Tax treatment for stock and options

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areefer
Posts: 17
Joined: Thu Mar 10, 2011 5:12 pm

Tax treatment for stock and options

Post by areefer »

Hi,

I moved to the US a couple of years ago from Canada. I have my green card now. While in Canada, I acquired shares as well as stock options.

In the year that I moved, I completed my Canadian departure/final tax return. In that return, I claimed (and was taxed on) the shares. I didn't claim my options. Last year (2010), my company was acquired by another company. My shares and options were bought out.

So my questions are:

1) For the shares:
a) I assume I need to file a non-resident tax return for Canada. Do I pro-rate the proceeds based on the dates between grant, move, and sell and claim the appropriate values on the US and Canadian returns?
b) Is my cost basis for the shares (for both US and Canada tax), based on what I claimed in my departure tax return?
c) I didn't receive a summary of the sale since it was private sale. Where do I claim this income (it wasn't on my W2) on my 1040?

2) For the options:
a) Are these taxable in Canada? If so, does the taxable income need to be pro-rated based on dates between Canada and US?

Thanks in advance.
areefer
Posts: 17
Joined: Thu Mar 10, 2011 5:12 pm

Post by areefer »

Here's an update to my own questions, in case it helps other people:

1) Shares

As of March 4, 2010, the definition of Taxable Canadian Property has been modified to exclude shares of corporations that are reside in Canada unless they are shares of a corporation that relate to Canadian resources (property, timber, etc.)

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/nnrsdnts/cm ... u-eng.html - see "Changes to Taxable Canada Property" section.

So, in my case, the disposition of the shares is not a taxable event in Canada.

2) Options

The "Fifth Protocol" in the US-Canada Tax treaty, indicates that proceeds from options that were granted in one country and exercised in another should be portioned based the time in each country from the date of grant and exercise.

In my case, the options seem to be taxable in Canada.
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