Serbinski Accounting Firms

What if I lose my job and visa and have to move back to Canada? Do you think I have to cash in my I-Bonds or does the fact that I was a tax-resident when I purchased them mean that I can keep them?

Thanks. As for the armed forces: of course there's a reason! Like all goverment agencies they are lazy, so they just ship out the Ontario version. Actually, the bases in Germany were little Ontarios: the schools had the Ontario curriculum. Actually, although the taxes were calculated for Ontario, no...

I moved to the US on May 2, 2005. so I have to do both U.S. and Canadian tax returns. I had lived in Vancouver for many years, filing my T1 for BC residents annually like everybody else. I moved directly from Vancouver to San Francisco. Imagine my surprise when I received in my San Francisco mailbox...

Thanks for the advice. Is it the 1040NR that I file? I believe I file the regular 1040, with a residency starting date as determined by the substantial presence test. N'est ce pas? Or perhaps the U.S. tax software does not have the flexibility to have any start date other than January 1.

I am trying to determine whether my reach exceeds my grasp, with respect to completing my taxes. I'm a Canadian citizen who moved to the California on May 2, 2005 to start work (TN1). Wife also Canadian but doesn't work (TD1). Plan to file 1040 as married joint. When I lived in Canada I always used ...

It looks like when you post a reply to a topic, it gets sorted by the date of the reply, not the original posting. Not sure if this is new or not.

Do you mean that you have been getting a new TN1 visa every year with the same company? Can you not have them get you an H1B? I ask because I do not think you are making much progress towards a green card if you just get a new TN1 annually, especially because the border guard can turn you down on a ...

Thanks, that is great news. I'm glad I asked. My info came from the horse's mouth, i.e. the TreasuryDirect help desk. I've got quite a little e-mail thread going with a lady there and she referred me to the relevant sections of the U.S.C.

A desperate question from one who fears inflation... A "U.S. Person" can invest up to $30K annually in a US savings bond that has an inflation-adjusted, real return. It's called an "I Bond". One opens an account directly with the US Treasury via a service called TreasuryDirect. (...

Spoke to a chap at CRA Int'l Tax Svcs in Ottawa - just to change my mailing address, and I asked him. He had never heard of an HSA so he searched for few minutes on his database and came up with a blank. I think I'll invest in my HSA and let it go for now with CRA. I don't know how long I'll be in t...

Thanks, I was aware that the contribution is related to the deductible of the policy, but I wanted to keep my post simple because it's not the $ amount that concerns me but the tax treatment in Canada.

In 2003, President Bush signed the Medicare Modernization Act, which allowed working-age folks to get out of PPOs and HMOs by purchasing a high-deductible health insurance plan and also opening up a Health Spending Account, which allows up to approx. $5125 annual contributions. One may pay medical b...

Norbert, are you able to give orders from Canada to TD Waterhouse USA to trade securities within your IRA or is TD Waterhouse USA only happy to mail you statements in Canada? (What with Ameritrade taking over TD Waterhouse USA, and TD taking over Ameritrade Canada, I'm sure everything will get all s...

If I have a Roth IRA, and plan to move back to Canada, can I transfer the Roth IRA to a non-deductible IRA before I move back to Canada? (I suspect not, because it would change my US taxable income for previous years, requiring me to re-submit those 1040's, wouldn't it?)

Nelsona, thanks for the advice. I now understand the US situation quite well, but you've confused me on the Canadian one! In your first reply in this thread, you pointed out that CRA taxes Canadian residents via annual accrual on strips. That's why Canadian residents don't tend to own them in unshel...