Serbinski Accounting Firms

Although a person also uses the general return if they are a U.S. resident (Canadian non resident) with employment income from a province (eg. U.S. resident cross border commuter to employment in Canada). In this case they use the general return for the province where they earned the employment inco...

Most U.S. citizens in Canada aren't even aware of many IRS reporting requirements (eg. trusts, RRSPs) and the ones that are likely don't worry too much about them. I have never heard of anyone filing 3520 for a mutual fund if they are a U.S. citizen living in Canada. I'm not saying don't file it, ju...

If the total amount of your RRSPs and any other accounts outside the U.S. is more than $10,000 U.S. then be sure to file TDF 90.22.1 as well (does not go with tax return though)

Cathy,

Yes,

You DO have to report the RRSPs on TD 90.22.1 since you DO have a financial interest in them if they are indeed your RRSPs.

The 3 year clock after which returns are statute barred only applies to years in which a return was filed. If no return was filed then the 3 year "rule" does not apply.

The issue of whether one needs to report a pension of this type to IRS seems to be a bit of a gray area. Is it a trust? Some would say yes, some would say no. One of the issues with the poster's situation is that they are also currently contributing to this pension. Do they need to file 3520 because...

Nelson, O.K., I see now about EI. I was thinking about it as a social security tax but I guess, as you state, that it is not one. So, would one need to file 8833 to claim CPP as a foreign tax credit under the treaty?. Any idea what part of the code is referenced as being overridden by the treaty (si...

I thought pub 514 excludes them (CPP and EI) because they are social security taxes and pub 514 says you can't use as a credit social security taxes from a country with which the U.S. has a social security agreement. <i>No deduction or credit is allowed, however, for social security taxes paid or ac...

rhollan, Go to http://www.irs.gov/businesses/international/article/0,,id=96739,00.html and read the technical explanation of the treaty (not the treaty itself). The section I referenced on Canadian social security taxes is near the beginning. Not to pound this further but I still think pub 514 treat...

So it seems that to claim CPP as a credit on the 1040 (form 1116) one must use the tax treaty. Would one use form 8833 for this? I doubt that cross border accountants bother to do this. At least in my experience they don't and Ingram's response on his forum would seem to indicate that he also does n...

Hi rhollan, I agree in your case that the credits were irrelevant, What I meant was the following: <i>No deduction or credit is allowed, however, for social security taxes paid or accrued to a foreign country with which the United States has a social security agreement. </i>. In other words, because...

rhollan, From what I remember of your posts on this topic it sounded like you directed your cpa to these conclusions, rather than the other way around, and that he agreed with your conclusions. Is this the case? As Nelson said, the tax treaty overrides what is stated in publication 514. The technica...

Thanks for the feedback Nelson. I understand the point you referenced in publication 514 and at first glance would agree. It seems that this would make sense (i.e no credit) mainly if one took advantage of the temporary 5 year posting thing to avoid paying FICA and instead paid CPP while temporarily...

There was recently some discussion about foreign tax credits on the U.S. 1040. I believe it was stated that CPP premiums could not be used as a foreign tax credit. I am confused by this assertion. Let me give an example, U.S. resident commutes to work each day in Canada, pays Canadian fed and prov t...