The US 1% remittance tax is live — and avoidable
Cash transfers are taxed; bank- and card-funded transfers are exempt.
The US federal excise tax on cash-funded international transfers is now in effect. The detail that matters more than the rate: cash sent over a storefront counter is taxed, but the same amount funded from a bank account or a debit or credit card is not. For a household sending every month, the fix costs nothing — move the transfer onto a bank or card rail and the tax disappears. This is a five-minute change to how you send, not a reason to send less.