Long ago, perhaps, and far, far away, getting a U.S. green card might have been an extremely wise thing to pursue. So you got one….and you kept it….. and now that you've got some assets to your name, perhaps it is time to review your current situation: properly ‘re-structuring', if necessary and then expatriating from that green card might economically be the wisest thing you can plan for. Bear in mind, of course, that while we try to logically explain some justification for this, you have emotions involved when it possibly comes to ‘expatriating'. We fully understand this. If you are not in this category, then read on…..

Ever hear of FBAR? That's the Foreign Bank Account Reporting requirements. These are laws that have been in effect for some time but only recently has the U.S. Congress mandated that the Internal Revenue Service pursue information with reckless abandon. They impact your reporting requirements and likely, your U.S. tax bill which, you probably thought you might have been exempt from.

The threshold for FBAR is USD 10,000 and requires reporting not only on financial bank and brokerage accounts in which one has a financial interest but also those over which one has just signature authority but no financial interest. Then along came FATCA, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, signed into law by President Obama on 18 March 2010. It's not just bank or brokerage accounts, anymore.

Under FATCA, all U.S. persons (and that includes green card holders!) who have an interest in a foreign financial institution and total assets in excess of USD 50,000 has got to file an annual report – or perhaps many reports….this is where it starts getting complicated…

What about the individual who has USD 51,000 in assets but only USD 1,000 in income from those assets – well below the IRS reporting level for the form 1040. Will those individuals now have to file a form 1040 to conform to the new tax law? That question remains unanswered….

Here is something that must be looked at very, very carefully. Let's say you've expatriated and then set up a trust for your children who are by now, U.S. passport holders. Reporting foreign trusts where minor children are beneficiaries in but have absolutely no authority over is required….and income is going to be taxable….and non-reporting penalties are severe.

Are you in business for yourself or are you a partner or shareholder, with more than a 10 percent interest in that business? Then beware: as a green card holder, you will not only have to file an annual 1040 but also a time consuming annual report, form 5471 (or form 8665 for partnerships) , U.S. persons ownership of a foreign corporation (partnerships).

We can go on but this is sufficient for you to be aware that maintaining your green card will require new and detailed annual reporting of your income and your assets to the U.S. government; that failure to file can generate some very costly penalties.

Whether you are interested or not in surrendering a green card, though, is secondary to the importance of reviewing your assets and the way they are being held in light of new reporting requirements. Perhaps some ‘re-structuring' should be considered, regardless of what you do…..