Serbinski Accounting Firms

My employer offers a share matching program. If I invest a certain amount into the company shares, they'll match that each month (max $30 a month, I believe). I'm a dual US/Cdn citizen, and live in Canada. Would I need to report the matched shares in a US return? And if so, how? I wouldn't get money...

One suggestion I received if I want to correct the 8891: use the streamlined program. Although I have already filed returns, the program says: "Amended returns submitted through this program will be treated as high risk returns and subject to examination, [b]except for those filed for the sole ...

Although I will not use that accountant again, I have sent her an email with my concerns. As previously mentioned, I know she has done US returns for other Canadians. If she is going to keep doing them, she should be aware of this issue. I'm still confident the FBARs are correct. I had all of that i...

I sent in the forms two years ago, and I sent 3 in order to "catch up." The 8891 in which I requested the election was attached to the earliest return. I have never heard anything back from the IRS. I'm pretty sure that I have sent in all the required FBARs, and that they're correct. Thank...

Nelsona - I did make the election. I did not do it properly. Do you mean I should try amending the original 8891 and seeing if they accept it? (them, actually) Or wait to see if they say anything about that first 8891, which I now know was wrong? Could be that I made it all worse in when I filed las...

Thanks for the response, Taxpoor. I have RRSPs at different institutions, so there really should have been more than one 8891. I am sure my accountant did this because she did not realize it was incorrect. She does not specialize in cross border accounting, and just offers it as an extra service. It...

I think that when my accountant helped me “catch upâ€￾ on US taxes a few years ago, she didn’t complete the 8891 correctly. Specifically, for the first 8891 where I elected to defer taxes, she didn't include a separate form for each RRSP. Instead, she just put the all the names of the institutions in the same form (and there are no account numbers listed).

I've tried to learn more since that first time I filed, and now I think this could be an issue. So now what? Should I try to correct that first 8891? I notice that there is a thread that says backfiling 8891s is no longer possible. I do not think this is backfilling because I have already filed, but I need to correct them. Is this right?

Note that I don’t owe any US taxes, and I did not on any of the previous years that I filed.

Also, that my RRSP is a group plan that includes mutual funds. Does that make a difference? I had thought the 8891 form was the right one, but now I'm second guessing everything.

I did this online last year and it worked out all right. There were some technical issues (I use Chrome, and it doesn't work well with chrome) but I eventually managed to do it.

My account has recommended that I attach my FBAR to form 8891, to show custodian/address of my RRSPs. Is this really necessary?

I guess I just don't like FBARs, and don't want to send them out more than I need to.

This summer, to "catch up" on U.S. filing, I sent in 3 U.S. tax returns, and FBARS going back to 2003. I sent the FBARS with a cover letter explaining that I'd never sent them in before because I didn't know I was supposed to (I've lived in Canada since I was a baby, and have no ties to th...

If I'm understanding this properly, Nelsona, you are saying that if you are sending in three years of tax returns to "catch up" you should only send in three years of FBARs. I have already sent in FBARs going back to 2003, and three years of US returns to "catch up". Should I do ...

I have been trying to figure out for months now what this means, and I'm afraid I'm not getting any closer to understanding. I"m a dual citizen, and I've lived in Canada for 44 years. I'm 45. Never filed US tax returns, though I always file Canadian returns. I "caught up" (I think. I ...