Serbinski Accounting Firms

A REIT is not a PFIC, but is a trust & could presumably require the filing of 3520/3520A.

Wow! Just a bit on the new reporting forms, which apparently will require listing all foreign investments:

"beginning in 2011 (for tax returns filed in 2012) there is a requirement to report all foreign investments in your tax return where the total of the maximum value those investments during ...

But holding a MF in an RRSP should eliminate the tax issue with unrealized cap gains and the need to report this as income, and the income (possibly tax exempt in Canada) from REIT's. Right?

nelsona, you wrote above "For example, last year MFs in RRSPs were exempt from these rules, not this year."

Say what? I thought I was safe keeping MF's, reit's, etc. in my RRSP, and not have to deal with all the reporting. Where can I get more info?

RE the US/Can Totalization agreement RE social security taxes,: If you are a USC and permanent resident of Canada and an employee of a Canadian company, is it necessary to obtain a "Certificate of Coverage" to be exempted from US SS taxes, or is this only for a US employer and an employee working in ...

Thanks nelsona, I thought that must be the case; I downloaded a copy of the Treaty from a link from this site, but must have been quite some time ago...thanks again.

While refreshing my memory RE handling CPP/OAS benefits (US citizen/Cdn resident), the info I have indicates only half of the benefits are exempt. Has this been amended or am I misreading?

Article XVIII, Paragraph 5:
"The United States will also exempt one-half of Canadian social security benefits ...

This is not my understanding.

from the IRS:

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p17/ch02.html#en_US_2010_publink1000170745

You are considered married for the whole year if on the last day of your tax year you and your spouse meet any one of the following tests.
You are married and living together as ...

I spoke to an international tax advisor this summer and he cautioned against a USC being named an Executor of a foreign estate for several reasons(as has nelsona). One issue I had not considered is the possibility that the IRS may consider the foreign estate to be under the jurisdiction of the IRS ...

Also, Mike, if your ING sub accounts have the same main number, with a different suffix, ("12345-A", "12345-B", etc.), you can simply report the "12345"--this was from info I received from the IRS.

The US government has become increasingly intrusive and privacy is a nice memory, but it is what it is, and I am not going to fight it. It is trivial to add another (or several) accounts on the TD-F-90. If you had an account last year, report it; if it is now a different number, report the new ...

Thanks for the info nelsona, good to know the annual contribution will be available in the future.

I was hoping perhaps one could open a foreign trust without being subject to reporting if no assets were transferred or distributed--wishful thinking...

If the TFSA is in fact a reportable trust on 3520, perhaps at some point there will an agreement in place to simplify reporting, similar to 8891 for RSP's. I am wondering if one could open a TFSA and not make a contribution, but to lock in the annual $5000 contribution limit and at some time in the ...

or so says a financial adviser for a major Cdn bank.

My adult daughter (dual citizen) was advised to open an RESP; I advised against it due to foreign trust reporting implications and my daughter then notified the financial adviser, who then sent her the following message:

"I have checked around ...

I have Turbo Tax and Taxact (just to compare and double check) and when I am entering data for FTC on form 1116, there is a box to indicate whether foreign source capital gains and foreign source qualified dividends are less than $20K. If I select this box Turbotax increases my tax payable and ...