Serbinski Accounting Firms

Since we are filing as if she were a full-time U.S. resident does it look suspicious that her business is listed in Canada? I will not be filing for the foreign income exclusion so the IRS may wonder if she worked in the U.S. while she was not legally able to work in the U.S. The foreign earned ...

Does it matter that her business has a Canadian address (since we're not filing the statement)?

Okay great -- thanks again. We got her a SSN since she now has her EAD so that should be fine for filing.

Thanks as always Nelson.

Is there a reason you suggest not submitting the statement? Not submitting would allow me to e-file but I want to make sure it wouldn't cause any delays.

Sorry about the quotes.

Nelson, can you clarify your answer?

I spoke with an IRS agent and they told me that I should report her business income normally as I would if she had earned the income in the U.S. (using Schedule C).

Is that correct?

[quote="panek"]Hi there,

I am trying to file a joint return with my wife who was a U.S. non-resident for part of 2016. I was a U.S. resident for the full year. I would like to treat her as a U.S. resident for the full year to simplify our return.

My understanding is I attach a signed statement to ...

[quote="panek"]I should clarify that my wife actually was a resident alien in 2016 so it's not clear whether the declaration is necessary (it seems that only applies to non-resident spouses).[/quote]

Nevermind, it seems that the same applies to dual-status aliens married to residents/citizens so I ...

I should clarify that my wife actually was a resident alien in 2016 so it's not clear whether the declaration is necessary (it seems that only applies to non-resident spouses).

Hi there,

I am trying to file a joint return with my wife who was a U.S. non-resident for part of 2016. I was a U.S. resident for the full year. I would like to treat her as a U.S. resident for the full year to simplify our return.

My understanding is I attach a signed statement to my return ...

[quote="nelsona"]Your pension was not really your account, so was not subject to FBAR, besides, FBAR doesn't look for 'commuted annual value", that is for FATCA, which you do need to report.

But now that it will be a LIRA, you will have no problem knowing its value for bothe FATCA and FBAR.[/quote ...

Ouch... yeah that's painful... looking at upwards of 45%

It's probably better to leave as is -- especially with earnings of LIRA/RRSP being taxed in California.

I think we've touched on this before but I have not been reporting my pension on the FBAR because I don't have an easy way to find it's ...

Seems it would be taxed 25% on the Canadian side. What I really want to know is how much the tax obligation would be on the US side. Looking for ballpark figure but it seems like the total tax obligation (US + Canada) would be significantly more than 25%. Is there anyway to minimize the US obligation?

Hi there,

I'm considering transferring my deferred pension into a LIRA. I can only transfer about 65% of it with the difference being paid to me in cash less withholding tax.

I'm trying to figure out the tax implications of the withholding.

I'm currently a resident of California on a TN (non ...

Thanks Nelson. Just realized that as well. Since the services were performed outside of Canada, no withholding necessary.

So it sounds like I simply complete a non-resident return and claim a treaty exemption on my Canadian return and simply claim the foreign income on my US return. Any hints as ...

It seems that I can apply for a waiver from Regulation 105 15% withholding. If I do so, do I need to make any treaty notifications on my US return or do I just report as foreign income with no foreign income exemptions?