As most U.S. Citizens livng here will know by now, Trump's 'big beautiful bill' has a built-in foreign remittance tax of 1% for sending money overseas (e.g. U.S. bank wire transfer to Thailand - 1% tax deducted as a remittance fee by the government, in addition to bank/transfer fees). Takes affect Jan 1, 2026.

 

There are some limited caveats and workarounds - Wise claims to be one of the workarounds (I guess as you are storing money in the Wise cloud so it doesn't appear to be leaving the U.S.?)

 

More breakdown here:

https://www.mayerbrown.com/en/insights/publications/2025/07/what-the-new-remittance-transfer-excise-tax-means-for-businesses 

I use SWIFT from a credit union. I'm assuming that will be exempt as are all bank transfers. 

2 hours ago, ronnie50 said:

As most U.S. Citizens livng here will know by now, Trump's 'big beautiful bill' has a built-in foreign remittance tax of 1% for sending money overseas (e.g. U.S. bank wire transfer to Thailand - 1% tax deducted as a remittance fee by the government, in addition to bank/transfer fees). Takes affect Jan 1, 2026.

 

There are some limited caveats and workarounds - Wise claims to be one of the workarounds (I guess as you are storing money in the Wise cloud so it doesn't appear to be leaving the U.S.?)

 

More breakdown here:

https://www.mayerbrown.com/en/insights/publications/2025/07/what-the-new-remittance-transfer-excise-tax-means-for-businesses 

Why is this a political  soapbox  topic! isn't there a wise sub forum  or US Banking subforum ?

1 hour ago, riclag said:

Why is this a political  soapbox  topic! isn't there a wise sub forum  or US Banking subforum ?

Don't like the topic?

3 hours ago, ronnie50 said:

As most U.S. Citizens livng here will know by now, Trump's 'big beautiful bill' has a built-in foreign remittance tax of 1% for sending money overseas (e.g. U.S. bank wire transfer to Thailand - 1% tax deducted as a remittance fee by the government, in addition to bank/transfer fees). Takes affect Jan 1, 2026.

 

There are some limited caveats and workarounds - Wise claims to be one of the workarounds (I guess as you are storing money in the Wise cloud so it doesn't appear to be leaving the U.S.?)

 

More breakdown here:

https://www.mayerbrown.com/en/insights/publications/2025/07/what-the-new-remittance-transfer-excise-tax-means-for-businesses 

actually, the Senate re-wrote the original bill from the House which was 3.5% but to avoid causing any headaches for real Americans as the bill is aimed at foreign nationals working in the US and sending funds back to their homeland.  If you send from a US bank, it will not be taxed.  There are some other caveats but the regular expat should not have to worry about it at all.

12 minutes ago, Presnock said:

actually, the Senate re-wrote the original bill from the House which was 3.5% but to avoid causing any headaches for real Americans as the bill is aimed at foreign nationals working in the US and sending funds back to their homeland.  If you send from a US bank, it will not be taxed.  There are some other caveats but the regular expat should not have to worry about it at all.

 

It's much less trouble than that for ordinary folks.

 

The One Big Beautiful Bill now includes a 1% tax on certain remittances from the US. Starting January 1, 2026, this new tax will apply to certain international money transfers sent from the US that are funded by physical instruments such as cash, checks or money orders.

https://wise.com/us/blog/remittance-tax

 

Does not apply to online bank transfers, debit cards, credit cards, ACH.

 

Only applies when sender presents physical funding, in person, to the remittance provider.

 

In short, this new tax only applies to stinky poor people who rely on cash.

2 hours ago, riclag said:

Why is this a political  soapbox  topic! isn't there a wise sub forum  or US Banking subforum ?

 

  Gee, I don't know.  Could it be because your racist cult leader is targeting poor brown people?  Nah.

8 minutes ago, NoDisplayName said:

In short, this new tax only applies to stinky poor people who rely on cash.

IE, the Mexican economy

 

4 minutes ago, TheAppletons said:

Gee, I don't know.  Could it be because your racist cult leader is targeting poor brown people?  Nah.

Are all illegal aliens "brown".? Only brown folks are poor? You must not think much of "brown people".

 

Bet you think brown people are too stupid to get ID

1 minute ago, Yagoda said:

IE, the Mexican economy

 

Are all illegal aliens "brown".? Only brown folks are poor? You must not think much of "brown people".

 

Bet you think brown people are too stupid to get ID

 

  No one said anything about "illegal aliens" except you.  Plenty of people legally working in the US send remittances back to their home countries using cash.

 

  Did I say "only brown folks are poor"?  Nope.  Only you said that.

 

  Don't make assertions about my post that I didn't actually say. 

 

  And, as usual, change the subject when you don't like the way it makes your head jerkwad look.

16 minutes ago, TheAppletons said:

Don't make assertions about my post that I didn't actually say. 

The posts speak for themselves. Tell us more how TRump is targeting "poor brown people"?

 

Or do you just want to withdraw your racist verbiage your lot is so comfortable with?

Anyway, if I understand the replies correctly, the Senate re-jigged it, and the finally approved bill affects only foreign cash transfers and the like.. so Western Union and that kind of thing. So as long as a Filipino or an Indian or a Chinese has a US bank account s/he can send a wire transfer to their family back home and the 1% doesn't affect them (either), right?

1 hour ago, NoDisplayName said:

 

It's much less trouble than that for ordinary folks.

 

The One Big Beautiful Bill now includes a 1% tax on certain remittances from the US. Starting January 1, 2026, this new tax will apply to certain international money transfers sent from the US that are funded by physical instruments such as cash, checks or money orders.

https://wise.com/us/blog/remittance-tax

 

Does not apply to online bank transfers, debit cards, credit cards, ACH.

 

Only applies when sender presents physical funding, in person, to the remittance provider.

 

In short, this new tax only applies to stinky poor people who rely on cash.

 

So only Mexican/Latin American laborers will be hit. The H1Bs will skate.