Student, no income, GC holder back in Canada

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Nathan1992
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2015 7:02 pm
Location: Toronto

Student, no income, GC holder back in Canada

Post by Nathan1992 »

Hi, I moved to the US in 2011 with my dad when he married US citizen. I had GC status and lived there for three years. I attended college part-time and was unemployed due to my aspergers. My dad kept my RESP in Canada and a savings account for me in case I ever wanted to move back home to my mom's. I moved back home last year and live with my mom and got to college now. My mom found out that I should have been filing income taxes and FBAR. My dad says no because I was his dependent. But I was 19 when I moved to the US and 22 when I left so I think the IRS considers me an adult. I think my dad was supposed to file FBAR for me. Do I need to come clean with the IRS and file everything now? Will my dad get in trouble for not disclosing my Canadian accounts when I was living there? My dad told me that my Canadian bank doesn't know I was living in the US so the IRS won't find out unless I fill out the FBAR. I mailed my Green card and filed the surrender form but I never got a response so now my mom thinks I still have GC status too. I have so many questions.
nelsona
Posts: 18311
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2004 2:33 pm
Location: Nowhere, man

Post by nelsona »

You should be taking care of your own taxes at this point, not being in the middle of your parents latest sqaubble.

The RESP was your fathers unless/until you took money out. HE had to file FBAR and 3520 on it, not you.
Unles you can withdraw the funds from the savingsd account, that was his too.

If you were earning income, youa had to file a return in US if it was over a certain ammount.
nelsona non grata. Non pro. Please Search previous posts, no situation is unique as you might think. Happy Browsing :D
Nathan1992
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2015 7:02 pm
Location: Toronto

Post by Nathan1992 »

Thank you for answering my questions but I'm still unsure. The RESP was set up by my grandparents and my dad didn't access/signing authority over it or over my savings account--I withdrew money from my canadian account and moved some into the US to use while I was living there. Are you saying that because he claimed me as a dependent, the RESP and savings account were his to "claim"? Is it too late for me to back file my own income taxes and do FBAR or is it better for my dad to amend his statements? I was unemployed during the time I was in the US. The only "income" would have been the interest earned on the savings account and the interest on the RESP--less than $500 a year.
nelsona
Posts: 18311
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2004 2:33 pm
Location: Nowhere, man

Post by nelsona »

I'm saing that while the RESP is being funded, it is owened and controlled by the person funding the =account (in this case your grandparents). if that is the case then neithr you nor yourfather ned to do anything in US for the RESP, and assuming your grandparents are not US taxpayers, they have nothing to report in US either.

have you ever accessed the funds from RESP?

if your income was below $1300 of interest, you did not have to file a 1040, nor was your income to be put on your fathers return. So you should be ok.

The only thing you have to do is submit FBAR for your Cdn bank accounts, if those accounts totalled over $10K (not income but value)

You may not have anything to do.
nelsona non grata. Non pro. Please Search previous posts, no situation is unique as you might think. Happy Browsing :D
Nathan1992
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2015 7:02 pm
Location: Toronto

Post by Nathan1992 »

No, I've never accessed the RESP. It's still controlled by my grandparents since I don't need it yet. So even though my Canadian savings account made some interest while they were open, I don't need to give my dad the interest slips for him to amend his statements from the last few years? I am worried that if I fill out the FBAR information the IRS will assume that my savings account generated interest and should have been claimed as income. Thank you.
nelsona
Posts: 18311
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2004 2:33 pm
Location: Nowhere, man

Post by nelsona »

No. Children's income is not included on parents tax return. they file their own tax return if they have sufficient income. You didn't.

This is the same in canada and US.

You should be more afraid of NOT filing FBAR.
I'm done with this thread.

All the best.
nelsona non grata. Non pro. Please Search previous posts, no situation is unique as you might think. Happy Browsing :D
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