Canadian employed by US company, working from Canada?

Cranberry · Post by **Cranberry** » Thu Jan 17, 2013 1:09 pm

I'm sorry if this has been asked a thousand times already, but Internet searches have been getting me lots of conflicting information, so I thought I'd ask the professionals!

I am a Canadian citizen, living in Canada. A US company wants to hire me as an employee. I would not set foot in the states; all of my work would be done from my home in Canada. Can this be done? What are the differences between hiring me on as an actual employee or me acting as an independent contractor? The company does not have a Canadian branch or anything like that.

JGCA · Post by **JGCA** » Thu Jan 17, 2013 8:51 pm

Your income is considered CND sourced since you are earning it from Canada, best scenario and only viable one is to be a subcontractor not an employee.

NewCanadian · Post by **NewCanadian** » Thu Jan 17, 2013 10:05 pm

I worked for US employer for many years from Toronto before moving to US with another job.

I worked from home, was paid in US dollars and did not need to visit US for any work related activity.

No visa, No SSN, No ITIN. I was issued certificate of income with a reference to my Canadian SIN number. Filed returns in Canada. No issues ever.

Cranberry · Post by **Cranberry** » Thu Jan 17, 2013 11:40 pm

It is looking like the easiest/most viable option is to be an independent contractor, yeah. If it makes any difference, the potential employer is a small corporation and they want to have only three Canadians working for them, at least for now. All work would be done online, with us being responsible for our own office expenses.

Cranberry · Post by **Cranberry** » Wed Mar 06, 2013 4:29 pm

Sorry to double post/resurrect this, but I'm having trouble finding this info:

It seems like I've got things worked out on the Canadian end as far as filing my taxes would go, but the company that wants to use my services needs to know if there are any forms they have to make me fill out, or if they have to report anything to the IRS on their end. Basically, I am having a really hard time finding out what an American company has to do to "hire" me.

I see some people mentioning a W-8 and some saying it's unnecessary because I'd be essentially a freelancer.

Is is as simple as me sending the company a monthly invoice for my services and them paying me the full amount (not withholding any taxes because it's Canadian income), and no forms needing to be filled out at all?