Filing taxes after returning to Canada from US

[JoeBlow25]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the advice I've been reading, very informative.

Here is my situation:
I moved to the US from Canada in 2002 and obtained a green card while I was living and working in the US. I moved back to Canada in April of 2011. In July of 2011 I surrendered my green card to Homeland Security since we no longer have any intention of returning to live in the US.

My wife moved back to Canada permanently in October of 2010 and did not surrender her green card until January of 2012. She has no US income for 2011 and she filed her returning Canadian tax return last year since she had some Canadian income in 2010 for October to December. Both my wife and I are Canadian citizens.

For tax year 2011, I had a few questions:

1. For my US return, do I just need to include just my US income that I earned before I moved back, or do I need include all of my 2011 income from both Canadian and US sources, or do I need to include my income from both countries upto the date that I surrendered my green card (July 2011)?

2. For my Canadian return, do I need to include any of the income that I earned before I returned to Canada, or just what I earned after I returned?

For my wife,
1. Does any of her income need to be reported to the US, or can we just file a Canadian tax return for her since she has no US income?

Again, Neither of us plan to ever return to the US to live and this year is the last year I that I intend to file a US return.

Thanks for any help you can provide,

[nelsona]

1. Fot you, you have a choice of filing dual-status, which is separate from spouse, or full-year, reporting world income. Full-year MFJ usually works out better. Your wife must file a US return reporting world income, so she might as well join on your MFJ full-year, like she no doubt did in previous years. She was still a GC holder for 2011. She will still need to make some sort of report for 2012 as well, just like you for 2011.

2. You are considered a newcomer, so read the newcomer rules from CRA. Only your world income from after your arrival date (including any US income you recieved after that date) will be reported. Your wife would have faced the same situation on her Cdn 2010 return.