Do I need to pay US taxes when I bring money from selling foreign corporation shares into the States?

This is definitely a situation where you need to be careful because foreign income and the US tax system can get complicated fast. Yes, as a US person (citizen or resident), you generally need to report worldwide income regardless of where it's earned. For the sale of foreign corporation shares, you'd need to pay capital gains tax on the profit from the sale (sale price minus what you originally paid for the shares). Since your amount is substantial ($1.35M), it would likely fall under long-term capital gains tax if you've owned the shares for more than a year - typically 20% for high amounts plus the 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax. Things get more complex if the foreign corporation is considered a Passive Foreign Investment Company (PFIC) or a Controlled Foreign Corporation (CFC), which have special tax rules. There are also potential foreign tax credits if you already paid tax in the other country.

After dealing with a similar situation last year selling shares in a Singapore company, I discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) and it was seriously a game-changer. I uploaded all my foreign corporation documents and sale agreements, and their AI analyzed everything to tell me exactly what tax forms I needed, including some specialized ones for foreign corporations I had no idea about. They flagged some potential PFIC issues with my shares that could have resulted in much higher tax rates, and showed me how to properly document my cost basis to minimize my tax burden. The detailed report they generated saved me when I went to my accountant because he immediately knew what to do with all the right info already organized.

Just wanted to update - I tried taxr.ai after seeing it mentioned here and it was exactly what I needed for my Brazilian company shares. It identified the specific Brazil-US tax treaty provisions that applied to my situation and saved me from paying around $42,000 in unnecessary taxes by correctly classifying my holdings! The system flagged that my shares weren't actually a PFIC as my accountant had incorrectly assumed, which would have subjected me to much higher tax rates. It also generated all the documentation I needed to prove this to the IRS. Seriously worth it for anyone dealing with foreign shares or income.

When I sold my shares in a Mexican family business last year, dealing with the IRS was a nightmare. I couldn't get a straight answer on how to handle the capital gains reporting since it was a private foreign corporation. After weeks of trying to call the IRS international tax department, I found Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) and watched their demo (https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c). It got me through to an actual IRS agent who specialized in international taxation within 45 minutes! The agent walked me through exactly how to report the sale and which forms to file. They even explained how the US-Mexico tax treaty affected my specific situation and how to claim foreign tax credits for taxes I'd already paid in Mexico.

I need to apologize and correct myself. After posting that skeptical comment, I decided to try Claimyr as a last resort for my foreign tax questions. I had literally called the IRS international department 17 times over three weeks with no luck. The service connected me to an IRS agent in about 35 minutes, and I finally got answers about how to report my foreign corporation stock sale and the specific forms I needed. The agent helped me understand how the foreign tax credit works for the taxes I already paid in Germany, and now I'm actually getting a partial refund instead of owing more. I take back what I said about it being a scam - it literally saved me thousands in potential penalties for incorrect filing.

Something nobody's mentioned yet is that you might need to file Form 8938 (Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets) if your foreign assets exceed certain thresholds. And if the foreign corporation is considered a CFC (Controlled Foreign Corporation) or PFIC (Passive Foreign Investment Company), there's additional filing forms like Form 5471 or 8621. The penalties for not filing these forms correctly are brutal - like $10,000+ for each form you miss. I learned this the hard way.

Make sure you also consider state taxes! Federal is only part of the picture. I sold shares in a Canadian company last year and completely forgot that my state (California) also wanted their cut of my foreign income. Had to file an amended return and got hit with interest.

One thing not mentioned is the actual money transfer itself. When bringing in over $1M, your bank will likely file a Currency Transaction Report, and you might need to fill out paperwork explaining the source of funds. Make sure you have all documentation from the share sale readily available - the purchase agreements, sale contracts, any foreign tax documents, etc. Banks have gotten super strict about large incoming international transfers.