Can anyone recommend a good Tax guy in Tennessee?

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cestmoi
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Mar 08, 2008 11:59 am
Location: Tennessee

Can anyone recommend a good Tax guy in Tennessee?

Post by cestmoi »

Hi there

Here's my situation:

Back in 2006, my company (US owned) closed down the Canadian office and asked me to move down to their office in Tennessee. They made me an offer that I couldn't refuse. As I was single at the time, I thought - why not? Man, was I naive. I'm currently living/working here in Tennessee (about 1hr driving distance from Nashville, TN) on a L1a Visa. As some of you may know, work visas tend to tie an individual to a company (you're their slave as you can't work for anyone else, unless the other company is willing to sponsor you with a new visa).

So, last year (2007) when I had to file for my 2006 tax year, the company offered to hire Deloitte and Touche to do my taxes for Canada and US as I moved down in October 2006. Even though I had told the accountant (Canadian branch) that I still have my driver's license from Vancouver, my bank accounts, my RSP accounts, etc - he still went ahead and sever ties with Canada (for tax purposes so that I don't have to report world income) on my return. So, for 2007 tax year, I decided not to use them and wanted to do the taxes myself to get a feel for the US returns/filing experience (plus I don't feel like personally paying their exorbitant fees this year (didn't have to pay as company had paid for it last year).

Herein lies my problem:

Because of the process of severing ties (on Canadian tax return), I do not have to report my US income on the Canadian returns; however, I still receive tax slips from my Canadian bank accounts, investment accounts (TD Waterhouse), etc so I'm still required to file Canadian taxes. My dilemma is - should I still report my US income even though Deloitte and Touche had sever ties for the 2006 tax return year (in anticipating that I would not pass the audit (if there is one) and would be fined) or shall i carry on as planned to minimize my current tax payment and hope that 7 yrs has passed before an audit inquiry would come to light?

I need a good tax accountant who is familiar with US and Canadian tax Act. Anyone have a recommendation?

Thanks in Advance!
MaggieA
Posts: 150
Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2004 4:06 pm

Post by MaggieA »

You don't actually have an option of maintaining Canadian tax residency in your situation, and there's no reason you should want to.

You should have notified your bank and investment firm of your new location, so that they would deal with you correctly as a US resident.

Your BC driver's licence was invalidated long ago by your departure from BC. if you didn't already get a Tennessee driver's licence, do it now. Otherwise, you're driving without a legal licence, and that's not going to be helpful if you have any traffic mishap.

You don't really need a tax accountant. You just need to straighten out your affairs a bit. TurboTax has the 8891 form you need for reporting your RRSPs correctly to the IRS.

I expect Nelson can fill in some details more accurately on your situation. But I've been there - I came to the US on an L1B, and my transition-year taxes were done by Price Waterhouse at exorbitant cost, similar to your experience. I've done my own US taxes 5 times since.

Off-topic for this forum, but with your L1A, you should be on the fast track to a green card. Even if you're feeling a bit jaded about staying in the US right now, if you don't already have an application in process, I recommend you get on it. It will give you more security and flexibility.
nelsona
Posts: 18314
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2004 2:33 pm
Location: Nowhere, man

Post by nelsona »

merely being issued tax reciepts is NOT a valid reason for filing a return. Your interst and dicvident income should have a flat tax (calculate it and send a check to CRA). Your capo gains are not taxable in Canada once you leave.

You were subject to departure tax in 2006, and that should be it for investments.

And you MUST tell yor broker that you are living in US.
nelsona non grata. Non pro. Please Search previous posts, no situation is unique as you might think. Happy Browsing :D
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