Serbinski Accounting Firms

Any recommendations for an HSA brokerage who can service Canadian residents? Fidelity said that while Canadians can hold IRA and 401(k) accounts, they do not consider HSAs retirement accounts. The Fidelity HSA would remain open but securities would be restricted to liquidating trades only. Lively cl...

Thanks nelsona for the reminder!

When bring two cars on two different trips, do you know if the second car's value is "locked" at the first border crossing? And would I pay taxes and duties for the second car at the first or second border crossing?

My understanding is the CBSA only collects GST/HST and duties. ICBC collects PST when the vehicle is registered in BC.

Thanks nelsona, expert in income taxes and customs duties!

If I am considered a former resident of Canada and import two cars while moving to Canada, does the $10,000 exemption on duties and taxes apply to both cars? For example, if my cars are worth $12,000 each, would I pay duties and taxes on $2,000 for both cars, or $2,000 for the first car and $12,000 ...

If you have lots of capital gains on US property, selling during the non-resident portion of the dual-status return would save the 3.8% NIIT. On the other hand, the 1040NR Schedule A does not seem to allow claiming an itemized deduction for foreign taxes paid. Can one claim a foreign tax deduction o...

martinleroux wrote: > canadiandeserter wrote: > > Would you mind sharing which custodian would force your wife to close the > self-directed > > brokerage portion of the 401(k) plan? > > It's TIAA. Actually in her case it's a 403(b), not a 401(k). I don't know if that > makes a difference. Thank you ...

martinleroux wrote: > However, I'm not sure if this extends to self-directed brokerage accounts inside > 401(k) plans. At least in my wife's case she would have to transfer everything back > to the plan's core mutual fund options. Thank you martinleroux for sharing your experience! Would you mind sh...

Went through all of the tax treaty technical explanations on the IRS web site and found 6 countries that exempt Roth IRAs from taxation: Belgium, Canada, Chile, Malta, Poland, UK. However, only the Canadian one explicitly mentions Roth 401(k) arrangements. The others lump 401(a) plans into pensions;...

Thanks martinleroux for bringing that up! Are 401(k) accounts more likely to be kept open without restrictions compared to IRAs? My plan is to keep IRAs open at multiple brokerages so I can rollover accounts from custodians who may no longer serve non-residents in the future. TD Ameritrade used to b...

Thank you nelsona for all your help!

You are right. I think the best plan is to keep the I-bond and pay the taxes that accrue in Canada until the record inflation rate subside, since there are no other "safe" investments that provide a similar yield in Canada. I-bonds less than 5 years old have a penalty of the last 3 months ...

Thank you nelsona for the wealth of information! The taxability of Roth 401(k) distributions was especially helpful. Since my Roth IRA was opened more than 5 years ago, rolling over the Roth 401(k) balance into the Roth IRA would immediately eliminate both US and Canadian taxes if only the contribut...

What are the pros and cons of keeping a traditional 401(k) account as-is compared to rolling it over to a traditional IRA before leaving the US? Both my employer (multinational company) and custodian (Fidelity) confirmed the 401(k) account can stay open with full trading privileges after terminating...

Ah, thank you for the details on the Treasury 1099-INT. Should the 1099-INT be ignored on the 1040-NR tax return, or included with a corresponding negative adjustment in Other Income (Schedule 1 Line 8z) to make the IRS 1099-matching systems happy? Not sure if your last question was directed at me. ...