Question - Canadian residents & form TD F90-22.1

tobeagoodman · Post by **tobeagoodman** » Sat Jun 09, 2012 3:52 pm

One of my friends is a commuter between Canada and US, working in US and living in Canada with his Canadian wife. He has filed his US return by married filing jointly for many years, excluding his wife income from Canada using form 2555 and utilizing tax treaty benifit (8833 & 8891) . When knowing that I am preparing to back-file TD F90-22.1 for previous few years, he asked if he needs to file TD F90-22.1?

Appreciate for advice.

nanic · Post by **nanic** » Sat Jun 09, 2012 4:38 pm

Does he have any bank accounts or any financial accounts in Canada, including joint accounts. If yes, then he needs to file the form

nanic · Post by **nanic** » Sat Jun 09, 2012 4:39 pm

One important question, is he a US citizen?

tobeagoodman · Post by **tobeagoodman** » Sat Jun 09, 2012 4:49 pm

[quote="nanic"]Does he have any bank accounts or any financial accounts in Canada, including joint accounts. If yes, then he needs to file the form[/quote]

nanic, thanks for your answer!

Of course, whole his family and his house is in Canada. So he mus file the TD form. How many years he has to back-file the fomr?

tobeagoodman · Post by **tobeagoodman** » Sat Jun 09, 2012 4:49 pm

[quote="nanic"]One important question, is he a US citizen?[/quote]

Hi, nanic,

His and his wife are Canadian citizen.

nelsona · Post by **nelsona** » Sun Jun 10, 2012 5:33 am

Whether or not he is a US citizen is in fact NOT important. By filing a 1040 joint, he and spouse are bound by FBAR and must comply.

tobeagoodman · Post by **tobeagoodman** » Sun Jun 10, 2012 7:52 am

nelsona, appreciate very much for your advice!

As per your answer, as long as one files 1040 joint, he is a US person and he must be compliant with FBAR regardless his citizenship and his residency. I will pass this to him so that he can back-file the TD forms.

I believe, many professional tax preparers are not aware of this.

nanic · Post by **nanic** » Sun Jun 10, 2012 10:48 am

Is announcement 2010-16 still valid. If so this may help you decide how far back to file.

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/a-10-16.pdf

tobeagoodman · Post by **tobeagoodman** » Sun Jun 10, 2012 3:25 pm

[quote="nanic"]Is announcement 2010-16 still valid. If so this may help you decide how far back to file.

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/a-10-16.pdf[/quote]

Hi, nanic, thanks for your additional info!

As per the announcement, my friend does not need to file the TD form, as he is neither a US citizen and nor a US resident.

Not sure if the announcement is still valid. nelsona, could you please comment on this? many thanks!

Dalthien · Post by **Dalthien** » Sun Jun 10, 2012 4:58 pm

If your friend has been choosing to file the full 1040 instead of 1040NR, then he/she has made the choice to treat him/herself as a US Citizen for filing purposes, and they have to file all accompanying paperwork that goes along with that. Announcement 2010-16 would be irrelevant in that case.

tobeagoodman · Post by **tobeagoodman** » Sun Jun 10, 2012 5:06 pm

[quote="Dalthien"]If your friend has been choosing to file the full 1040 instead of 1040NR, then he/she has made the choice to treat him/herself as a US Citizen for filing purposes, and they have to file all accompanying paperwork that goes along with that. Announcement 2010-16 would be irrelevant in that case.[/quote]

Hi, Dalthien, thank you for your answer to my question. I would appreciate if you could direct me to an official doc.
best!

Dalthien · Post by **Dalthien** » Sun Jun 10, 2012 7:34 pm

The 1040 is for US citizens or residents. Non-residents are supposed to file the 1040NR. The exception to that is that non-residents who are married to a US citizen can file a full 1040 joint return.

However, the US-Canada Tax Treaty allows Canadians to file a full 1040 if they choose instead of the 1040NR, but they are then subjected to all the same reporting requirements as if they were a US citizen or resident.

But I'll leave it to you to go digging through the actual treaty.

nelsona · Post by **nelsona** » Sun Jun 10, 2012 8:14 pm

I concur.

tobeagoodman · Post by **tobeagoodman** » Sat Jun 16, 2012 8:37 am

Dalthien, nelsona,

thank you very much for your help/info!

your answers are very informative.