Hi, I lived in the US for a few years and accumulated a US pension and 401k. I am a Canadian citizen and I moved back to Canada a few yezars ago. I will probably leave the pension and 401k in the US until I regire in 20 years or so. I was wondering if I need to file any forms with the IRS or the CRA on a yearly basis for these plans? Thank you.
Dan
Pension and 401k in US - Do I need to Notify IRS or CRA
Moderator: Mark T Serbinski CA CPA
No annual forms required on the US side; assuming you are not also a US citizen or Green Card holder. No annual forms required on the Canadian side; both of these investments are exempt from the T1135 Foreign Income Verification form requirements and you do not have to file an election to defer the growth from taxation in these accounts.
You should however complete a W-8BEN form with the financial institutions in the US to let them know you are a non-resident and have the correct 15% treaty rate applied for future withdrawals. This is a onetime thing; it does not have to be done annually. They will let you know if you require anything in addition to this.
You also want to make sure they will allow you to keep the accounts as a non-resident; some institutions will not. You may also want to ask them what would be required to pay out the account to a Canadian beneficiary in the event of your death. Depending on what they would need, it may make sense to have a US will, and US power of attorney.
Hope this helps
You should however complete a W-8BEN form with the financial institutions in the US to let them know you are a non-resident and have the correct 15% treaty rate applied for future withdrawals. This is a onetime thing; it does not have to be done annually. They will let you know if you require anything in addition to this.
You also want to make sure they will allow you to keep the accounts as a non-resident; some institutions will not. You may also want to ask them what would be required to pay out the account to a Canadian beneficiary in the event of your death. Depending on what they would need, it may make sense to have a US will, and US power of attorney.
Hope this helps