Serbinski Accounting Firms

"I would not make that conclusion. You may be right, however when CRA means US IRA's they typically say so." Sorry to push back a little bit on this one, but when I go paragraph (a) in subsection 233.2(1), the definition of "exempt trust" is as follows: "exempt trust means (...

Nelsona said, "...there is no exception to US pensions of any sort being reported this year. They all are reportable on T1135." I would think that US pensions (including all IRAs) would be considered "an interest in a trust described in paragraph (a) or (b) of the definition of "...

Thanks rlb!

Does anybody know about the free software makers such as StudioTax or TaxFreeway? (Hey, if I am going to switch next year, maybe I can save a few bucks!)

Interesting (and disappointing) that Ufile would put this restriction. Oh well. Thank you for confirming that the full 25% FTC should go on form 2209.

Do you know if there is any other Cdn tax software that does this correctly and allows users to claim the full 25% FTC as required?

I know from reading this forum that Canada now allows FTC for the 10% penalty tax when a resident withdraws funds early from an IRA. I am playing around with Ufile trying to figure out how much I would need to withdraw to get my average Cdn tax rate up to 25% and use the full US withholding (15% tre...

That offers some comfort; however, I wonder how these experts arrived at their conclusion? The old T1135 instructions explicitly exempted U.S. IRA accounts. All that wording has been deleted and there are no references to pension assets in the FAQs. Is this just careless drafting on the part of CRA ...

It looks like the CRA has a significantly revised form T1135 (Foreign Income Verification Statement) for 2013 filings. I seem to recall that the old T1135 specifically exempted U.S. IRA accounts. The new form makes no reference to IRA's or other foreign pension assets. Do IRA assets now count toward...

According to the IRS website, beginning July 1, 2013 only electronic FBARs and mandatory and paper will be accepted: http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Report-of-Foreign-Bank-and-Financial-Accounts-(FBAR) This seems a ridiculous but it does appear to impact individual...

"US periodic pension withdrawals are limited to 15% for Cdn residents"

Just curious, do they have to be "periodic" or does the same 15% rate apply for lump sum distributions?

Does the decision impact the need to file any other forms? i.e. 8891 for RRSPs, 8938 foreign assets, or FBAR. Leaning towards the known (1040) versus the unknown (1040NR with 1040 attached). Been through the full year 1040 many times. Shouldn't be a big stretch to add a few dollars to the re-sourced...

Hi Nelsona, Single, no children. Earned income is less than the FEIE, so really the only US taxable earned income is 3 days worth at conference. Since there is enough passive income to use all of the standard deduction/exemption, I think this would mean US taxable, right? There will already be a 111...

Hi Nelsona, That is good news. How does one go about using the $10k treaty exclusion to avoid US tax on that income? In part II of the 2555 on line 14, it asks for "days in US on business" and "income earned in US on business". Can she just put 3 days and $0 earned since the doll...

The situation is a former CDN/US dual citizen who renounced US citizenship earlier in the year. After the renunciation date, her employer sends her to the US for a conference. She doesn't not make any money on this trip other than her normal Canadian salary. 1) If she does a full year US return for ...

Did they say how long you have to move or close your IRA? Did they give you any options? What happens if they don't hear back from you?

Hi Nelsona, Thanks for the response. Great advice! For what it's worth, my understanding is that custodians are required to withhold 15% by virtue of the funds going to Canada (or 30% if it's going to a non-treaty country), regardless of whether the distribution is "qualified" or not. But ...