7 year old canadian/usa dual citizen...tax question?

[mani12]

Hi,

This question is reqarding my 7 year old daughter. She is a canadian/usa dual citizen. She was born in america while I was working there. We moved to canada when she was 9 months old, and since then me and my whole family are permanently residing in canada. We all have acquired canadian citizenship and I regularly pay all canadian taxes. None of the other members of my family (including me, my wife and my son) have american citizenship. Naturally, my daughter has no income and does not hold a bank account and she is my dependant. However, she does have a valid usa passport and ssn.

My question is do I have to file american taxes for my daughter separately every year? My canadian accountant says wait till she grows up and starts making money. However, considering the new environment, I am thinking of getting a second opinion.

Thanks for ur comments. :D

[nelsona]

There is no need for her to file.

However, if you and your wife file, you would be entitled to $1000 for your child every year. That would be $3000 for back filing past three years.

Of course, you would have to meet all the filing requirements that US citzens living in Canada would (like FBAR, etc) but the money is there for the taking.

[nelsona]

Clarification: There is no need for her to file ... because she has insufficient income. She would need to have about $1000 of investment income for her to have to file.