Serbinski Accounting Firms

Hoping you can all help me think through a solution.

Husband is dual US/Canadian citizen, I am Cdn and we reside in Canada (permanently).

We have some GICs maturing in the next year (originating from hubby's income) and trying to decide where to invest the money. His RRSP and my TFSA are maxed ...

Excellent post. Nice refresher for this year's 3520-As :)

One thing that has always confused me -- why is there a space for Accumulated trust income in Part III for "Beginning of Tax Year"? Shouldn't this number always be zero, since last year's income gets moved up to the Contributions space in ...

I am non-US and my husband and daughter are USCs.

Previously we had a RESP with my husband as owner and filed a 3250 & 3250-A each year, reporting the CESG on his Schedule B as passive income. We closed that account and opened one in my name only.

First question: How should we classify this new ...

I find that shocking... so somebody could go years, maybe even decades, deferring RRSP income and then stop filing with their US spouse at retirement (or renounce their own citizenship) and never have to pay the piper. It seems bizarre that the IRS would make filers go to all the trouble of ...

It seems as though a margin account holding Cdn company shares would be a specified foreign financial asset, but does that make it a trust, reportable on the 3520, etc?

OK, you've convinced me I should defer. I'll do it starting on the 2006 amended return and cross my fingers.

Thanks for your time on this. I realize you're not pro, but you're certainly informed and I will feel better informed when I do talk to an accountant.

Also, one more thing that made me do a ...

Your point about the internal losses/gains/distributions is well taken. I have financial statements for this fund and the amount per-share for each is hard to figure out. But if they are low enough (I don't own a lot of shares) then the amounts may be less than my exemptions. Wouldn't it make sense ...

Re: RRSPs being exempt from the PFIC mess, are you saying that whenever I would go to report the income (whether now or in the future at retirement), I would need to do the 3520, etcetctec? Is that what you mean by PFIC mess?

I was reading through the 1116 instructions and I was wondering if the following applies to CCTB (found in Specific Instructions, Part I on page 15):

"Lines 1a and 1b—Foreign Gross Income

Include income in the category checked
above Part I that is taxable by the United
States and is from ...

On a related note, if I choose to never make the election for the now-defunct RRSP, would the IRS consider that I sold my "PFIC" at FMV in 2012 when I ceased to be beholden to the IRS as a NRA? If so, would it mean that I would have to pay tax on any capital gains which were unrealized (still pretty ...

That's good news about 6 years, then -- it will cover the entirety of my U.S. residence.

But if there wasn't any income in the RRSP anyway, do I need to elect at all? Couldn't I just file each year with an unelected 8891s and instead report the "income" on the amendment (income which actually doesn ...

Here's a situation I haven't read in the forums yet I hope you can help me with.

While I was a perm resident in the US from 2006-2010, I had a pre-existing RRSP with CIBC which I had no idea I needed to report via 8891. During that whole time, there were no contributions, no dividends and no ...

You're absolutely right, now that I think of it. There's a perverse logic to RESP double taxation considering the phenomenon of estate taxes.

You have a real gift for making the confusing suddenly obvious :) I enjoy your posts.

I've been reading all the RESP threads but I'm still a bit confused by something.

From what I've read so far, because RESPs are grantor trusts, if U.S. citizen parent was a subscriber, they would have to report the CESG/CLB and all dividends/interest for the year to the IRS.

However, it also ...