Serbinski Accounting Firms

There seems to be so much analysis of whether or not RESPs are trusts in Canadian vs. US law. The IRS seems to have no official position on them, and they have been excluded from FATCA reporting. I will just throw this out there for thought: Does the IRS care? Has anyone in Canada had the IRS make ...

So the "trust" component is small in the end, but the Part III paperwork is still required because there's no getting around EAP.

This thread confuses the issue for me somewhat:
http://www.justanswer.com/tax/7m6zb-question-form-3520a-pls-if-us-citizen-turns.html

I could find nothing in the ...

Yeah, kinda messy. Thanks to you both.

I agree with all of the comments above. There is no downside. I was in exactly the same scenario as the OP in the mid 90s. I came close to returning, but ultimately did not. Going through that process is not without an emotional element. You may feel more Canadian, whether you want to or not, while ...

So is the distribution treated simply as a gift (part IV of form 3520) or as a foreign trust distribution (part III of 3250)?

MGeorge -- so how do you think this would work then for a US citizen child of Canadian-only citizens? As non-resident aliens, there is no obligation for the owner of the RESP to report to the IRS. However, the child then withdraws and reports to the IRS -- but no income was reported or paid up to ...

Regarding what US expats can safely invest in, the article here: http://profile.rbcwealthmanagement.com/mark.thompson/page_53811 says the following:
"Alternatively, if you want mutual fund type investments, you can invest in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) trading on the NYSE as they are generally not ...

I think nelsona's tag of "urgent" is appropriate. This is no small thing in the IRS tax world. Before, you could just quietly send everything in, now you need relief for the 8891, which moves things from "quiet" to "noisy." The question I have is, will they only enforce this policy with the December ...

Sorry, meant to write "without other recourse" above.

The recent HIRE act redefines the beneficiary reporting requirements. Anyone who has an RESP and US citizen children should become familiar with that act.

nelsona wrote: "Your children are US citizens. Period."

As an aside, I find it interesting that a parent CAN acquire US citizenship for minor ...

I am not qualified to answer your question about form 3520; however, form 720 addresses foreign life insurance.

Foreign life insurance premiums are technically taxable (see form 720). I've read that few cross-border tax experts are aware of this one.

Nelsona -- good clarification, thanks.

Though I am not a lawyer, it's important for US citizens to keep up with the law on the RESP issue (among all the other issues, such as the all new FBAR-type new filing requirements).

Technically, the latest changes on trust law will disallow a simple transfer of your RESP to your Canadian spouse ...

The answer may depend on whether you're in Canada or the US (or CRA versus the IRS):

http://www.cle.bc.ca/Practice%20Points/ ... criber.pdf