Serbinski Accounting Firms

Be cautious. We had no problem with Chrysler, but Ford Credit Canada was initially adamant that we had to pay off our loan. Luckily, my move was a corporate relocation. When I got stuck, a call from the auto shipper's legal troubleshooter persuaded Ford Credit to be more helpful. I doubt I would hav...

I did the same thing in reverse (moved to US with Canadian car and Canadian car loan). In fact we had two vehicles both with manufacturer financing - one Ford, one Chrysler. Both loan agreements stated that you can't relocate the vehicle out of province - let alone out of the country - except by per...

I have a "regular" (not self-directed) RRSP with an MFDA (not IDA) member company. When I moved from Canada to Georgia in 2002, Georgia was one of the few remaining states not allowing residents to manage self-directed RRSPs in Canada. Therefore I had little choice but to let my RRSP sit. ...

Just to elaborate slightly on Nelson's advice, the Canadian grandparents can open an RESP for your child. Since they're actually funding the contributions, this is the obvious strategy. Once the grandparents have opened their RESP, you can simply transfer the existing RESP into the new one (because ...

That one (Visa Journey) is for family-based immigration to the US.

Grasmick's forum was for Canadians in or entering the US on employment-based statuses.

Just a comment on webcite's claim to "work virtually for a US company." Yes, this is pretty common. However, I'm pretty sure neither Canadian nor US tax law has any notion of virtual locations. If your body is physically present in Canada, you're working in Canada, even if you do all your ...

There is a special provision allowing severance to be rolled directly into an RRSP. See e.g. http://www.davis.ca/publications/2003-1 ... yments.pdf

Original poster referred to spouse as "he". It's conceivable that our working professional is female and the dependent spouse is male, no?

Last I heard, the only way you could get an ITIN is to apply for in conjunction with your (spouse's) tax return filing. A few years ago, one applied for ITINs separately, but then the rules changed completely. Unless there has been another change (Mark? anyone?) then you'll simply have to apply for ...

About TurboTax and QuickTax, a friend told me that they know about each other and work together quite well if you have to file in both countries. This is strictly hearsay on my part, but I think the friend was trustworthy. She's a US citizen, husband Canadian, when they moved from Canada to the US h...

That seems to be what Nelson plainly stated a few posts above. I recommend trusting Nelson's advice - he's extremely knowledgeable.

Since there's no provision concerning 529s in the Canada-US tax treaty, tax experts say that a Canadian resident funding a 529 should be paying tax on the earnings, on a year-by-year basis. Then the US is going to tax the earnings on withdrawal! You're mistaken about "full tax deductibility of ...

Certainly 529 plans can be used for studying at foreign (non-US) universities. The problem with both 529s and RESPs, for the family that moves between Canada and the US, is that neither country recognizes the other's plan as tax-sheltered. If the NY relatives are offering to fund the 529, then that ...

Another favourable report on customhouse: My dad got a draft from customhouse to move some money from C$ to US$ recently. He said the rate was a worthwhile amount better than the Canadian banks. There was no problem negotiating the draft at a US bank.

Like andied, I got rid of my RESP rather than take on IRS hassles after moving to the US. In addition to the 3520 issue, since there's no provision for education savings plans in the US-Canada tax treaty, RESP income has to be declared annually and taxes paid to the IRS. While both RESPs in Canada a...