Am I domiciled in the United States?

This is a facts-and-circumstances question and no website can answer it from a form. It is not decided by your visa category, and it is not the same question as the substantial presence test. It is the single best question to take to a tax attorney.

Does a green card change the answer?

It is strong evidence, and it remains a domicile question rather than an automatic rule. There is no published year-count that settles it - a seven-or-eight-year figure circulates online, but the year-count test in the statute is about the exit tax on giving up a green card, which is a different question entirely.

Is a bank account here counted as a US asset?

The IRS lists bank accounts not used in connection with a US trade or business among the property that is not situated in the United States, and certain life insurance proceeds with them.

What about the Indian side of this?

We have not published it yet and would rather say so than guess. India Code, the Government of India's own statute library, is mid-migration to a new address and is serving nothing this week, and we will not quote Indian law from a law firm's summary while every other line here comes from the government that wrote it. Until then it is a question for a lawyer in India.

OfficialInternal Revenue Service · Last verified 5 Sept 2026

US estate tax turns on domicile, which is a third test again

Your immigration status is not your tax residency, and neither of them decides estate tax. That runs on domicile, and the gap between the two answers it chooses from is very large.

Three different tests, and nobody separates them

Immigration status decides whether you may be here. The substantial presence test decides which tax return you file. Estate tax runs on neither: whether somebody counts as a nonresident for United States estate tax is determined by their domicile at the time of death. A person can be a resident for income tax and a nonresident for estate tax in the same year with nothing about their life having changed.

Source: Internal Revenue Service

Why the word is worth your attention

There are two regimes. Somebody who dies domiciled in the United States has a basic exclusion amount running to eight figures. Somebody who is not a citizen and not a resident is measured against a filing threshold on their US-situated assets that is smaller by a factor of hundreds. The current figure for each is on the wills page at /will, quoted from the IRS with the day it was read - they are indexed and move every year, which is why they are not repeated here.

Source: Internal Revenue Service - Estate tax for nonresidents not citizens

Which assets are counted, and which are not

For somebody who was not a citizen and not a resident, US-situated property includes real estate in the United States, tangible property located there, and certain intangible property such as US marketable securities. Property not situated in the United States includes securities generating portfolio interest, bank accounts not used in connection with a US trade or business, and certain life insurance proceeds. A family whose American assets are a salary account and a policy is in a very different position from one that owns a house.

Source: Internal Revenue Service

The six words about a spouse

Every American is told that whatever passes to a surviving husband or wife is free of estate tax. What the IRS states is that charitable contributions and the value of certain property passing to a surviving spouse who is a US citizen may be deductible. The citizenship clause is doing the work. One spouse naturalising years before the other is ordinary in this community, which means the condition fails in exactly the households least likely to have heard of it. A qualified domestic trust is the mechanism that exists for that case.

Source: Internal Revenue Service

There is no treaty with India

Some countries have a treaty with the United States carrying estate or gift tax provisions, which can change how their residents are taxed on American assets. The IRS publishes the list: Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, South Africa, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. India is not on it. The 1989 India-United States tax treaty is an income tax treaty and does not cover this.

Source: Internal Revenue Service - Estate and gift tax treaties

Official

Frequently asked questions

Am I domiciled in the United States?: This is a facts-and-circumstances question and no website can answer it from a form. It is not decided by your visa category, and it is not the same question as the substantial presence test. It is the single best question to take to a tax attorney.
Does a green card change the answer?: It is strong evidence, and it remains a domicile question rather than an automatic rule. There is no published year-count that settles it - a seven-or-eight-year figure circulates online, but the year-count test in the statute is about the exit tax on giving up a green card, which is a different question entirely.
Is a bank account here counted as a US asset?: The IRS lists bank accounts not used in connection with a US trade or business among the property that is not situated in the United States, and certain life insurance proceeds with them.
What about the Indian side of this?: We have not published it yet and would rather say so than guess. India Code, the Government of India's own statute library, is mid-migration to a new address and is serving nothing this week, and we will not quote Indian law from a law firm's summary while every other line here comes from the government that wrote it. Until then it is a question for a lawyer in India.