for treaty - Spouse Canadian income before/after RRSP contributions

[sajc]

HI nelsona

how are you? I am doing my treaty proforma calculations and I was wondering when entering spousal Canadian income, should the income reported be the income - (RRSP, retirement amount) or the whole amount?

Any suggestions?

Regards and thank you,
Sajc

[nelsona]

If she has made an RRSP withdrawal, it should be the amount that would be taxable if she were a US taxpayer, so it would be (a) the gross amount and then (b) the taxable portion which has been described on this site often. If you cannot figure the taxable amount, then use the gross ammount. You don't need to be too aggressive in reducing your US tax, as you will still owe in Canada after taking credit for US taxes, You simply trying to lower the rather high 1040NR rate for as a single filer.