IRS RRSP Cost Basis

[cnunnen]

In the case of a Canadian taking up U.S. residency, does the IRS view the cost basis of RRSP assets as the fair market value of those assets on the day the person moves or the original purchase price?

How the cost basis communicated to the IRS?

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[nelsona]

The cost basis is the book value (ie. the adjusted cost basis) on the day you became taxable in US, which is either your arrival date if you file a dual-status return, or January 1 of the year you fike a full-fledged 1040.
It is not communicated to IRS. You keep track of it until you begin taking withdrawals from RRSP/RRIF.

[cnunnen]

Thanks, understood.

As a TN visa & soon-to-be H-1B visa holder who satisfies A) through D) of Rev. Proc. 2014–55 Section 4.01, I am an eligible individual, and therefore am not required to file an election for tax deferral now that Form 8891 is obsolete.

I'll continue the annual reporting of the maximum value of the RRSP on Forms 114 and 8938 while manually tracking the yearly realized capital gains/losses + dividends, which are subject to U.S. tax, but will be tax deferred until the [i]income[/i] portion of the plan is distributed, hopefully at retirement.

[nelsona]

There really is no need to "track" gains. The gains are simply everything over the arrival book value.

When you take distributions it will simply be a mix of the gains and the cost basis. No need to complicate things,