Tax Planning Before Leaving the U.S.
미국 출국 전 사전 세금 계획 — 비거주자 자본이득의 숨은 183일 규정 2026

Overview — Departure Is a Tax Event, Not Just a Move 출국은 단순한 이동이 아닌 세금 사건

Leaving the U.S. does not automatically end U.S. tax obligations — what happens depends entirely on citizenship/immigration status, and pre-departure planning differs meaningfully by status. The biggest mistake is treating "moving to Korea" as a single, uniform event rather than a status-specific process with different formal steps for citizens, green card holders, and others.

Status Determines the Entire Plan 신분이 전체 계획을 결정

Exit Tax — LTR Status Plus a Covered Expatriate Test 출국세 — LTR 지위 + Covered Expatriate 테스트 둘 다 필요

Exit tax under IRC §877A applies only to (a) U.S. citizens who formally renounce, or (b) green card holders who are Long-Term Residents (held the green card in at least 8 of the last 15 tax years) AND abandon the green card. Even then, the exit tax itself applies only if the person also meets at least one of three covered expatriate tests.

U.S. Stock Gains as a Nonresident — The Hidden 183-Day Rule 비거주자의 미국주식 양도소득 — 숨겨진 183일 규정

It is generally true that nonresident aliens are not taxed on capital gains from U.S. stocks, bonds, and mutual funds — this is one of the most favorable features of the U.S. tax code for foreign investors. But this general rule has a specific, easily-overlooked exception under IRC §871(a)(2): if the nonresident alien is physically present in the U.S. for 183 days or more during the tax year, U.S.-source capital gains become taxable at a flat 30% rate (or lower treaty rate) — even though the person remains a nonresident alien for all other purposes.

PFIC and Form 5471 Cleanup Before Departure 출국 전 PFIC 및 Form 5471 정리

• Korean ETFs, mutual funds, and wrap accounts held at the time of expatriation may trigger immediate recognition issues under the exit tax mark-to-market regime if the person is a covered expatriate — selling or restructuring before departure avoids this layered complexity.
• Korean corporation ownership (Form 5471): after a clean termination of U.S. person status, Form 5471 is no longer required going forward — but the exit tax (if applicable) treats the corporation's stock as deemed sold at fair market value the day before expatriation, potentially generating tax on unrealized appreciation including a CFC's accumulated retained earnings.
• The check-the-box election remains relevant even pre-departure — if the Korean entity was disregarded rather than treated as a corporation, the deemed-sale exit tax analysis applies differently than for CFC stock.

Net Worth Reduction Strategies — Realistic Limits 순자산 감소 전략 — 현실적인 한계

U.S. Retirement Account Planning 미국 은퇴계좌 사전 계획

• Roth conversions before leaving: converting traditional IRA/401(k) balances to Roth while still a U.S. resident locks in current U.S. tax rates on the conversion — potentially more favorable than facing future distributions taxed as a nonresident, depending on treaty withholding rates that would otherwise apply.
• IRA/401(k) distribution timing: distributions taken as a nonresident are generally subject to 30% withholding (or lower treaty rate) — the U.S.–Korea treaty's pension provisions should be checked for the specific applicable rate before assuming the standard 30%.
• These decisions should be modeled against Korean tax treatment of the same distributions or conversions, since Korea will tax worldwide income once Korean residency is re-established (Section 8).

Korean Tax Residency Re-Establishment 한국 세법상 거주자 재취득

• Moving back to Korea generally re-establishes Korean tax residency(183-day presence, domicile, or occupation-based tests under Korean law) — triggering Korean worldwide income taxation going forward.
• Korea taxes foreign gifts/inheritances received by Korean residents above certain thresholds, and requires reporting of foreign financial accounts exceeding KRW 50,000,000 (해외금융계좌 신고).
• U.S.-source income retained after the move(U.S. rental property, U.S. retirement distributions, U.S. brokerage accounts not liquidated) becomes part of Korean worldwide income reporting, with the U.S.–Korea treaty and Korean foreign tax credit rules addressing any double taxation.

9-Step Pre-Departure Checklist 9단계 사전 출국 체크리스트

• 1 Confirm current status: citizen, green card holder, or neither — and your current LTR year-count if a green card holder
• 2 If a green card holder, decide whether to keep or formally abandon the green card (Form I-407), modeling the covered expatriate tests either way
• 3 If approaching or past LTR status, model all three covered expatriate tests before taking any formal action
• 4 Sell or restructure Korean ETFs/mutual funds (PFICs) before departure to simplify the exit tax computation
• 5 Review Korean corporation ownership — check-the-box election status and the deemed-sale exit tax treatment if applicable
• 6 If selling appreciated U.S. assets as a planned nonresident, time the sale and confirm your U.S. presence will stay under 183 days that year (Section 4)
• 7 Model Roth conversions and retirement account distribution timing against both U.S. and Korean tax treatment
• 8 Prepare final-year FBAR, FATCA, Form 8938, and any other information returns for the last year of U.S. person status
• 9 File the appropriate termination documentation: dual-status return, Form 8854 (if LTR or citizen renouncing), or residency termination statement

5 Fully Computed Examples 실제 계산 사례 5개

Common Mistakes 자주 발생하는 오류

• 1 Assuming nonresident aliens never pay U.S. capital gains tax. The 183-day rule under IRC §871(a)(2) — a different test from the SPT — taxes U.S.-source capital gains at 30% for any year a nonresident alien is physically present in the U.S. for 183+ days, regardless of general nonresident status.
• 2 Confusing the SPT's weighted 183-day formula with the capital gains rule's simple current-year day count. These are entirely separate tests under different IRC provisions, answering different questions (residency status vs. taxability of a specific income item).
• 3 Treating "reduce net worth below $2M" as a simple, costless checklist item. Gifting or selling assets to reduce net worth before expatriation has its own tax consequences (gift tax exposure, realized capital gains) that must be modeled against the exit tax being avoided.
• 4 Assuming LTR status (8+ years) automatically means exit tax is owed. The exit tax requires meeting at least one of the three covered expatriate tests in addition to LTR status — many LTRs owe no exit tax at all.
• 5 Not filing Form I-407 when actually intending to abandon a green card. Without formal abandonment, U.S. tax residency and all associated filing obligations continue indefinitely.
• 6 Forgetting that U.S. citizens have no path to ending tax obligations short of formal renunciation. No degree of Korean integration or absence duration changes a citizen's worldwide tax obligations.
• 7 Not modeling U.S. retirement account decisions against Korean tax treatment. A Roth conversion or distribution timing decision that looks optimal from the U.S. side alone may interact unfavorably with Korean worldwide income taxation once Korean residency is re-established.
• 8 Not preparing for Korean tax residency re-establishment as part of the same planning exercise. Departure planning and Korean re-entry planning should be coordinated, not treated as sequential, unrelated events.

Hanmi CPA Insight