Serbinski Accounting Firms

Thanks testone - that makes sense. I was just overthinking it!

If you have a withdrawal from a TFSA or RESP, I assume that is what the IRS calls a "distribution" on the 3520. This year, on my TFSA, I withdrew US$8 solely to see what would happen when I make larger withdrawals.

In Part III of the 3520, #24, I put in the amount of the cash withdrawal ($8) in ...

Hi all - just a yearly bump for this thread, with a question.

If you have a withdrawal from a TFSA or RESP, I assume that is what the IRS calls a "distribution" on the 3520. This year, on my TFSA, I withdrew US$8 solely to see what would happen when I make larger withdrawals.

In Part III of the ...

Thanks rafa02! I can see why software manufacturers would not put a lot of effort into forms for expatriates ... lots of work for them, for little payoff.

And, for what it's worth, the US Deluxe TurboTax is not Deluxe enough to account for a Canada-US totalization agreement for Social Security. Is there any way to note the Canada-US treaty so that it does not compute Self-employment tax (SE)?

I was able to order TurboTax from amazon.com. They didn't mind shipping it to Canada, I presume since they didn't offer it at amazon.ca. Good luck!

Darn - I was hoping that would do the trick! The only other things I could think of would be distributions (which would probably be accounted for on a higher line) or contributions (ditto). Good luck!

Perhaps the accountant has figured it out in a backwards way .. .computing the total value in US$ at the very bottom, and then subtracting out the prior year value, the investment gains, and your contributions for the year? Just a guess..

This is probably an easy one. I'm a USC living in Canada. I went to set up an RRSP at my Cdn bank. The agent set this up, and then "helpfully" also set up a TFSA for me, in case I might want one. Do I need to file a 3520 for it? It has no money in it, though I might want to use it in the future ...

That's why I do, so I'm claiming the gains every year. I haven't gotten questioned about it yet. Good luck!

Hi AliM - I'll take a swing at this, though I will defer largely to Nelsona who has about 100x as many posts as I do, and probably about 100x the expertise too. The unfortunate answer about the TFSA and RESP is that the IRS has not provided solid, clear guidance one way or the other. As such, the ...

I don't know much about the first part of your question (I'd guess it would not be a sale, but I don't know how you'd report it), but I can take a shot at the 2nd part. Yes, many funds would certainly appear to be a loss once the exchange rate is factored in. If you are going mark-to-market on 8621 ...

Great - thanks MGeorge for this! I wondered how this would work, with a faint hope that the whole thing will be resolved on its own by the IRS (ha) by 2018 when this situation occurs. (Yes, she's a USC too.) This sounds straightforward; I had heard rumblings of double taxation with it, but this ...

Hi devoidbmx, this is a really personal decision, but I can share my experience. I'm also a USC who has lived in Canada for the past 10 years (and about 8 in a prior stint). I applied for Cdn citizenship and have been a citizen for about 4 years.

As far as I can tell, there haven't been any tax ...

MGeorge - Thanks for this; I have wondered about this as well (though my distributions to my child are a couple of years away). I file the 3520/3520A on the RESP each year in my name.

I claim the gains in the RESP each year on my 8621, using mark-to-market. I don't make enough income for that to ...