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QUESTION:
Hello,
I'm a Canadian Citizen living in the USA married to an American. I've =
applied for my adjustment of status. I have an existing debt " prior to =
marriage" with CCRA back in Canada.
My wife owns a company 100% that was started while we were married and =
whom I work for. If I was to declare bankruptcy in Canada, could CCRA =
come after my wife's company assets in the USA.=20
Thank You
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david ingram replies:
You are living in the USA and it is unusual to declare bankruptcy in =
Canada while living in the USA. However, my client yesterday lives in =
Point Roberts, is a dual US / Canada citizen and went bankrupt in Canada =
for Canadian debts.
If you put money into your wife's business, there could be a claim =
against it but if it is her business alone, there should not be any =
claim against her business. =20
The same thing just happened in my family without the US residence bit. =
You should spend some money first with a bankruptcy lawyer like Murray =
Morrison. =20
The following is a reprint with some names added of an article I wrote =
in Western Investor.
BANKRUPTCY =96 or How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World
=20
I have just received my discharge from bankruptcy. It isn=92t =
completely over. I have to pay $800 a month for 36 months starting on =
Feb 7th, but that is a lot better than the $4,853,000 income tax bill =
that started it with no assets.
=20
Well there =93were=94 family assets. But over a period of 21 years I =
went from a positive =93paper=94 net worth of $4,800,000 to a negative =
$4,800,000 because of an income tax bill that I fought in court and lost =
and then got stubborn.
=20
If I had to do it again, I would have walked into a bankruptcy =
trustee=92s office 15 years ago and would have been able to get on with =
my life. Instead I got stubborn and decided I would go to my grave =
owing the CCRA as much as the tax bill increased to before I died.=20
=20
So the house was in my wife=92s name, the cars were in my wife=92s name, =
the motorhome was in my wife=92s name and the business was in my =
wife=92s name. I owned nothing and was quite enjoying the position. =
After all, what else could anybody do? Well, there was one thing =
someone could do. In the middle of the bankruptcy my wife left (with =
all the assets) but that is another article.
=20
Thankfully, the CCRA finally gave up on collecting it and hired a =
trustee to put me into bankruptcy. I understand that I might be the =
first person that the CCRA put into receivership in Canada. No trustee =
I have talked to had ever handled a receivership where the CCRA had put =
an individual into bankruptcy. Oh sure, there were thousands where a =
taxpayer had declared bankruptcy because of a tax bill. But no one =
knows of an individual out into bankruptcy by the CCRA.
=20
Now you have to know that I have sent a couple of hundred people to go =
bankrupt over the years. Their situation was hopeless and bankruptcy =
was the only solution. And I had even had an appointment to see a =
bankruptcy trustee on July 22, 1999 but luckily, broke my arm and leg in =
a motorcycle accident the week before and never made the appointment. =
But I should have rescheduled and got on with my life three years =
earlier because it took the CCRA three more years to put me into =
bankruptcy and I could have done something with those three years. You =
see, this article is meant to encourage you to see a trustee and pull =
the plug if you are fighting a losing battle, particularly if the major =
creditor is the CCRA.=20
=20
If you have money problems for any reason that could include divorce, =
separation, unexpected tax penalty, leaky condo, company downsizing, =
illness, an accident or any combination of the above, you will need =
help.
That help may be as simple as taking an adult education course in family =
finances at your local high school. Most adult education courses =
include such a course and even though I taught them for years, it did =
not keep "me" out of that $5,000,000 bankruptcy after three of the above =
events occurred.
If you need more immediate help and you happen to live in Greater =
Vancouver, contact a credit counselor such as Margaret Johnson at =
SOLUTIONS CREDIT, 200-10351 150th Street in Surrey - 1-877-588-9491 or =
locally (604) 588-9491. www.creditsolutions.ca =
www.solutionscredit.com [email protected]
As her pamphlet suggests;=20
"Budgeting involves more than just arithmetic. It takes determination. =
People experiencing financial difficulties need objective, unbiased =
neutral information." =20
That statement applies to your finances when you have an income and bad =
spending habits. It does not cover the financial disasters that I seem =
to see on a daily basis. I am talking about the $186,000 income tax =
reassessment for something that happened five years ago. I am talking =
about the leaky condominium crisis where the debt is $100,000 and you =
would have to earn $190,000 and pay $90,000 income tax to have $100,000 =
left and that is not counting interest accruing while you are doing it.
In this case, you need to consult competent help that does NOT start =
with a bankruptcy trustee, a night school course, a credit counselor or =
an accountant.
Now, you need a lawyer and not "just" any lawyer. You need a Murray =
Morrison, who specializes in Bankruptcy law and will work for you and =
give you and your family the advice it needs to preserve any assets =
possible and tell you what you can do and cannot do.
BUT, why not save a couple of dollars and go directly to the trustee.
The simple fact is that the trustee does NOT work for you. When you =
sign that paper, the trustee that you searched out, the trustee that you =
found in the yellow pages, the trustee your banker, hairdresser, =
mechanic, best friend or worst enemy recommended is not working for =
"you". =20
The trustee is working for the creditors. Their job is to get the most =
for the creditors following local federal, state or provincial =
guidelines that have different limits in each province and each state.
If you are in BC, Murray Morrison is in the same office as Solutions =
Credit that is just behind the Guilford Shopping Centre at:
Murray Morrison
200-10351 150th Street
Surrey, BC, CANADA, V3R 4B1
(604) 930-9013 Fax (604) 588-2005
email to [email protected]
Talk to someone like Murray first. Get your law straight. Learn what =
you get to keep and what the limits are. In BC for instance you can =
have $5,000 equity in a car. However, The Bank of Nova Scotia (for one) =
will insist on seizing your car even if you have never missed a payment =
if the car loan is with them. Arranging for someone else to take over =
the loan before you go bankrupt could make the transition easier.
I advised one lady client to go bankrupt at this time last year for a =
$140,000 tax bill (which was unjust, unfair and illegal in my opinion) =
that we had fought for two years. (Canada decided to tax her =
retroactively on her income for five years even though she was an =
American living in the states. They decided she spent too much time in =
Canada and she had since moved to Canada officially - Bankruptcy was the =
only way to get rid of it and start over.)
I was blindsided by the Bank of Nova Scotia's new policy of not allowing =
anyone to keep a car. Luckily, a friend paid out the bank and loaned =
her the money and she kept her car. It would have been far easier if we =
had known that in advance. Her Bankruptcy Trustee was blind sided as =
well. It was also the first one he had seen.=20
After you have made a decision, you need a trustee. Remember, they are =
all working for your creditors. =20
Gerry Foran at Sands and Associates is a decent guy who you can deal =
with. =20
Gerry Foran
E sands & Associates Inc
1100 Melville Street
Vancouver, BC, Canada V6E 4A6
(604) 684-3030
Sands and Associates also have satellite offices in Surrey, Burnaby and =
Langley.
Trustees might not like me saying this but you do not even need money to =
do it. They can be paid from your assets, tax refund or might not even =
get paid until after the bankruptcy. While I was actually writing this, =
another client who I had sent to go bankrupt came in to return some =
material I had loaned him. I said thank you and suggested that he must =
have his discharge by now. He did not have it. He only had a =
conditional discharge because he still owes the trustee $1,500 which he =
expects to have very soon. Another client is in the same position. =
However, they do not have a dozen creditors phoning looking for money.
Hope this helps. Remember - see the lawyer first - before you see the =
trustee. And only talk to a lawyer who deals regularly with bankruptcy =
and appears in court for bankrupts protecting their rights. That means =
one in 100 lawyers. There is little chance that a lawyer you are =
already dealing with would be the one you would use because a bankruptcy =
lawyer is likely too busy to do anything else.
david ingram [email protected] www.centa.com
Answers to this and other similar questions can be obtained free on Air =
every Sunday morning.
Every Sunday at 9:00 AM on 600AM in Vancouver, Fred Snyder of Cartier =
Partners and I will be hosting an INFOMERCIAL but LIVE talk show called =
"ITS YOUR MONEY"
Those outside of the Lower Mainland will be able to listen on the =
internet at
www.600AM.com=20
Local phone calls to (604) 280-0600 - Long distance calls to =
1-866-778-0600.=20
Old shows are archived at the site.
Fred Snyder and I are giving free seminars on making your CANADIAN =
mortgage interest tax deductible at our new office at=20
1764 West 7th
Vancouver.
This is in the Spence Diamond Building at the corner of 7th and Burrard
and is very easy to find.
When: Just about " Every" Thursday Night
Time: 7 to 9 PM
RSVP: phone (604) 731-8900 to reserve (limited to 15 people)
My time is still spent at=20
108-100 Park Royal South
West Vancouver, BC
(604) 980-0321
david ingram
This from ask an income tax immigration planning and bankruptcy expert =
consultant guru or preparer from www.centa.com or www.jurock.com or =
www.featureweb.com. Canadian David Ingram deals daily with tax returns =
dealing with expatriate:
multi jurisdictional cross and trans border expatriate gambling refunds =
for the United States, Canada, Mexico, Great Britain, the United =
Kingdom, Kuwait, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand, =
Indonesia, Egypt, Antarctica, Japan, China, New Zealand, France, =
Germany, Spain, Italy, Russia, Georgia, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, =
Scotland, Ireland, Hawaii, Florida, Montana, Morocco, Israel, Iraq, =
Iran, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Mali, Bangkok, Greenland, Iceland, =
Cuba, Bahamas, Bermuda, Barbados, St Vincent, Grenada,, Virgin Islands, =
US, UK, GB, American and Canadian and Mexican and any of the 43 states =
with state tax returns, etc.
income tax wizard wizzard guru advisor advisors experts specialist =
specialists consultants taxmen taxman tax woman planner planning =
preparer of Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona,=20
California Denver Colorado, Connecticut, =20
Delaware District of Columbia Miami Florida,=20
Garland Georgia, Honolulu Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois,
Indiana Des Moines Iowa Kansas Kentucky,=20
Louisiana Bangor Maine Maryland =20
Boston, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, =20
Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, =20
Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey,=20
New Mexico,New York, North Carolina, =20
North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon.=20
Paris, Rome, Sydney, Australia Hilton
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Rockwall,=20
South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, =20
Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia,=20
West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming,=20
British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan,=20
Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec City,=20
New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island,=20
Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Yukon and=20
Northwest and Nunavit Territories, =20
Mount Vernon, Eumenclaw, Coos Bay=20
and Dallas Houston Rockwall Garland=20
Texas Taxman and Tax Guru and wizzard=20
wizard - David Ingram's US/Canada Services
US/Canada/Mexico Tax Immigration & working Visa Specialists
US / Canada Real Estate Specialists
4466 Prospect Road
North Vancouver, BC, CANADA, V7N 3L7
Calls accepted from 10 AM to 10 PM 7 days a week
Res (604) 980-3578 Cell (604) 657-8451
Bus (604) 980-0321=20
[email protected]
www.centa.com www.david-ingram.com
Disclaimer: This question has been answered without detailed =
information or consultation and is to be regarded only as general =
comment. Nothing in this message is or should be construed as advice =
in any particular circumstances. No contract exists between the reader & =
the author and any and all non-contractual duties are expressly denied. =
All readers should obtain formal advice from a competent financial, or =
real estate planner or advisor & appropriately qualified legal =
practitioner, tax or immigration specialist in connection with personal =
or business affairs such as at www.centa.com. If you forward this =
message, this disclaimer must be included."
=20
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