Claiming a tax refund for RRSP witholdings

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George M Oles
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2011 4:19 pm

Claiming a tax refund for RRSP witholdings

Post by George M Oles »

I withdrew $70k in Cdn RRSP account and paid $21k in CDN tax witholding. I have dual citizenship and filed a US return with ZERO 2010 income. Can I receive a refund for the money witheld by Canada
nelsona
Posts: 18680
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2004 2:33 pm
Location: Nowhere, man

Post by nelsona »

As a US citizen, you should be reporting world income on your 1040, including the taxable portion of your RRSP. (This would be the amount above what you originally contributed). This income cannot be excluded on your 1040 (unlike Cdn wages).

I assume you live in canada, otherwise your withholding should have been exactly 25% of 71K or ~18K in taxes. So you need to file a Cdn tax return and determine if you owe or should get a refund on that withholding.

If you do live in US, you need to file EITHER a 217 return, to see if you can get a lower rate that 18K, of send an NR7 to recover the extra tax you had withheld. Your RRSP managerclearly was not made aware that you lived in US.

But there is absoluteluy nothing you can get from US on this tax, other than carry forward the final tax to another year when you might owe US tax on Cdn income (unlikely).
After 20 years, I am severely cutting back on responses. Do not ask specifically for my help. There are a few others on this board that can answer most questions. All the best
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