Serbinski Accounting Firms

I would really like to hear someone's opinion. The question is whether I can redundantly apply online for an extension (I have already applied by post-office-confirmed-received mail) but have received no response from the IRS: will I get in trouble for effectively now submitting two 4868 forms (per ...

I mailed form 4868 (Extension of Time to File), and I have online confirmation that it was received March 23 (I sent it by expresspost).

But as of yet I have received no response from the IRS confirming the extension.

Should I re-file form 4868 online?

@JY: The form 8621 instructions I downloaded don't cover section 1298(f). Where did you find the instructions for 1298(f)?

It was entered as Other Income, because that's what made the most sense to my accountant. And that's despite the fact that the IRS international-tax advisor in Puerto Rico told him (by phone) to put it in with excludable earned income. Getting "information" from the IRS is perilous. Incide...

Thank you!

Yes, severance pay. And I reported it as income on all my returns, Canadian, Quebec, and US.

@DougF: (a) I thought that to use mark-to-market, your Cdn mutual fund corporations had to each send you written information satisfying specific U.S. IRS requirements. Did you actually receive such information? (b) Since Cdn mutual funds have only recently become PFICs, and since they are governed u...

@nelsona as regards your point 1:

In a buyout, I received a $30K lump sum that I was free to take as cash or to have (legally) deposited into my RRSP. That $30K did not in any way reduce my pension nor come out of my pension. That $30K was mine; shouldn't it count as part of my cost of investment?

@jenfin re point (a): a Private Foreign Investment Corporation is a corporation. Canadian mutual funds were not corporations in U.S. eyes until a court judgment in 2010. So they are now corporations and thus PFICs, but they weren't before. The taxation of foreign mutual funds as PFICs began with the...

As regards filing US form 8621 for Canadian mutual funds held by a US person: (a) Canadian mutual funds (newly declared "corporations") are governed by US Code section 1298(f). (b) The current US form 8621 (downloaded today) does not cover section 1298(f). (c) IRS notice 2011-55 says that ...

==> The year does matter: that's what determines the exchange rate used. <== The 89-45s: I did them wrong. The 89-45s only required an updated *total* contribution, and every year I took the *cumulative* Canadian-dollar contribution and then multiplied it by the current year's exchange rate. That's ...

Hello, In compiling a history of past contributions to my RRIF for US tax purposes, I have a question about which year I attribute a contribution to. Example: in July 1993 I contributed $1000 to an RRSP; in February 1994 I contributed $2000 to the same RRSP. For Canadian taxes, that produced a $3000...

Thank you nelsona and JGCA!

Yes, lifelong USC. Since only the contributions count, it's doable, so I'll do it. Gauvin's table is a help -- thank you. I can modify it to suit my situation. Question: can I get away with using the average annual exchange rate every year, despite the fact that many of the yearly contributions were...

Why declare more income than I need to? I have to admit that it's because going back through 40 years of records to total up all the cash contributions, each converted to US dollars, is a daunting task. I have held more than a dozen different RRSPs, now all coalesced into one RRIF. Do I have to prod...

Hello, It has been explained in previous posts how to calculate the US-taxable and non-US-taxable portions of a Canadian RRIF withdrawal for a US citizen living in Canada. First question: does this affect the Canada-paid tax I declare on US form 1116? Fictional example (figures in US dollars): RRIF ...