Serbinski Accounting Firms

Hello, Dual US/Canadian citizen, US resident with LIF and RRIF accounts in distribution and upcoming social security application. I am also receiving CPP and OAS, but the CPP is small and will not incur the full impact of WEP on my social security payment. The OAS is not subject to WEP as per the SS...

Hi, my wife and I are US residents / dual citizens and have each had an RRSP and a LIRA account at TD Direct Investing (four accounts in total) for many years. Last July, we converted these RRSP and a LIRA accounts to RRIF's and LIF's respectively. We did not receive any funds from either the old ac...

Thank you, nelsona. Unfortunately, that makes sense.

With regard to your reply to andydc regarding collapsing a LIRA: My wife and I both created Locked-in RRSP's before leaving Canada and now permanently reside in the US. My account was originally funded by a defined-contribution plan in Canada. I contributed and my employer matched a percentage. When...

OK, thanks! This leads me to ask some more questions: I intend to convert the RRSPs to RRIFs and then draw out the maximum yearly amount allowed and still limit Canadian withholding tax to 15%. 1. Some of your earlier post replies state to always check the "beneficiary" box rather than &qu...

Hi, I'm a US resident and citizen, with RRSP/LIRA's in Canada. I have been deferring taxes on account appreciation each tax year using the required forms. When I finally begin to withdraw assets from these plans at retirement, is all the gain over and above basis cost treated as taxable income (stra...

Hi NelsonA, Thank you for that information. I have two questions: 1. Can a similar transfer from a LIRA to an RRSP be done with plans that fall under Quebec jurisdiction? 2. What would be the advantage of transferring from a LIRA to an RRSP? Best regards. I think your forum is great, and I appreciat...

Hi NelsonA, I apologize for barging in on CadMan's thread and causing confusion. I am now a US citizen. If I can paraphrase your response, my US-tax exempt basis on moving from Canada to US includes employer contributions and crystallized earnings. After moving to US, any Canadian employer contribut...

Hi NelsonA, Ouch! Did I read your response correctly? That only MY contributions to an RRSP/LIRA while residing in Canada are excluded from US taxes on withdrawal? So if I had a locked-in RRSP (LIRA) when I left Canada, my employer's contributions to that plan are not basis cost? Does this mean that...

Also, I am trying to enter the taxable (pension) income in Turbo Tax. it keeps asking me for a form 1099R. I did not get a form, just a check with infromation about how much Canadian Federal tax was withheld (total withheld was $1,031.41). Where do I enter the taxable pension income? Also, do I clai...

Thank you for the clarification. The Canadian tax was withheld at 25%. Also, on which line of the 8891 would I note the additional contribution? On line 9?

I left Canada in 1999 and am now a US citizen. Prior to my departure, the commuted value of my Canadian employer pension was rolled over into a locked-in RRSP. Each year, I have filed a form 8891 deferring taxes on the earnings in the plan. In 2008 I received notice that my ex-employer had erred in ...

Hello Nelsona, I have been in the US since 1999. In 2004, I realized I had not filed any tax deferment forms for my RRSPs for 2000 to 2002 (a deferment statement had been appended to my 1999 tax return). In the same year (2004), I sent a letter to the IRS explaining this and appending the Rev Proc 2...

Thank you so much! One more thing. How are the annual withdrawals to be accounted in terms of the taxed versus untaxed portion? Is the taxable amount removed first, or the tax free amount first, or is it on a pro rata basis, according to the proportion of each in the plan? Since I have two RRSPs, do...

I emigrated from Canada to the US is 1999. In the tax return filed for 1999, the accountant who prepared the return added a statement to the US 1040 that "The taxpayer and spouse hereby elect to defer tax on accrued income on Canadian trusts in which they are beneficiaries which are intended to...