Canadian in US - income reporting

This is our main tax information forum which deals with topics concerning Canadians living and working in the U.S., U.S. citizens contemplating working in Canada, and all aspects of Canadian and U.S. income tax and related adminstrative issues.

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stockinvestor_00
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat May 28, 2011 9:33 pm

Canadian in US - income reporting

Post by stockinvestor_00 »

I am a Canadian citizen living in US and therefore resident of US for tax purposes. However all my income is in Canada for which Canadian tax is paid (deducted at source). My US is $0.

How do I report the Canadian income on the US 1040 ? How do I deduct tax etc.

Pls help.
stockinvestor_00
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat May 28, 2011 9:33 pm

Post by stockinvestor_00 »

Also which forms need to be filled. I am getting conflicting information. Some say deduct the tax paid using Schedule A. Others advise filling up the Form 1116

Any help is appreciated.
nelsona
Posts: 18379
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2004 2:33 pm
Location: Nowhere, man

Post by nelsona »

You report all income on the lines you would if it were US-sourced.

To get credit for Cdn tax, you have to use one or more 1116's. Schedule A is to DEDUCT foreign tax, which is probably not your best move.
nelsona non grata. Non pro. Please Search previous posts, no situation is unique as you might think. Happy Browsing :D
stockinvestor_00
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat May 28, 2011 9:33 pm

Post by stockinvestor_00 »

I was leading towards using Schedule A as it seems to be the easy form. 1116 is too complicated to fill up.

Would using Schedule A be wrong ?
nelsona
Posts: 18379
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2004 2:33 pm
Location: Nowhere, man

Post by nelsona »

Yes, it would be wrong, since your Cdn tax would give you 100% credit, while schedule A only gets you deduction at your marginal rate (15 or 25%).

Doing schedule A will result in all your income being taxed twice.
nelsona non grata. Non pro. Please Search previous posts, no situation is unique as you might think. Happy Browsing :D
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