Commuting Sporadically to US for US Employer

[boilerboy]

Hello,

I am starting a job for a US employer who has sponsored me for a TN Visa for working in the USA. I would be a full time employee for the US company. My job is mostly remote (say 2.5 weeks per month) with the remainder being spent in the USA working onsite. The time I spend in the US is fully onsite with me flying to a site and working onsite for up to 2 weeks. During the remote period, I was wondering if it would be possible to maintain my residency in Canada and what the tax implications would be on my Canadian / US taxes. I have a Social Security number already which I will be using to collect income in the US state closest to where I reside.

Thank you

[nelsona]

You will automatically keep your Cdn residency, because you really aren't moving to US.

While you will be on US payroll, only the time spent working in US will be considered US-sourced, reported to IRS on a 104NR. ALL your income will be reported in Canada, with credit given for US taxes determined on that 1040NR.

What will happen is that you will have a large refund from IRS and a HUGE tax bill to CRA at tax time.

[boilerboy]

What happens with my company and paying CPP/EI etc.? Even though I am a Canadian resident, a grand majority of my actual "work" takes place in the US and my work in Canada is merely answering the occasional phone call/email or it fully the amount of days I am present in either country

Would it be possible to claim that I am only working when I commute over and just reside in Canada?


Thank you for your help, I have searched through other posts, but most seem to only talk about working fully remotely

[nelsona]

well the problem is that neither you nor your employer are paying the EI/CPP, so that is something you will need to resolve with CRA. This is a common problem that CDn residents working in Canada for US employers, and not being on Cdn payroll often face. You, though work occasional in US, so there is some wiggle room, but you cannot claim you work 100% in US, as you do not.

[stewak2]

If you have a huge CRA amount owing, the CRA will want installments next year.
Which is problematic if you are paying the CRA amount owing from your US Refund.
I believe it's possible to opt in to paying CPP, if you wish, on your Federal return.
EI, well, you'd be eligible under equalization, I think, for US state UI, coordinated by Canada, and you would be paying for this in your US state tax.