Serbinski Accounting Firms

Thank you for the detailed response. Your recommendation of avoiding TFSAs and RESPs is wise. Unfortunately, it's too late for me, as I opened my TFSA last year.

It's not necessarily ridiculous to want to shelter some interest income, which is taxed at higher rates than dividends or capital gains ...

That Canadian court of appeals case argues the exact opposite -- that a savings account would not be a trust. I'll quote:

"The mere name retirement savings plan is not in and of itself a legal form giving any privilege whatsoever."

meaning it doesn't have to be a trust, but ...

"The existence of ...

Regarding my earlier comment about Hutcheson, I'm sure that they file Form 3520 only when necessary. And if their article skews to the scary side, all the better, because many U.S. citizens living abroad are not scared enough. I wish more accounting firms would do the same. It might help fill the ...

I opened my TFSA as a simple high-interest savings account (originally making 2 percent interest) for three reasons: (1) so that it was CDIC insured, (2) because I want no possibility for losses, as I might need the money, and most importantly, (3) explicitly to avoid any possible additional U.S ...

I called ING Direct and they said it's not a trust. They said it's a savings deposit account registered with the Canadian Government as a Tax-Free Savings Account. They offered to transfer me to the mutual fund department if I would like to open a TFSA in the form of a trust. I then spoke with their ...

Sorry, that should have been Forms 3520 and 3520-A (not 3250) in my previous post.

- Form 3520, Annual Return To Report Transactions With Foreign Trusts and Receipt of Certain Foreign Gifts
- Form 3520-A, Annual Information Return of Foreign Trust With a U.S. Owner

I'm just having trouble ...

My TFSA is not a trust and has no trustee. It's a deposit account earning 1.5 percent interest at ING Direct:

Tax-Free Investment Savings Account (TFSA)
http://www.ingdirect.ca/en/save-invest/tfsa/index.html

Other Tax-Free Savings Accounts at ING Direct are trusts, such as their Tax-Free Mutual ...