Serbinski Accounting Firms

In a situation like kayanat wrote about 3 years ago, what's to stop the couple from simply saying that the non-U.S. spouse owned the ticket? Is that perfectly fine?

Thanks -- I was getting the 10% from article XVII.1 of the Canada-U.S. tax treaty, on "personal services". Is it because it says "on account of tax liability" that it would not apply, or...?

Also, the reason I turned to 8233 was because the W-8BEN instructions say not to use the W-8BEN if "You are ...

My Canadian wife is not a U.S. person, but recently spoke at an academic conference in the U.S. The conference has offered to reimburse her for expenses. They initially asked her to fill out a W-9 form, then said that in fact she should go and find the appropriate W-8 form.

Since she was being ...

To be clear, are holders of any Canadian mutual funds (not necessarily part of a TFSA) required to file all three of the 3520, 3520A and 8621 every year?

So, so much needless paperwork.

It is a separate form - http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f90221.pdf

It's actually not all that difficult to fill out if you have all your banking information handy for every account, at every point in the year. With online banking this is not too difficult, but it still takes a little while to do ...

In its voraciousness to shake money out of foreign residents, even the IRS has a minimum income amount before which one need not file taxes. In 2010, for a dependent child, the minimum to require a return was:


Unearned income > $950. OR

Earned income > $5,700. OR

Gross income was more than the ...

Thanks for both your comments.

Nelsona, to be clear, I am in the exact same position as ACA -- I *have* been reporting its income as interest income to the IRS, and it is the identical ING simple tax-free savings account, like any other savings account.

It is the Hutcheson article that I also came ...

I recently read about the IRS requiring form 3520 for TFSAs and ruling that mutual funds may require form 8621. (I say may, but in practice my fund has no idea how the IRS characterizes it, so I imagine I have to assume it is one).

1) How on earth could a TFSA savings account be a "foreign trust ...

If you want a story of someone who has filed catch-up returns without incident -- here is one.

I filed years 2004-2009 last year all at once, as well as FBARs, and have not heard anything. When I filed this year I also applied for an ITIN for my daughter and received one, so (I hope!) this is a ...

The main problem I have with 1116 -- though I don't think it would matter this year -- concerns where I have paid substantially less Canadian taxes due to RRSP contributions. I believe last year, for instance, I would have had U.S. tax liability if I had gone with a credit for this reason. By simply ...

I thought the 1040 was still due in June unless I apply for the automatic extension?

A tax calculator suggested that I wouldn't get all that much back for the child tax credit anyway, so I think I'd rather not revoke the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion for the time being.

If ever my unearned ...

Thanks for your advice. I read that elsewhere about Passport Canada on an accounting firm's site, but couldn't find any official source on this. DFAIT's authentication seemed to be the closest analogue. I'm much happier to go to Passport Canada. You know of people having had success with this ...

Or as a follow-up question -- need I claim her as a dependent at all? Is there anything wrong with simply leaving her off the form if I don't need the exemption?

My daughter (born 2010) is not a U.S. citizen even though I am, and as such does not have an SSN. Because she is a Canadian national, she is a qualifying dependent, but I am not claiming the child tax credit for her.

She is listed on line 6c, and therefore I am granted an exemption for her. I don't ...

Canadian resident (U.S. citizen) with no U.S. income -- had our first child in 2010 and spent part of the year on parental leave.

How would I report parental leave earnings from a T4E to the IRS?

Thanks!