401K advice considering I'll retire in Canada

[nelsona]

The day the interest is given to you, the day it became income. That is the cash method.

[nelsona]

8938 has nothing to do with income, It has to do with holdings.

[brianbbc]

right, both fabr and schedule 8938 are for holdings only, depending upon how much you have. so on schedule B, do I do the conversion on dec. 31 or the day i receive the interest?

[nelsona]

Can you read the answer I already gave. Really.

[brianbbc]

OK, the cra does not tax you on the roth withdrawals (ie follow the irs) as a resident of Canada as long as you perform the "rules" when you move from the us and declare residency. What about provinces? are they allowed to tax the roth withdrawals as earnings or do you get the same tax free treatment?

[nelsona]

Same treatment. Provinces (unlike individual states) follow the treaty lead of CRA.

[brianbbc]

thanks for the reply, glad to see you're still out there. I've gradually been doing ira conversions into my roth. question: will work in usa till july 2017, then enter Canada to become resident. can I still do a conversion this year before I enter Canada without any problems from the cra?

[nelsona]

as long as it is PRIOR to your ENTRY date, you are fine;

[brianbbc]

I am correct in assuming the same applies to my roth 401k contributions and individual roth ira(as long as I qualify based on my magi) for 2017?

[nelsona]

Anything to do with Roth needs to be done before coming to Canada.

[nelsona]

You will only be able to transfer BETWEEN Roth accounts after you move, without violating the tax-free status. So, at some point down the road you may decide to roll your Roth401(k) into another Roth IRA, This would be permitted under the Cdn rules.

[brianbbc]

thanks. I suppose the only advantage of the transfer would be to switch to a better broker if you don't like the company that's holding it, otherwise it makes no taxable difference to the cra if you leave it as a roth401k?

[nelsona]

That is what I said.