I am a Canadian citizen who married a US citizen living in Canada as a permanent resident.
We took out a RESP about 6 years ago and have now just discovered the reporting requirements of 3520-A, 3520 etc etc. You know the story ;)
Question 1 --> Because both of our names are on the RESP is there a way for me to break up the reporting of that income on the 3520-A form (I would suggest that since the account is joint with me that she be responsiple for half of it and I the other half?
Question 2 --> Is there an income threshold for reporting on the 3520-A?
I see in this wonderful summary [url]http://www.serbinski.com/documents/USTaxChapter2014.pdf[/url] page 3 that there appears to be an income threshold to filing (Married filing separately ………. $ 3,900 for 2013). In other words if our RESP interest and contributions from the Canadian government are very small (They have been about $500 per year) are we still required to submit this paperwork.
Thanks in advance these forums are a tremendous resource.
My wife has made very little income
RESP joint account
Moderator: Mark T Serbinski CA CPA
-
- Posts: 73
- Joined: Sat Mar 01, 2014 11:41 pm
Hello,
I had the same issue this year and never found a definitive answer on it. My wife is not a US citizen, but I am, and made sure that the 3520/3520A forms spell out that the contributions and income are split 50-50. I don't know if this is right - but I did reference "section 671" of the revenue code on the part for lines 7b(v) and 20e. I also made sure that the contributions are 50-50 and could produce paperwork to substantiate it if asked.
I'd like to hear from others if this the correct thing to do - shared account-shared income tax liability, etc. It only seems fair.
The prevailing advice is to move the RESP to the non-citizen spouse. If the IRS takes exception over my 50-50 split, then I'll say, "oh gee - guess I'll move it to my wife's name then".
Regarding your other question - as far as I know, there is no minimum for 3520 reporting.
This article might offer you some solace:
http://www.moodysgartner.com/irs-says-h ... an-trusts/
324 3520's filed. 2 of them were mine! I brought the average way down...
I had the same issue this year and never found a definitive answer on it. My wife is not a US citizen, but I am, and made sure that the 3520/3520A forms spell out that the contributions and income are split 50-50. I don't know if this is right - but I did reference "section 671" of the revenue code on the part for lines 7b(v) and 20e. I also made sure that the contributions are 50-50 and could produce paperwork to substantiate it if asked.
I'd like to hear from others if this the correct thing to do - shared account-shared income tax liability, etc. It only seems fair.
The prevailing advice is to move the RESP to the non-citizen spouse. If the IRS takes exception over my 50-50 split, then I'll say, "oh gee - guess I'll move it to my wife's name then".
Regarding your other question - as far as I know, there is no minimum for 3520 reporting.
This article might offer you some solace:
http://www.moodysgartner.com/irs-says-h ... an-trusts/
324 3520's filed. 2 of them were mine! I brought the average way down...
-
- Posts: 75
- Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2010 9:46 am
- Location: Winnipeg