Moving back to your home country: your home and your lease

Moving back to your home country is a move with two clocks. One is the home you leave behind: the notice to your landlord, the deposit, or the house you own. The other is the IRS’s, which treats someone who stops being a resident for tax purposes differently. This guide brings together what Texas and Florida law and the IRS’s official pages say, in the order they will come up, and tells you where to get free help at each step. It is not advice for your case: it is the map so you know what to ask and whom.

Minimum notice in Florida to end a month-to-month tenancy

30 days³

Notice in Texas for a month-to-month tenancy, unless the signed lease sets another period

1 month¹

FIRPTA withholding on the sale amount when the seller is a foreign person

15%¹⁰

Tax on the gross rent of your home rented out as a nonresident, if you do not make the election

30%¹⁶

Your departure, in order

Almost everything that follows has a date. Some things happen months ahead (deciding what happens to your home, applying for the ITIN); others, the week of the flight. This is the list in the order things come due.

Moving back to your home country, step by step

1. 1. Read your lease and count the notice days

   Before you buy the ticket

   In Florida, a month-to-month tenancy requires at least 30 days' notice before the end of the monthly period; in Texas, one month, unless the signed lease sets another period.¹³

2. 2. If you own, decide what happens to the home

   Two or three months before

   Keeping it, renting it out or selling it changes your taxes and your homestead exemption.⁸ A HUD-approved housing counselor explains the options, often for free.²⁴

3. 3. Apply for the ITIN if you have no Social Security number

   Before you sell or rent it out

   You will need it for the withholding certificate and for Form 1040-NR. From overseas, the answer takes 9 to 11 weeks.²¹

4. 4. If you sell, apply for the withholding certificate before closing

   When you sign the sales contract

   The IRS generally responds within 90 days; notify the buyer in writing no later than the day before closing.¹⁴

5. 5. If you rent out your home, give Form W-8ECI

   Before the first rent payment

   Without the 871(d) election, whoever pays you withholds 30% of gross rent.¹⁶¹⁷ With Form W-8ECI, you report net income every year on Form 1040-NR.¹⁶

6. 6. Leave your new address with the landlord in writing

   The day you hand in the keys

   In Texas, the landlord does not have to return the deposit until receiving it;² in Florida, the claim notice goes by certified mail to your last known address (or by email, if you both signed the electronic-notices addendum⁷).⁶

7. 7. Request the departure permit from the IRS

   Between 30 and 14 days before the flight

   Most aliens must obtain it with Form 1040-C or Form 2063, by appointment at the local IRS office.²⁰

8. 8. File for the year you leave

   The next tax season

   If you stopped being a resident during the year, you file Form 1040-NR as a dual-status return.¹⁹

If your move is within the United States, the dated checklist for moving to another state is the guide for you. To know how much money you arrive with, build your family budget with the deposit, the sale or the rent already counted.

Ending your lease: what Texas and Florida say

Your leaseleaseA lease, or rental agreement, is the contract in which the owner or landlord gives you the right to live in and use a property for a set period of time in exchange for payment, usually rent. While the lease lasts you have possession, but the landlord still owns the property. The lease says how much you pay and when, who handles maintenance and how the agreement can end. Your rights as a tenant are usually spelled out in the lease and in your state and local laws. Before complaining to the landlord, it helps to read the lease and make sure you are also following the rules you agreed to.See the full definitionClose comes first. If it has a fixed term (12 months, for example), leaving early means breaking it, and your state’s law says what the landlord can charge you. If you rent month to month (a month-to-month tenancymonth-to-month tenancyA month-to-month tenancy is a rental arrangement with no end date: it continues month after month as long as you pay the rent, until you or the landlord give notice to end it. It can be in writing, but it can also start without a contract, for example if you stay after your lease ends and the landlord accepts your payment. To end it, you must give the notice your state's law requires. In New York, for example, the notice alone does not let the landlord remove you: if you do not leave, the landlord has to go to court.See the full definitionClose), the law sets how much notice you give.

In Texas, the Property Code says a month-to-month tenancy is ended by the tenant or the landlord giving notice to the other. If you pay rent monthly, the tenancy ends on the day your notice says or one month after you give it, whichever is later. That rule does not apply if you and the landlord signed an instrument with a different notice period, or one that says no notice is required.¹ In other words: if your lease asks for 60 days, it is 60 days.

In Florida, the law separates two cases. A tenancy without a fixed term is ended by either party with written notice: month to month, at least 30 days before the end of any monthly period; week to week, at least 7 days.³ A fixed-term lease may require you to give advance notice that you will not stay on when it expires, as long as it also requires the landlord to notify you if the lease will not be renewed; that notice may not be less than 30 or more than 60 days for either party. And if you stay with permission after the lease expired and do not give the notice the law requires, you owe one additional month’s rent.⁴

Breaking a Florida lease early has its own rule. The landlord may retake the unit for your account and charge you the difference between the agreed rent and what the landlord recovers by re-renting it, with a duty to try to re-rent in good faith. Or the landlord may charge an early termination fee or liquidated damages of up to 2 months’ rent, but only if you accepted that by signing a separate addendum, and if the fee requires no more than 60 days’ notice.⁵ Look for that addendum in your lease: if you signed it, you already know the cap on that fee.

Move-out notice in the two states

Property Code

Texas

• Month to month: ends on the day of the notice or one month later, whichever is later.¹
• If you signed a different period (or that no notice is needed), what you signed applies.¹
• The deposit comes back by the 30th day after you surrender the unit.²
• Without your new address in writing, the landlord is not obligated to return it yet.²

Chapter 83

Florida

• Month to month: at least 30 days before the end of the monthly period; week to week, 7 days.³
• Fixed term: the lease may require between 30 and 60 days' notice of non-renewal.⁴
• Leaving early: good-faith rent difference, or a fee of up to 2 months if you signed the addendum.⁵
• 7 days' move-out notice with your address, by certified mail or in person.⁶

In both states, the notice is given in writing and dated. Keep a copy and proof of delivery: that is what you will need from far away.

Your deposit when you already live in another country

The security depositsecurity depositA security deposit is money you pay the landlord when you start renting as security that you will follow the lease: pay the rent and take care of the home. The money still belongs to you. The landlord holds it and, when you move out, must return it minus the charges the law allows, such as past-due rent or damage beyond normal wear and tear. You should not be charged for damage that was already there when you moved in. The maximum amount and the deadline to return it depend on your state's law and sometimes your city's.See the full definitionClose is the easiest money to lose in an international move, not because the law allows it, but because nobody stays behind to claim it. Both laws give you tools to collect it from far away.

In Texas, the landlord must refund your deposit by the 30th day after you surrender the unit, and a clause requiring advance notice as a condition of the refund only counts if it is underlined or in conspicuous bold print in the lease.² The landlord may not keep anything for normal wear and tear, and if anything is deducted must give you the balance with a written description and an itemized list of each deduction.² But there is a condition: the landlord is not obligated to return it or give you that list until you provide your new address in writing for the refund. You do not lose the right by not giving it, but the money waits.²

In Florida, unless your written lease says otherwise, a tenant who leaves before the end of the term or rents by the period must give written notice at least 7 days before leaving, by certified mail or in person, and the notice must say where you can be reached. Without that notice you keep the deposit, but the landlord is relieved of sending you the claim notice.⁶ A landlord who claims nothing has 15 days to return it; one who claims part of it has 30 days to send the notice by certified mail to your last known address, or by email if both parties signed an addendum to the lease agreeing to electronic notices,⁷ and you have 15 days after receiving it to object in writing.⁶

Two practical points come out of that. First: leave a U.S. address of someone you trust, in addition to your address in your country, so certified mail has somewhere to arrive and someone tells you the same day. Second: ask in writing that the refund be made by transfer or by check in that trusted person’s name, so a dollar check does not get lost on the way. If it is not returned, a legal aidlegal aidLegal aid is the free civil legal help that nonprofit organizations and their lawyers provide to low-income people in civil, not criminal, matters. In housing, that includes representing families facing eviction or foreclosure, alongside matters such as custody, child support, protection from domestic violence and access to benefits. In the United States, the Legal Services Corporation, created by Congress, funds a nationwide network of these organizations; its finder points you to the one in your area. Each sets its own income limits.See the full definitionClose organization can guide you for free if you qualify by income,²⁵ and the security deposits guide explains how to write the demand letter.

Deposit, home values and counseling in each state

State	Time to return the deposit	Typical home value	HUD-approved counselors
Alabama	60 calendar days	$209,900	25
Alaska	—	$352,900	1
Arizona	14 business days	$394,500	21
Arkansas	60 days	$188,000	14
California	21 days	$734,700	81
Colorado	1 day	$539,400	26
Connecticut	—	$366,900	13
Delaware	—	$352,000	12
District of Columbia	—	$737,100	17
Florida	15 days	$359,000	98
Georgia	30 days	$303,300	42
Hawaii	14 days	$839,100	17
Idaho	21 days	$418,600	10
Illinois	45 days	$263,300	81
Indiana	45 days	$218,200	21
Iowa	30 days	$208,000	11
Kansas	30 days	$217,200	3
Kentucky	—	$205,600	19
Louisiana	1 day	$216,500	26
Maine	—	$296,600	7
Maryland	45 days	$419,900	41
Massachusetts	30 days	$562,100	37
Michigan	30 days	$231,600	59
Minnesota	21 days	$329,300	33
Mississippi	45 days	$169,800	16
Missouri	30 days	$230,300	18
Montana	—	$375,800	11
Nebraska	14 days	$238,600	8
Nevada	30 days	$435,400	8
New Hampshire	30 days	$402,500	5
New Jersey	30 days	$454,400	34
New Mexico	—	$248,100	7
New York	14 days	$423,800	93
North Carolina	30 days	$288,900	52
North Dakota	30 days	$249,900	3
Ohio	30 days	$214,800	54
Oklahoma	45 days	$199,800	6
Oregon	31 days	$477,600	25
Pennsylvania	30 days	$254,500	75
Puerto Rico	—	$131,500	9
Rhode Island	20 days	$404,200	5
South Carolina	30 days	$259,000	13
South Dakota	21 days	$257,400	13
Tennessee	—	$286,700	32
Texas	30 days	$283,800	51
Utah	30 days	$489,400	7
Vermont	14 days	$316,600	7
Virginia	45 days	$383,700	49
Washington	30 days	$564,600	15
West Virginia	—	$162,600	8
Wisconsin	21 days	$266,500	26
Wyoming	30 days	$309,700	1

The deposit deadline comes from each state's law; the typical home value, from the American Community Survey; agencies, from HUD's list. Source: each state's laws · Census Bureau (ACS) · HUD

If you own: keeping the home, renting it out or selling

Owning a home here while living there opens three paths, and each has its rule. Keeping it empty preserves it, but it keeps costing taxes, insurance and upkeep. Renting it out produces income, but the IRS treats you as a nonresident landlord. Selling closes the chapter, but triggers withholding at closing. The next two sections explain the taxes of renting out and selling; here is what changes with the homestead exemptionhomestead exemptionA homestead exemption is a legal protection for the home where you and your family live. It can keep certain creditors from collecting your debts out of your main home, and it can also lower the property tax on that home. In Texas, for example, the residence homestead exemption removes part of your home's value from the tax calculation; to get it you must own the home, live there as your principal residence and apply. State laws vary widely: some cap the amount protected and others depend on the size of the property or the owner's age.See the full definitionClose, which is the first thing to move when you leave.

In Florida, renting all or substantially all of a dwelling claimed as a homestead constitutes abandonment of the homestead, and the abandonment lasts until the owner physically occupies it again. If you abandon it after January 1, that year’s exemption is not affected, unless you rent it for more than 30 days per calendar year for 2 consecutive years.⁸ In Texas, the home does not lose its character as a residence homestead if you temporarily stop occupying it, do not establish another principal residenceprincipal residenceYour principal residence is the home where you live permanently and spend most of the year. According to FHA, a person can have only one principal residence at a time. Lenders tell it apart from a second home, which you occupy in addition to your principal residence but for less than most of the year, and from an investment property, which you own but do not live in. Fannie Mae buys loans on all three, but it applies a loan-level price adjustment (LLPA) to loans on investment properties.See the full definitionClose, the absence lasts less than two years and you intend to return to live there.⁹ Each state and county applies its own rules: the homestead exemption guide explains how it is claimed and how it is lost in the states we have verified.

If you decide to rent it out, the guide to renting out a room or unit covers the lease, fair housing and maintenance from the landlord’s side. What follows is what changes because you no longer live in the United States.

Renting out your home from abroad: the 30% withholding

The IRS states the general rule plainly: income from U.S. real property owned by a nonresident alien is taxed at 30% (or a lower treaty rate) if it is not effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business. That means 30% of gross rent, without subtracting the mortgage, insurance, property tax or repairs.¹⁶¹⁸

The same page explains the way out: you can elect, under section 871(d) of the Code, to treat all income from your real property as effectively connected income. With that election you claim the property’s deductions and your net income is taxed at graduated rates, the same ones residents pay.¹⁷ The election is made with a statement attached to your Form 1040-NR and stays in effect for later years until you revoke it.¹⁶

So that whoever pays you does not withhold 30%, the IRS says Form W-8ECI is given to the withholding agent or payer (your tenant or the property manager) in the first year of the election and in later years when required. In exchange, you commit to filing Form 1040-NR for the year of the election and every year after while it stays in effect. And there is a deadline that hurts: someone who does not file within 16 months of the original due date loses the deductions and certain credits, unless the IRS grants a waiver.¹⁶ The W-8ECI instructions confirm it: if you made or will make the section 871(d) election, that is the form you provide; for sale proceeds, on the other hand, you do not use Form W-8ECI but Form 8288-B.¹⁷

Selling as a nonresident: FIRPTA withholding

When a foreign person sells U.S. real property, the law called FIRPTA requires part of the price to be withheld at closing. The IRS explains that whoever buys from a foreign person, certain purchasers’ agents and settlement officers must withhold 15% of the amount realized, and that in most cases the buyer is the withholding agent. The amount realized is not your gain: it is the sum of the cash paid, the fair market value of other property transferred and any liability the buyer assumes or to which the property is subject.¹⁰

There are two exceptions for homes the buyer will live in. Generally no withholding is required when the buyer acquires the property as a residence and the price is not more than $300,000, as long as the buyer or a family member has definite plans to live there at least 50% of the days anyone uses the home during each of the first two years, and the buyer is an individual.¹¹ And the withholding drops to 10% when the buyer acquires it as a residence and the amount realized is $1 million or less.¹²

Example with real numbers

A $400,000 sale to a buyer who will live in the home

Illustrative numbers to see the size of the withholding; they do not describe your case.

Sales price (amount realized)

$400,000

General FIRPTA withholding (15%)

$60,000

Reduced withholding if the buyer will live there and the price is $1 million or less (10%)

$40,000

Withholding if the price were not more than $300,000 and the buyer were going to live there

$0

The amount withheld is an advance payment, not the final tax: it is credited on your Form 1040-NR with the stamped Form 8288-A.¹³ A withholding certificate can adjust it before closing.¹⁴

Run it with your numbersHow much will I keep when I sell?

The withholding is not the tax: it is an advance. The buyer reports and pays it with Form 8288, generally by the 20th day after the sale, and prepares a Form 8288-A for each seller. The IRS stamps copy B of Form 8288-A and sends it to you; you file your U.S. return with that stamped Form 8288-A to receive credit for the tax withheld.¹³ Without that return there is no credit; that is why the ITIN and Form 1040-NR matter so much for someone who has already left.

If you think 15% is far more than your tax, the IRS issues withholding certificates that adjust the amount. The buyer, the buyer’s agent or you apply; the complete application carries the taxpayer identification numbers of all parties, and the IRS generally responds within 90 days. If you apply, you must notify the buyer in writing on the day of the sale or the day before. One of the grounds for issuing it is that the amount withheld would be more than your maximum tax.¹⁴ A common reason for the tax to be low is the exclusion for the sale of a main home: the IRS explains that you may exclude up to $250,000 of the gainhome appreciationHome appreciation is the increase in your home's value over time. It is one of the two ways your home equity grows, equity being the difference between what the home is worth and what you owe; the other is paying down your mortgage principal. A home's value can go up or down: it can fall because of economic conditions, lack of upkeep or a drop in neighborhood home values, and some markets appreciate faster than others. The FHFA House Price Index (HPI) measures how single-family home values change.See the full definitionClose, or up to $500,000 on a joint return, if you owned the home and used it as a residence for at least 24 months of the last 5 years before the sale.¹⁵ The seller net sheet calculator helps you estimate what you receive after the mortgage and closing costs.

Taxes the year you leave: nonresident or dual-status

The year of departure is usually a dual-status year. The IRS explains that you are dual-status when in the same tax year you were both a resident and a nonresident for tax purposes, and that the most common dual-status years are the years of arrival and departure. If you give up residence during the year and are not a resident on the last day, you file Form 1040-NR, write Dual-Status Return across the top and attach a statement with the income for the part of the year you were a resident. In such a year you cannot use the standard deduction or file a joint return, unless you are married to a U.S. citizen or resident and you both elect to file jointly. Income from U.S. sources is taxed whether you receive it as a resident or a nonresident.¹⁹

From the following year on, if you only have income from here (the rent from your home, for example), you file as a nonresident. The IRS says a nonresident who must file uses Form 1040-NR; that effectively connected income is taxed at graduated rates after deductions, and FDAP income at a flat 30 percent with no deductions; that if you are an employee with wages subject to withholding, or you have an office or place of business in the United States, you generally file by April 15 and, if not, by June 15; that Form 4868 requests an extension; and that only a timely filed return gives you the right to deductions and credits.¹⁸ If you filed with an ITIN while living here, the guide to filing taxes with an ITIN explains how to request your transcripts, which you will want to have before you leave.

There is one more step that is easy to overlook. The IRS explains that the departure permit (sailing permit or departure permit) is a document most aliens must obtain from the IRS before leaving the United States, as proof that they settled their taxes before a long-term or permanent departure. It is received after filing Form 1040-C or Form 2063 at the local IRS office, by appointment. You should get it at least 2 weeks before you travel and cannot apply earlier than 30 days before the departure date; the same page lists who does not need it.²⁰ Read it with your most recent tax returntax returnA tax return is the yearly form you use to report your income to the IRS and figure the tax you owe, so you can pay what is due or get a refund. The federal return for individuals is Form 1040. In general you must file if your gross income is above the minimum the IRS sets for your filing status, or if you had a certain amount of net earnings from self-employment; even when you do not have to, filing can pay off. You need your SSN or ITIN, and those of everyone else on the return, plus documents such as your W-2s and 1099s.See the full definitionClose at hand.

Free help, here and from there

None of this requires paying a middleman. The IRS VITAVITA (free tax preparation)VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) and TCE (Tax Counseling for the Elderly) are IRS programs that offer free basic tax return preparation by IRS-certified volunteers. They are meant for people with moderate income, people with disabilities and limited-English speakers; TCE focuses on people sixty and older. The IRS sets no program-wide income limit, but individual sites may set their own. Many sites serve in Spanish and help with ITIN applications and renewals. Filing taxes every year builds the record lenders ask for.See the full definitionClose and TCE programs prepare basic returns for free for people who qualify, including limited English speakers; the nearest site is found with the VITA Locator Tool or by calling 800-906-9887.²³ If you already have a dispute with the IRS (a collection letter, a withholding you are not credited for), a Low Income Taxpayer ClinicLow Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC)A Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) is an organization that helps low-income people who have a dispute with the IRS, such as an audit, an appeal or a tax collection matter, for free or for a small fee. It can represent you before the IRS or in court. It also teaches taxpayer rights and responsibilities to people who speak English as a second language. To qualify, your income generally must be below a certain level. The clinics get part of their funding from the IRS but are independent of it.See the full definitionClose can represent you before the IRS or in court; the service is free or for a small fee, generally when the amount in dispute is less than $50,000, and the clinics are independent of the IRS.²²

For the home, a HUD-approved housing counselor guides you on renting out, selling or keeping it, often for free, and is found by ZIP code.²⁴ For the lease or the deposit, an LSC-funded legal aid organization serves low-income people; you search by address or city.²⁵ The guides to HUD-approved housing counselors and free legal aid explain what to expect from each.

If this is you

What matters most for your situation

You rent and are leaving the country

Count the notice by rent periods¹ and leave your new address and an email in writing: in Florida the claim notice can arrive by email if you both signed the electronic-notices addendum.⁷

You own and will rent out the home

Make the 871(d) election and give Form W-8ECI to whoever pays you;¹⁶ otherwise 30% of gross rent is withheld.¹⁷ Check what happens to your homestead.⁸

You have no Social Security number

Apply for the ITIN before you sell or rent out: the withholding certificate carries the numbers of all parties¹⁴ and from overseas it takes 9 to 11 weeks.²¹

You are selling the family home

If the buyer will live there, the withholding may drop to 10% or not apply;¹² the main-home exclusion can leave your tax far below what was withheld.¹⁵

Costly mistakes

The mistake and what to do instead

• Mistake: Giving notice by text message the week of the flight.

  Instead: Give the notice in writing and dated, counting the days by rent period: in Florida it is at least 30 days month to month.³

• Mistake: Leaving without giving an address in writing.

  Instead: In Texas, the landlord is not obligated to return the deposit until receiving it.² Also leave a trusted address in the United States.

• Mistake: Renting out your home from abroad without making the 871(d) election.

  Instead: Give Form W-8ECI and file Form 1040-NR every year;¹⁶ without the election, the tax is 30% of gross rent.¹⁶

• Mistake: Applying for the withholding certificate after closing.

  Instead: Apply when you sign the sales contract and notify the buyer in writing no later than the day before: the IRS generally takes 90 days.¹⁴

• Mistake: Not filing Form 1040-NR because tax was already withheld at closing.

  Instead: The withholding is an advance; the credit comes by filing the return with the stamped Form 8288-A.¹³

• Mistake: Leaving the country without the IRS departure permit.

  Instead: Book the appointment and file Form 1040-C or Form 2063 between 30 and 14 days before the trip.²⁰

What to do this week

1. Read the notice clause and the early termination clause in your lease, and mark on the calendar the last day to deliver the notice according to the rent periods.¹
2. Write the notice with the move-out date, your new address and your email, and decide how you will prove you delivered it.⁶
3. If you own, ask your insurer and your loan servicer in writing what changes if the home is left empty or rented out, and search by ZIP code for a HUD-approved housing counselor.²⁴
4. If you have no Social Security number, start the ITIN application: from overseas it takes 9 to 11 weeks.²¹
5. If you will sell, ask the settlement agent about the withholding certificate before you sign the sales contract.¹⁴
6. Call the IRS for the departure permit appointment and note the window: no earlier than 30 days and no later than 2 weeks before the trip.²⁰