Gift tax

wheelsucker · Post by **wheelsucker** » Tue May 23, 2006 8:54 am

I'm a Canadian citizen on a GC living in the US. My father, a Canadian living in Canada, wants to give me $20000 Cdn by drawing a cheque from his Canadian bank which I will deposit in my American bank account. Is he subject to the Canadian equivalent of the "gift tax" (which I believe is $11000 in the US). How does the IRS view this money (after rate conversion) popping up in my bank account ? Is it taxable as "income" ? What is the best strategy to minimize any tax impact for him and myself, if any ? (I also have a bank account in Canada. Would it be better if I put the deposit the cheque in that account and then somehow transferred it to my American account. Is my father still liable for a "gift tax" in this case ?)

nelsona · Post by **nelsona** » Tue May 23, 2006 11:03 am

Non-US citizens or residents living in canada are not subject to US gift tax.

There is no tax ramifications on this transaction, on either side of the border, for either party.

flames9 · Post by **flames9** » Tue May 23, 2006 5:04 pm

Off subject a bit--but if you walk into a USA bank with a CDN cheque you wont be getting the best bang for your buck!! I'm a CDn greencard holder in the USA. In the past and occasionally still do is transfer $$ from my Cdn acct to my Wachovia account using Customhouse. No fees and they are usually around 2 cents better then what wachovia was giving me. Another way might be if ur father exchanges it into American at the CDN bank and gives you a draft (not sure if that is the correct term??) to deposit into ur USA acct. Cheers