Serbinski Accounting Firms

Thank you NELSONA for your answer…I’m very grateful for your help. The US company they did put me to fill in the W8-BEN form, at the beginning, after I received the SSN from the US Administration. In my case, since they didn’t pay me with a 1099, I’m assuming that was the wrong form. What do...

Thank you NELSONA for your fast answer and for sharing with us your expertise. I’m very grateful for your help. The reason I posted my thread was the confusion in which IRS put me this morning. I call IRS this morning, before using this forum, and I spoke with an IRS officer about my situation as ...

First of all I wish to thank in advance for anyone who’s helping me having an answer to my questions.

A little bit of history now just to describe the “big pictureâ€￾:
-I’m a Canadian citizen and I worked last year (2008) in US under TN Visa (CSA classification) for an US company; first time ever working in US.
-Based on TN Visa I’ve also get a US Social Security Number from the US Administration;
-I was hired by the US company on a corp-to-corp agreement as independent contractor (not incorporated) and NOT as an employee; I’m responsible for all tax payments in US and Canada;
- Working period was LESS than 6 months;
-The the US company wired the full amount of my services directly in my Canadian bank account and in exchange, I provided them with bills for every bank transaction.
- I was supporting by myself all expenses related to my contract in US: hotel, car rental, meal, local transportation and regular visits to my family in Canada (once per month);
-All this period my wife stayed and worked back home in Canada. Our child stayed home with my wife.
-At the end of the US contract, I come back home in Canada and give back the I-94 card at the US border; I never worked in US since;

Based on my contract terms (contractor an not employee) the US company wasn’t able to provide this year with a 1099 form and seems to me that they don’t know what form to release for my services, if there is any.
I’m ready to file my Canadian income tax for the year 2008, but I don’t know how to proceed with the revenue from US from IRS point of view in order to avoid double taxation.

Questions:
-Do I need to fill in an US income tax to IRS for year 2008?
-If yes, what form should I ask from the US company and what form should I fill in for IRS?
-On which income tax declaration I have to claim the NAFTA treaty between Ca-US in order to avoid double taxation: on Canadian income tax declaration or US income tax declaration?

Thank you in advance for you precious help…It's helpful for anybody using this valuable site.

[quote="nelsona"]It doesn't matter where you cash the check, and never has. This is a dangerous fallacy. If you are resident in US or taxable on your US income, where the money goes is immaterial. Whomever told you this may have had ulterior motives (like paying you less than they should)....

I’m a Canadian citizen under TN visa in US since Feb. 21st, 2008. It is my first time working in US. From Jan 1st, 2008 until Feb. 21st, 2008 I didn’t have any income in Canada. Status in US: •TN visa holder since Feb. 21st, 2008; first time working in US; •I was hired by the US company as i...