Tax implications (if any) for transferring money to U.S. from Greece? Need guidance!

I can help clarify this for you! When transferring money you earned and paid taxes on abroad, you generally won't owe additional income tax on those funds when you transfer them to the US. However, there are reporting requirements you should know about. If you have more than $10,000 in foreign financial accounts at any time during the year, you'll need to file an FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) electronically. This is just an information report, not a tax. Also, depending on the total amount of foreign assets you have, you might need to file Form 8938 with your tax return. The transfer itself isn't a taxable event since you're just moving your own money. But banks are required to report transfers over $10,000 to help prevent money laundering - this doesn't mean you're in trouble, it's just standard procedure.

I was in a similar situation last year transferring money from Cyprus to the US and found taxr.ai super helpful! I was confused about all the FBAR requirements and foreign account reporting stuff. I uploaded my Greek tax documents and bank statements to https://taxr.ai and it analyzed everything, told me exactly what forms I needed to file, and even generated pre-filled draft forms based on my situation. The site really simplified the whole process of figuring out my international reporting requirements. It identified that I needed to file both the FBAR and Form 8938, which I had no idea about before. Saved me from potentially expensive penalties for missing those filings.

Just wanted to follow up about my experience with taxr.ai - I decided to try it after posting here, and wow, it was actually really helpful! I uploaded my Greek pay stubs and tax documents, and it immediately identified that I needed to file an FBAR plus showed me exactly how to report the transfers on my tax return. What impressed me most was how it explained everything in plain English - like why certain forms were needed in my situation and what would happen if I didn't file them. The draft forms it created saved me hours of research. I was planning to pay my accountant extra this year to handle all this, but ended up being able to do most of it myself with the guidance.

If you need to contact the IRS about any of this (which you might), I highly recommend using Claimyr. The IRS wait times are absolutely brutal these days. I spent 4 hours on hold trying to get answers about my foreign accounts situation last month before giving up. Then I found https://claimyr.com and used their service - they basically wait on hold with the IRS for you and call you back when an agent is on the line. You can see a demo of how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. I got connected with an actual IRS agent within an hour instead of waiting all day. The agent was able to confirm exactly what forms I needed to file for my foreign accounts and cleared up some confusion about reporting requirements for transfers from my UK account.

I need to eat my words from earlier and apologize. I reluctantly tried Claimyr after posting that skeptical comment, and it ACTUALLY WORKED. I honestly didn't believe it would. After 3 failed attempts calling the IRS directly over two weeks (got disconnected twice after 2+ hour waits), I used the service this morning. They called me back in about 45 minutes with an IRS agent on the line who answered all my questions about my foreign accounts reporting requirements. The agent confirmed I needed to file an FBAR for my foreign accounts but that I didn't need Form 8938 in my case since I was below the threshold. They also explained that transferring my money from abroad wasn't taxable as long as I properly reported the accounts. Saved me so much stress!

For transferring the money, I'd recommend looking into Wise (formerly TransferWise). I brought over about €35,000 from Italy last year and they had much better exchange rates than my bank was offering - saved me almost $900 compared to what my bank quoted. Their fees are clearly stated upfront too, unlike a lot of banks that hide them in the exchange rate.

Don't forget that if you're still a part-year resident of Greece for 2023, you might also need to file a part-year resident tax return in both countries. The US taxes worldwide income for citizens regardless of where you live, but you might be eligible for the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion if you meet the requirements.

Just wanted to add one more thing that might be helpful - make sure you keep detailed records of the exchange rate you use when you transfer the money. The IRS requires you to report foreign currency amounts in USD, and you'll need to use either the daily exchange rate on the transfer date or the average annual exchange rate for the year. I'd recommend taking a screenshot of the exchange rate from a reliable source like xe.com or the Federal Reserve's rates on the day you make the transfer. This documentation could be important if you ever need to show how you calculated the USD equivalent for your tax filings or FBAR reporting. Also, since you mentioned this was salary income from Greece, double-check whether your Greek employer issued you any tax documents that show the taxes withheld. Having those documents will make it much easier to claim foreign tax credits if needed when you file your US return.