Serbinski Accounting Firms

<quote> <quote> Part III) I don't see how you can say this would never be used??? So what if you're the owner? When you take money out, that's a distribution, isn't it? </quote> That's a distribution, but it has no tax consequences for the owners, since they have been paying-as-they-go on the annual...

[quote="animalchin"]For those filling out 3520-A for a TFSA, what are you putting under 2a-e, it says to attach "all" documents but my TFSAs never issued any such documents. Anyone in the same situation?[/quote]

I've just been attaching everything I have, which isn't much.

I assume you mean there is some part of a Canada-U.S. tax treaty that allows me to file U.S. taxes separate from 6013(g)?

That's an interesting interpretation. According to pub. 519 the election stays into effect basically until you revoke it and once you revoke it you can't make the election again. They don't seem to leave any wiggle room. Now pub 519 is not the actual treaty but it is an official IRS document. from I...

My wife and I have been filing U.S. taxes MFJ since an accountant made the 6013(g) election for us the year we moved to the U.S. We have since returned to Canada. She is a U.S. citizen and I am not. I am trying to decide whether to revoke the election and switch to her filing MFS and wondering if I ...

Good to know. Thanks!

There is now a great thread here:
http://forums.serbinski.com/viewtopic.php?p=19169
giving some details for filling out the 3520/3520A.

In 2010 we transferred our RESPs to the grandparents who have no U.S. tax filing obligations in order to get away from these forms. Now I have to fill out the final 3520/3520A and I'm hoping to get some advice on how to report this transfer from others who may have gone through this previously. Anyb...

RESP specific info:
If any of you have to fill out these forms for RESPs there is a further complication with the CESG. The approach I have taken is to claim it as income in the year in which it is received [putting it in "other income"] but not to claim ownership of it or of any income earned by the RESP [since unlike the trust corpus I personally couldn't actually withdraw that money]. So for 3520 Part II Line 23 & 3520-A Page 3 Line 9 “Gross value of the portion of the trust treated as owned by the U.S. ownerâ€￾ we have included on these lines only the value of our personal contributions to the trust. The total contributions in CAD were converted to USD using the average exchange rate during the tax year of the form.

It's great to see some discussion about the nitty gritty of filling out these forms. Thanks hapless for the blow by blow! Last year I was totally overwhelmed facing these forms for our RESPs and ended up getting a tax accountant to fill the initial ones out for me so I could work off that. She was o...

[quote="zad886"]Now here are my questions-- 1) Do I fill out a separate 3520/3520a for each account [savings and GIC] even if it was just a transfer of the same funds in the same year? 2) Is this transfer considered a distribution? Do I fill out Part III of the form? 3) How do I treat the ...

My basic question is do Canadian Employee Pension Plans need to be reported when filing U.S. taxes and if so where/how? (I'm not referring to annuities or other payments received from plans but the plans themselves when you are still working) My situation is that I am a Canadian resident and I (and ...

[quote="cdninca"]So I am assuming that for 3520 A, the financial details of the trust are not necessary to report? Should I use the annual financial statement received from the trust to fill some of the information? Did you receive any feedback from IRS regarding the filing? [/quote] I'm n...

First the caveat - I am not an expert

1) You should only have to fill out Part II of the 3520 and be able to skip Parts I, III, & IV.

2) It also baffles me as to why a Canadian financial institution would feel any compulsion to complete forms for U.S. taxes. I raised the question with both my RESP institutions and the answers ware, not surprisingly, no.
According to form 3520, Part II:
If “No,â€￾ to the best of your ability, complete and attach a substitute Form 3520-A for the foreign trust.

3) Here's how I handled this. If your only income in the RESP is interest, the amount (converted to USD of course) should appear on the following:
* 3520-A Part II line 1
* factored into 3520-A Part III line 18
* 3520-A page 3 2010 Statement of Foreign Trust Income Attributable to U.S. Owner line 1a
* Schedule B, part I, line 1
* 1040, line 8a

Good luck!

[quote="nelsona"]This has recently expanded to the spouse of a 1040_filer even. [/quote]

I believe you've alluded to this before but I'm curious to know the source. In the instructions for the 3520 there is no indication that the spouse of a U.S. person is required to submit the form.