Use US or Canadian citizenship?

[MaybeMovin]

Hello: I haven't seen this specific question yet....please forgive me if you've answered it already!

I have US and Cdn citizenship, but have never lived in the US (my parents moved to Canada in the late 60s; I applied for and received my SSN and Passport in my 20s). I have never worked in the US. I have never filed a tax return in the US.

I have a job offer from a firm in California, and am considering accepting it. We (me, wife, 2 kids) will not be able to move right away, and will definitely keep our house in Canada (rent it out) for the foreseeable future.

Most likely, I will work from home (in Canada) for ~6 months, with frequent travel to the US office during that time.

I have been looking through this forum (and Canuckabroad) and this is what I assume is a reasonable approach:

1. 6 months: Work in Canada for US firm (paid in US $).
Should I be a contractor (self-emplyed in Canada--I have an old GST number lying around from construction work in the 90s) [b]or[/b] should I be an employee of the US firm?

2. After the move to US: should I work as US citizen or a Canadian? (do I have any choice?) I think that as a US citizen, my wife can work and there must be other "family" benefits for citizens...

I expect that we will use an accounting firm such as yours to work it all out.

Any feedback / suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[nelsona]

First off, before venturing to US, you will need to do your last 6 years of US tax returns.

It will probably yoru firm that will decide whether to make you a Cdn employee (ie. Cdn payroll, EI, CPP) or if they simply pay you asa contractor.

I'd be choosing contracter, making sure they add the 30-40% that they won't have to pay in benefits.