TN Holder with PR of Canada Husband working in Canada

[Iceaelan]

Hi & thx in advance if you can help!

Situation:
-I am TN Visa holder living in US since sept 2005
-Husband moved from Canada to US to join me in Nov 2005 as a TD(dependant visa) holder & therefore does not work here but was doing distance education through a CDN college, he is a Perm Res of Canada.
-In Sept 2006 he went back to canada and has been working for one of the oil companies. He flies back here every 2nd week for about 6 days then goes back for work. (sometimes he stays in the US longer then 6 days depending on his work)
-In Nov 2006 we bought a townhouse here but it is all under my name only.
-we own a vehicle in canada but no property we own a vehicle in the US but it's under my name with him listed on insurance.


When filing taxes for 2005, I filed the 1040 EZ joint return for the time we were here in th USA, and a seperate CDN return for each of us for the time spent in CDN.


[b]My questions:
1) Did I file correctly for 2005?
2) Do I file jointly for 2006? If so, do we have to report his CDN income since he will be filing a CDN return?
3) What is his status considered in the USA for tax purposes? Non-resident Alien?
4) I have about 3K in CDN RRSP's, I've read posts about people in a similar situation selling theirs before coming here. Is there any harm in leaving these untouched in CDN
5) I recieved a bill from CRA after doing my CDN taxes for 05 saying that I owe them about $1000. I was paying back to a Life Long Learning Plan and I'm assuming they penilized me for this? [/b]

THANK YOU!!

[nelsona]

1. Probably not. I'lll even say definitely not.
2. You may file jointly in US but would need to include his income. This would have no effect on how he filed in Canada.
3. He is a non-resident alien. But since you are a resident alien, you can elect to have him file with you as a resident.
4. there is no ;harm'. you should never sell BEFRE leaving Canada. Only afte. You do have to report your RRSPs to the IRS with form 8891.
5. You cannot have a LLP or an HBP when you are non-resident. Anything that you owe on it becomes fully payable to your RRSP when you leave, or is added to your income at that time..

[Iceaelan]

Thanks Nelsona, I appreciate your info.

I didn't report any of my Canadian Income for 2005 either, should I have done this?
What forms do I need to use for this? If I am using taxcut to do this, will it be accurate?

Can you recommend anyone in the Virginia area who specializes in special cases such as this?

Thanks !

[nelsona]

If you filed a 1040, that meant you were supposed to rerport all world income for the year on it.

You amend returns with 1040-X.

Ttax is only as accurate as the data you enter.