canadian expat; capital gains/losses; short vs long term

[hyperbling]

hello, i'm a little bit confused on how i should be reporting my capital gains/losses. due to lack of planning on my part, i did _not_ liquidate my investments prior to becoming a US resident.

i had regular and RRSP accounts with money tied up. as i was liquidating and moving money to the US, my assets were sold at a loss, so maybe it's not a big deal in my accuracy of reporting since i will get a deduction.

anywho, should i be using the arrival date as the 'acquired' date, and thus everything becomes short-term? or should i use the actual purchase date, which will make most of them long-term? how would that affect RRSPs, which should use the book value upon entry?

thanks.

[nelsona]

For canada, all assets you held (non-RRSP) are deemed disposed the day you left: you need to do this on your departure return. I hope you did remove any RRSP money before leaving, as that was a mistake on your part.

For US, your need to report any sale from after you moved to US (or for entire year if you file full year), 'deemed' sales don't count, only actual ones. You use the roginal valuse, the same one you used in canada.

For RRSP, in US, you need to treat the account like an ordinary account for determining its book value: the cost of each investment in your RRSP when you came to US (or jan 1, 2011 if you file full year).

[hyperbling]

@innaliza i should have been more clear. i meant that statement in regards to taxes on short-term vs long-term gains. since i had losses, i can deduct that against income.

[nelsona]

ignore innaliza, she is just spamming