Tax consultant is lost, now I'm lost too

[americanada]

I won't name names, but I took my taxes to "G & P glock" last night and now I am feeling very unconfident as the nice man had no clue how to do anything involving foreign tax. (Pretty basic taxes besides this one added confusion).

I am US citizen, married end of '05 to Cdn, filing joint. We filled in the ITIN form, have written declaration that he will be treated as US res for tax purposes 05, copy of passport notarized, etc..

Husband was in US most of 05 (Jan-Sep 1) no US income. He returned to Canada and worked Sept-Dec. The "G&P Glock" guy got lost at the Bona Fide vs. Physical Pres test... My husband was not present in either country for 330 continuous days (starting or ending 05).

G&P man is doing "research" today to try and do my taxes. I am very uncomfortable that he will mess them up.

Should I direct him to use Form 1116 instead of 2555? He couldn't seem to find a way to use 2555 because he got stumped at the Bona fide vs. Physical Presence.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

[nelsona]

For on Blockhead is correct in stating that your husband can't exclude his Cdn income using 2555, since he was in US most of the year and only went out onf US to work breifly (The intent of 2555 is to exclude income for US taxpayers who go awy from US for at least a year to work, and don't spend much time in US during that period.)

I don't know what other possible research he is doing, since the criteria are pretty clear, and he has outlined them to you.

Your husband is quite free however to use the foreign tax credits (form 1116).

I would point out that if huubby made kess than $10K Cdn in wages in 2005, nad he was non-resident of canada (you aren't clear on what his residential ties were in canada, nor on what his legal status was in US prior to his marriage to you), he can exclude them from Cdn taxation, by treaty, so he might not have to pay any Cdn tax, and foreign tax credits become moot.

[americanada]

The research Mr. Glock was going to do was to figure out by asking someone else what the heck he was doing. He was very confused, and I understand they're not savvy in this kind of thing so my fault too for going there.

Husband maintained a permanent residence in canada while he was in the US, and made 12K (Cdn) so by your last paragraph, we'll have to help mr. glock out and point him to the 1116. Thanks for the info.

[Pamela]

Since you are willing to pay for help, I advise you to thank Mr. Glock for his time, and remove your documents and rush them to Serbinski. Mr. Glock will charge you for his research time, and he still won't know what he is doing. He will make mistakes that will have to be corrected in the future. Listen your your intuition!