repatriating to Canada

keyofdminor · Post by **keyofdminor** » Sun Apr 04, 2010 7:36 pm

I am a Canadian working in the US on a TN Visa for several years, for several firms. I have substantial investments in mutual funds and an IRA.

I'm considering returning to Canada, and very concerned about my current accounts. e.g. My mutual fund company said I could not buy-in without a US address. (That's ok, but a bit foreboding).

Q: Accepting that I can't buy in, is it possible to keep these accounts open, when returning to Canada? Or should I liquidate?

Q: Is it legal to set up a post office box in the US, so that I have one to satisfy the mutual fund company? In the event of liquidation, hopefully they could send tax information to Canada?!

Q: I'm assuming so, but is this scenario a good fit for a consultation with Mr Serbinski ?

thank you
Michael

rdneu_56 · Post by **rdneu_56** » Sun Apr 04, 2010 9:23 pm

You should liquidate what you can liquidate without tax penalties and move your money to Canada and reinvest it there. You should liquidate before you become a resident of Canada, otherwise you might find yourself with taxes due in Canada on the liquidation.

The IRA is bit trickier. You may want to research a Roth conversion. and how you can possibly move the IRA money to an RRSP and the tax implications on both sides of the border of that transaction now. I am not an expert, and you should do your own research.

But for heavens sake, do not use a mail box address in the US to fake US residency! In the best scenario, the IRS may just consider you a resident of the US for tax purposes. I would think that that is something you want to get rid of as soon as possible.

nelsona · Post by **nelsona** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 11:28 am

Actaully, you should only liquidate losing positions before leaving US. Any winning stocks should be held until one is no longer filing in US, thus avoiding US tax on these altoghether.

The Cdn tax will be minimal since all new arrivees in canada get theur investments re-zeroed on the day they arrive.

Roth conversion MUST be done before leaving US.
Forget the IRA to RRSP move.

And I am the expert.

nelsona · Post by **nelsona** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 11:29 am

as rdneu mentions, do not fake a US address. Your days of us investment are ending outside your IRA/ROTH.

keyofdminor · Post by **keyofdminor** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 12:33 pm

Thanks for the info, everyone...

Is my situation appropriate for a consultation? It seems so to me.

Btw, I was naive about the US address. I understand your reaction but I think of my career as a 'business' and was thinking in those terms. Certainly I didn't intend to imply a fraudulent endeavour.