The United States imposes an exit tax on certain citizens who relinquish citizenship and long-term residents who abandon their green cards. If you meet any one of three tests - net worth above $2 million, average annual net income tax above a threshold, or failure to certify compliance with US tax obligations for the prior five years - you are a "covered expatriate" subject to a mark-to-market deemed sale of all worldwide assets on the day before expatriation.
Two categories of individuals trigger the expatriation tax rules: (1) US citizens who relinquish citizenship at a US embassy or consulate, or who take any other expatriating act with the intent to relinquish citizenship; and (2) Long-term residents - green card holders who have held a green card for at least 8 of the last 15 calendar years - who abandon their green card by filing Form I-407 or whose status is revoked or abandoned under the immigration laws. IRC §877A(g)(2).
You are a covered expatriate if you meet any one of these three tests on the date of expatriation:
If you are a covered expatriate, IRC §877A(a) treats you as having sold all of your property at its fair market value on the day before the expatriation date. You recognize gain or loss on this deemed sale and pay US income tax on the resulting gain. Loss is recognized only to the extent it would be recognized in an actual sale - suspended losses, passive activity losses, and other limitation rules still apply.
Net gain from the deemed sale is excluded to the extent it does not exceed an annually adjusted exclusion amount. For 2026, the exclusion is $910,000 (per IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32). This exclusion applies to net gain across all assets in aggregate - it is not a per-asset exclusion. If total net gain from the deemed sale exceeds $910,000, the excess is taxable at ordinary income or capital gains rates depending on the character of the asset.
The mark-to-market rules do not apply to all assets. Special rules apply to:
Eligible deferred compensation: IRAs and certain other deferred compensation plans are not subject to the mark-to-market rule. Instead, the covered expatriate is treated as having received a distribution of the entire account balance on the day before expatriation, subject to 30% withholding. The covered expatriate can elect to waive treaty benefits and have the 30% withholding applied in lieu of the mark-to-market tax. IRC §877A(d).
Specified tax-deferred accounts: Health savings accounts (HSAs), Coverdell education savings accounts (ESAs), and Archer MSAs are treated as distributed on the day before expatriation. IRC §877A(e).
Interests in non-grantor trusts: If a covered expatriate is a beneficiary of a non-grantor trust, the trustee must withhold 30% of any taxable portion of a distribution made to the covered expatriate after the expatriation date. IRC §877A(f).
Every individual who expatriates - whether or not they are a covered expatriate - must file Form 8854 (Initial and Annual Expatriation Statement) with the IRS. Form 8854 is filed with the individual's final US income tax return for the year of expatriation. Non-covered expatriates file Form 8854 only in the year of expatriation. Covered expatriates file Form 8854 annually until all tax has been paid and reported.
A consequence of covered expatriate status that many advisors overlook: if a covered expatriate makes a gift or bequest to a US person after expatriation, the US person recipient may owe a special 40% "inheritance tax" under IRC §2801. This applies even if the gift would otherwise be exempt from gift tax (for example, gifts below the annual exclusion).
IRC §2801 was enacted to prevent covered expatriates from avoiding US estate and gift tax by making post-expatriation transfers. The tax is imposed on the recipient, not the expatriate. The rate equals the highest applicable estate/gift tax rate (currently 40%) on the covered gift or bequest. The first $18,000 (2024 annual exclusion) of gifts per year per recipient is excluded, but larger amounts are fully subject to the 40% rate.
A long-term resident is a lawful permanent resident who has held green card status in at least 8 of the last 15 taxable years ending with the year of abandonment. IRC §877A(g)(5). The 8-year count begins when the individual first becomes a lawful permanent resident, and a year counts even if the individual held green card status for only part of that year.
A green card holder who has not yet reached 8 years of LPR status is not subject to the exit tax rules and may abandon the green card without exit tax consequences. However, they must still file a final US tax return for the year of abandonment and report all US-source income earned before abandonment.
Several strategies exist to reduce the exit tax liability before expatriation occurs. The effectiveness of each depends heavily on the taxpayer's specific asset composition, timeline, and the nature of the assets triggering gain.
Asset restructuring: Transferring appreciated assets to a US-citizen spouse (tax-free under IRC §1041) before expatriation removes those assets from the mark-to-market calculation. Gifts to US-citizen spouses are generally unlimited for gift tax purposes. However, the transferred assets retain the covered expatriate's carryover basis - a hidden gain - and IRC §2801 does not apply to bona fide transfers to US-citizen spouses. Post-transfer dispositions by the US spouse will be subject to normal capital gains tax rules.
Charitable contributions: Contributions of appreciated property to qualified US charities before expatriation trigger a deduction and remove the property from the mark-to-market base. The contribution must be completed before the expatriation date.
Realization of losses: Selling loss assets before expatriation to offset gain from loss assets. The $910,000 exclusion is applied to net gain - so generating losses reduces the net gain subject to the exclusion and potential tax.