Serbinski Accounting Firms

My elderly father and I are both residents of Canada - he is a US citizen, I am a Canadian citizen. We have a joint Canadian bank account. With the new CRA reporting requirements on bare trusts, I understand that I may have to report my father's bank account to the CRA as a Bare Trust. It never occu...

Hello - my elderly father is a US citizen but a long time resident of Canada. In August, 2021 he received a $500 payment from the government of Canada - the payment was made to senior citizens aged 75 and older who received Canadian OAS. I know that OAS payments are not taxable by the IRS for US cit...

Hello, my daughter is a US/Canadian dual citizen, and a resident of Canada. She and her husband are buying their first home in Canada. She has a modest amount of funds in her RRSP which she would like to use to help with the down payment. I have seen a post on this forum from about 15 years ago whic...

Thank you Nelsona, this is very helpful.

Nelsona and testone, thank you for your help - very much appreciated. If I understand CRA rules correctly, interest income is not accounted for on a true accrual basis in Canada. For example, if I purchased a two-year non-cashable Canadian G.I.C on Feb 1, 2017, then interest income would be recogniz...

My elderly father is a US citizen and a long term resident of Canada. He has a number of Canadian non-registered GICs, on which interest is recognized by the CRA on their anniversary date. For his US taxes, he has always used the cash method of recognizing interest income. For 2019, he has Canadian ...

Thank you for your response - it's very helpful. I can't understand why the IRS wouldn't have at least a sentence or two of guidance somewhere in one of their publications to cover someone in my situation. Frustrating!

I was a US / Canadian dual citizen, and a long time resident of Canada until May, 2019, when I gave up my US Citizenship (expatriated at a US consulate). I have not had any financial ties to the US for many decades. I see a number of websites that suggest filing as a "Dual Status" in the y...

You are correct - its doesn't make any difference to me which way this is done. I was just trying to figure out if there was any clear direction from the IRS or U.S. Treasury on this situation. It feels kind of weird to report accounts which I opened after giving up my US citizenship, but if that is...

Until May, 2019, I was a dual US/Canadian citizen and a long time resident of Canada. In May, 2019, I gave up my US citizenship (expatriated at a US consulate). So I am now just a Canadian citizen and resident, with no financial ties to the US. My first question: For 2019, should I report the highes...

Just an additional question: My wife is a Canadian citizen and a Canadian resident. We own our home jointly in Canada. We have both worked and have earned (very roughly) equal amounts over the years. Would I include half of the value of our home in my net worth for form 8854? And if I include half o...

Hello - I am a dual US/Canadian citizen living in Canada for the past 45 years. I am considering renouncing my US citizenship. I understand that I must complete form 8854 after I renounce. In order to avoid "covered" status on form 8854, my net assets must be less than $2 million. While my...

Thanks Nelson - this is very helpful.

Just to clarify, if I only hold GICs in my brokerage account, then PFIC / 3520 reporting should not be required. Is this correct?

Hello - I am a dual US/Canadian citizen living in Canada. I recently opened an account with TD Direct Investing. Through the TD Direct Investing account, I purchased GICs at various other banks and trust companies. My question: For FBAR reporting, is it sufficient to report the TD Direct Investing a...

I have the exact same question as K104XYZ above. I can't understand how Article XVIII (5) of the Canada-US Tax Treaty applies to a USC /Canadian resident who receives CPP and OAS.

Can anyone help explain this?