Serbinski Accounting Firms

As I understand it, only to the extent that both of you could reasonably be considered to have contributed equally to each asset. If you were both working and earning, this may be the case for certain assets, such as bank accounts and some jointly held investments, perhaps a hosue. I would not want ...

lzbth: "I understand that all accounts over $10,000 total in banking institutions were to be reported ..." It sounds as though you misunderstand (or imprecise wording). The need to file an FBAR is triggered if the TOTAL of ALL of your foreign accounts (and those of others if you have signa...

TurboTax (Canada version) does not impose this restriction.

nesona, I think I will exit the discussion at this point. My wife and I are struggling with these issues right now as we decide whether to renounce US citizenship. I do not know whether "Canada" is close enough to a community property state to just assume you can divide property 50/50. I d...

tdott, re form 8854. Nope. Not, at least, according to Phil Hodgen's presentations. You can divide by two on joint accounts, I believe. But a husband's IRA goes all on his net worth; the present value of any pension plan of the husband goes only on his net worth; any other assets owned only by him o...

Oops, I did miss the fact that you had a new question, however.

telly1, note that the comment by ngockonvang was just spam -- quotes from an earlier post, and spam web sites posted as a signature. Watch out for these and don't try to respond again!

Good point. (Feeling of relief...)

She says she has or had an RRSP as well. Should she file for 2013 to declare that?

Thanks for stepping in, nelsona, I hpoed you would. "rlb, you might have bit off more than you can chew, although I admire your effort." You're absolutely right. And it's a bit like duplicate bridge - when you make a bid, you need to think of your partner's possible responses, if any, and ...

I am not sure what part of what I said was unclear. You were not a US resident in 2012, just a visitor. And you certainly do not want to be a resident, because you would then be in severe difficulties because you did not file FBAR, 8891, 3520 etc. for 2012. There may be slight flexibility in choosin...

Before you obtained the H4 visa, you had no right to live in the US. That would be the departure date to use in your tax return for Canada. Read the emigrants guide on the CRA site, as there considerations when exiting Canada's tax system. You should be changing your drivers license to your US state...

The ETF has to be managed and operated inside the US to avoid being a PFIC. Normally, yes, these would be the ETFs you'd find listed on a US Exchange. But some Canadian companies list themselves both on Canadian and US exchanges (though I don't know whether ETFs ever do). It is simple enough to look...

nelsona, no I'm not absolutely sure. Fortunately, I avoided that precise situation. I did have multiple lots of a single PFIC (a couple of them in fact), though just as investments, not in a TSFA. I always treated these as separate investments, with separate 8621s. And I only had them for two tax ye...

That's how I did it, back before I dumped my PFICs. The only issue I would think would be, is if you used the dividends to purchase more shares of the PFIC. Each purchase of the PFIC, even automatic reinvestment, is a separate lot of the stock, and requires a separate 8621 for that lot. If you had a...