The $60K Estate Tax Trap for Non-US Citizens Holding US Assets

The $60K Estate Tax Trap for Non-US Citizens Holding US Assets

From Passport To Wealth™ by Passport To Wealth™

May 5, 2026 · 29 min · Season 3 · Episode 17

About this episode

This episode discusses the estate tax implications for non-US citizens holding US assets and the compliance challenges they face.

Hui-chin Chen, CFP® , is the managing partner of Jade & Cowry and has spent her career working with globally mobile families across Asia-Pacific; including her own, as the spouse of a US diplomat who has lived across multiple countries and tax systems. She is one of a small number of practitioners who understands both the technical US tax obligations that reach across borders and the cultural dynamics that make compliance so difficult to achieve. This episode covers the compliance traps that consistently catch non-US citizens, US-connected individuals, and globally mobile families who never anticipated owing anything to the IRS. In this episode Accidental Americans and the US tax net - how people become subject to US taxation through birth, the substantial presence test, green card status, or a US spouse, without ever identifying as American Planned citizenship and generational wealth in Asia - how affluent Asian families deliberately acquire US citizenship for the next generation and why, without comprehensive cross-border planning from the beginning, that decision creates compounding reporting obligations for decades The $60,000 US estate tax threshold for non-citizens…

People in this episode

Guest: Hui-chin Chen

Topics covered

  • estate tax
  • non-US citizens
  • US taxation
  • cross-border planning
  • globally mobile families
  • compliance traps

Keywords

  • estate tax trap
  • non-US citizens
  • US assets
  • compliance
  • global families
  • IRS obligations
  • tax planning

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Jade & Cowry

Places: US, Asia-Pacific, Asia, IRS

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