Serbinski Accounting Firms

Thanks for the reply. I'm surprised Canadian taxes are withheld from Cdn dividends paid in a US IRA (even a Roth). Are US taxes withheld from US stock dividends paid to an RRSP? For some reason I thought holding in a retirement account made the withholding go away (by treaty?).

I'm not sure if my question was unclear or not. I might have made it too complicated or specific to my situation so let's forget about the Roth for a second. Here's my rephrased question.... Question: Can a Canadian resident claim the Canadian dividend tax credit for dividends received on a Canadian...

As a Cdn resident (dual citizen) with a Roth IRA, I'm trying to figure out the best investments to have in it given that earnings are only taxed in Canada. I'm thinking that Cdn stocks interlisted on the NYSE might be the best bet (e.g. large Cdn bank/resource stocks). But here's the question: Is th...

"As to withholding, Cdn brokers don't withhold from cdn residents. They do withhold from US citizens who do not provide them with W-9." Nelsona, I just read some new information on this topic which made me question the above statement. It appears that Cdn brokers *do* withhold from Canadia...

"the IRS won't care, since you will pay your taxes."

I think that really answers the core of my questions. Sounds like the whole situation is another example of onerous and costly reporting/paperwork (with negligible impact/value) driven by the IRS. Sigh.

Thank you!

I never mentioned anything to the Cdn brokerage about being a US citizen. They sent me a form after I moved back from USA saying I needed to send them either proof of Canadian residency and, if a US person, a completed W9. My instinct is to just go with the Canadian residency and skip the W9 (and re...

As a dual citizen (US & Cdn) residing in Canada I will soon be opening both a Cdn brokerage account and a Canadian brokerage RRSP. The application material for the major Cdn brokerages indicates that I will need to provide proof of Canadian residency and (as a US citizen) a completed form W-9 al...

So what you're saying is that (even as a USC), it will always make sense to use FEIE (instead of FTC) for earned income after moving to Canada. Therefore, any deductions (including mortgage interest, moving expenses, etc) are only relevant if they occured prior to becoming a Canadian resident(and co...

Is there not a scenario where it might make sense to use the 1116 FTCs instead of the FEIE? (In particular I'm thinking of my situation as a USC.) In this case, the moving expenses would be useful on the 1040, wouldn't they?

Thanks for the clarification. This helps a lot. For shares of a company, it is now clear to me that the source of income depends on where the company is headquartered. In the case of Nortel, EnCana or BMO, I gains would be considered Canadian-based even if the stock was purchased in USD on NYSE. Als...

Nelsona, I found the thread that seems to be contradictory (at least to me): http://forums.serbinski.com/viewtopic.php?t=1511&start=0 In your first post, you state "3. Your cap gains are condsidered to be sourced where you reside, not where the brokerage is located. Your cap gains will all ...

Nelsona, I could have sworn that you previously said (on another thread) that as a Canadian resident, all capital gains are considered Canadian sourced (not US sourced) and that only US dividends and interest are considered US sourced. The US tax on interest & dividends gets recovered at treaty ...

As I understand the new rules, you now have to have a [u]passport[/u] to cross the border. That's the only reason I figured the Canadian authorities would want to see a passport (even if it was a US one). Either way, it sounds like the citizenship card is the key document. Thanks.

I am a dual citizen (US & Canadian) that plans to move permanently from the US back to Canada in the near future. My Canadian passport is expired and I'm not sure there is enough time to renew prior to the move (especially given the current passport backlog). Can I enter Canada (become a residen...

I think that as a US citizen you may still want to contribute to a Roth IRA. While it is virtually useless in Canada since the CRA taxes income inside a Roth, it will be nice to have if/when you move back to the US. As I understand it, in order to contribute the full amount to a Roth you need to hav...