birth abroad and get green card for your baby to leave the options open. Your baby can always move from green card to citizen but not vice versa. As I said earlier, the main difference is that it is easier to renounce green card than citizenship. Also I suspect it is also easier to reapply for green card if one has renounced this, instead of having renounced US citizenship.

    Also, do you own meaningful assets outside the US? E.g. if you own a HK$20m property in HK and want to give this to your child in the future, he would be subject to a big inheritance tax if he is a US citizen / green card holder.