For all those who have contributed to my query on this thread...i thank you.
just one more clarification before i drop the subject :)
Can i be fairly sure that my usd money market and my share program through the company are NOT considered a foreign trusts?
I sure hope not
USD Money Market Account & 8938
Moderator: Mark T Serbinski CA CPA
Those two things are obviously foreign. The question is whether the *IRS* considers them to be "trusts". You could ask the Canadian entities themselves, but chances are that they are ignorant of US tax law. You need to find a tax professional who is able to do the work to find out whether these two specific entities are trusts in the eyes of the IRS. You mentioned that you had engaged the services of an accounting firm. Ask them.
If you search for the IRS's definition of a trust (in general), I don't think you'll find anything really conclusive. For example, the site
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/eotopica03.pdf
indicates that that a trust exists when a person holding title to a property is obliged to deal with the property for the benefit of another person. That sounds rather restrictive, which would be good. But later on the page one finds this: "an arrangement will be treated as a trust under the Internal Revenue Code if it can be shown that the purpose of the arrangement is to vest in trustees responsibility for the protection and conservation of property for beneficiaries who cannot share in the discharge of this responsibility . . ." That's much vaguer -- there is no stipulation there that the trustees have to "hold title" to the property in question; that leaves you in the dark as to whether some arrangement is a trust or not. The point is that I don't think it's worth looking for IRS definitions. You need to find a professional who can determine whether the *IRS* considers either of your two specific entities to be a trust.
If you search for the IRS's definition of a trust (in general), I don't think you'll find anything really conclusive. For example, the site
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/eotopica03.pdf
indicates that that a trust exists when a person holding title to a property is obliged to deal with the property for the benefit of another person. That sounds rather restrictive, which would be good. But later on the page one finds this: "an arrangement will be treated as a trust under the Internal Revenue Code if it can be shown that the purpose of the arrangement is to vest in trustees responsibility for the protection and conservation of property for beneficiaries who cannot share in the discharge of this responsibility . . ." That's much vaguer -- there is no stipulation there that the trustees have to "hold title" to the property in question; that leaves you in the dark as to whether some arrangement is a trust or not. The point is that I don't think it's worth looking for IRS definitions. You need to find a professional who can determine whether the *IRS* considers either of your two specific entities to be a trust.