Investments and taxes as a dual citizen -
Hi David, If email is not the best method to ask a question, please let me know other options. I am interested in using an online US service as a medium to buy US stocks and enroll in a dividend reinvestment plan (which would be taxed). The issue is I'm a dual citizen and have lived and worked in Canada all my life (now 23) so I have not payed any US taxes. I do have all my documentation though (US passport, SSN). What would be easier and more productive or maybe more importantly the most legal, to enroll in US stocks as a Canadian and pay taxes here or to enroll as a US citizen and pay taxes on the dividends in the US? If I enroll as a US citizen, will that mean I will open up a world of trouble in terms of the IRS coming after other income I have from Canadian employment? Basically I am concerned that if I registered as a US citizen abroad I'll be flagged to report all my income for tax (eg. taxed by both countries on the same dollar). What are you thoughts? Thanks!! xxxxxxxx-------------------------------
david ingram replies:
As a US citizen residing in Canada, you are already required to file a US 1040 and in particular forms TDF 90-22.1 for all accounts if your foreign financial accounts exceed $10,000 US and form 8891 to report your RRSP or RRIF monies and a 3520 if you have an RESP for your children on an annual basis.
Failure to file form TDF 90-22.1 is now supposed to be a minimum fine of $10,000 and a maximum of $500,000 plus up to 5 years in jail. Opening a US Brokerage Account would eliminate the possible fines for that account at least.
If you receive US dividends, the maximum tax you are required to pay to the US is 15% and if you receive interest the maximum tax you should pay to the US is 10% under the terms of the US / Canada Income Tax Convention (Treaty).
It is not double taxation although there are some times when a little slips in. You receive credit on the US return for the taxes paid to Canada and credit on the Canadian return for the taxes paid tot he US.
You should go to www.centa.com and read the Oct 1993 newsletter on dual citizenship in the top left hand box. then read the Oct 1995 newsletter which will explain the duties associated with that US passport. Then read the US/Canada Income Tax section int eh second box down on the right hand side. Altogether, they will tell you what to do.
Then you should get your 2001 to 2007 tax returns and TDF-90 forms filed before they do catch up to you. We can help with that if you wish. If you want to talk to me about it, I charge $472.50 per hour for your kind of situation. Other pricing will be found further on.
these other answers may help as well
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QUESTION:
I was born to a US father and a Canadian mother in Canada in 1973. I had only Canadian citizenship until 2001 when I applied for and got US citizenship. I got a US social insurance number in 2005 and have never worked, lived, or filed a tax return in the United States. Since 2001 I have received an inheritance less than 100K CDN. In the long-term (or unexpected-immediate) future I will receive another much larger inheritance. I originally obtained US citizenship for the potential of working there. I have not done so yet, but would still like to keep the option open but first need to quantify what it could cost me. Also, I am a highly trained (3 years into my PhD now) engineer and would qualify for a US work visa under NAFTA when I'm done. Hopefully this background is sufficient for my questions:
1. If the inheritance monies received up until now, since 2001, are less than 100K, do I owe US tax on the inheritance? My max income in those years was < 70K CDN?
2. If I renounce my US citizenship, how long afterwards will the US claim that I "owe" them tax on any future inheritances?
3. If I renounce my US citizenship, will it be harder for me (and the sponsoring US company) to obtain a work-visa in the future?
david ingram replies:
The good news is that if you come forward with a voluntary disclosure to the USA, there is rarely any tax and can be a refund if there are children involved.
However,
1. You have been a US citizen since birth. When you received the actual paperwork, the usual method is to go back six years. You already owe the US many tens of thousands of dollars on your earned income for failure to file your past due returns. In addition, if you have a Canadian RRSP and other accounts over $10,000 US total, you are subject to US treasury fines of a minimum of $10,000 to max of $500,000 pr account per year for failure to file form TDF 90-22.1 for each account and 35% of the principal in the RRSP plus 5% per year for each year unreported. The reason that you owe tax to the US is that you have to file the returns to claim foreign tax credits and/or the earned income exemption. I once had a 105 year old lady fined $10,000 for failure to file her TDF 90 to report her account in the royal Bank of Canada in Edgemont Village in North Vancouver.
There is no tax on an inheritance you received in the past or in the future but the fact that it was put in a bank for even a day makes you liable for the TDF 90-22.1 fines. There may be and would be tax on any interim earnings on the inheritance.
2. The US can tax you for another ten years after renouncing your US citizenship.
3. If you renounce your US citizenship to avoid filing US income taxes, you are banned from the US for life as signed into law by Pres Clinton on Sept 30, 1996..
This older question will likely assist and, of course, if you decide to bring those returns up to date, you know where we are.
I have a client who is a US citizen but resides in Canada. She received a $20,000 dividend from a CCPC (Canadian controlled Private Corporation) in 2006. What are the US tax issues?
david ingram replies:
The actual amount (not the grossed up amount) is taxable on her US 1040 and is reported on schedule B. Pay attention to the two bottom questions because she will 'have to' fill in US form T D F 90-22.1 for the account she holds these shares in and any other accounts as well even if there is only a dollar in the account.
If she owns 10% or more of the CCPC (Canadian Controlled Private Corporation), she will also need to deal with form 5471.
Penalties are up to $50,000 a year for not filling in form 5471 and $500,000 plus five years in jail for not filling in the TDF 90-22.1.
Any tax paid to Canada on the dividend can be claimed as a foreign tax credit on US form 1116.
This older answer will likely help.
david ingram replies:
Well, she could send it all to us and we would do it for her and likely charge $800.00 plus GST.
OR,
If she just has one or two T4 slips from Canada, she can goto www.centa.com and read the 'US/Canada Taxation' section in the second box down on the right hand side. She should also read the October 1995 Newsletter which explains the responsibilities of a US citizen living in Canada. She can find that newsletter in the top left hand box on the same page.
I have reproduced part of it here
The U.S. taxes on citizenship
first and residency or physical presence second. If you have another
tax home, and are just an extensive visitor in the States, you can
escape U.S. tax on your income from other countries. However, if you
renounce your other tax home or become a "green card" holder or are in
the U.S. for more than 183 days in one year or under the substantial
presence test, you are subject to U.S. income tax on your world income.
The U.S. taxes its citizens and green card
holders wherever they are and no matter what they are doing. The U.S.
taxes its citizens in Canada and they will tax them in the North Sea.
The U.S. will add on the benefit of housing allowances, car allowances,
servants, and education allowances for people who have not been in the
U.S. for twenty years but who are still U.S. citizens. If
you want the benefit of U.S. Citizenship, you pays your taxes.) In
2006, the first $82,400 U.S. of income earned from personal services
(as opposed to capital) is exempt if you have been out of the country
for a full calendar year in one test or for 330 out of 365 days in
another test using a fiscal year (form 2555).
However, being "exempt" does
NOT mean that you do not have to file a tax return. You must still file
your U.S. 1040, report the Canadian Earnings in U.S. dollars and claim
the "up to $82,400 U.S." by filing a form 2555 with the 1040. If you
have investment, [INCLUDING AMOUNTS EARNED WITHIN YOUR CANADIAN RRSP],
rental, royalty, or any income other than from services, you must also
report the income in U.S. dollars. Since you will have
paid tax to Canada first, you will file a Form 1116 with the 1040 to
claim your foreign tax credit. A separate Form 1116 must be filed for
each kind of income, i.e. rental, pension, dividends, etc.
The RRSP earnings may be
exempted under ARTICLE XXIX.5 of the U.S. / CANADA Income Tax Treaty
1980 - file form 8891.
Social security (FICA) taxes
usually do not have to be paid to the U.S. under Article XXIX.4 of the
U.S./CANADA Income Tax treaty or Article V of the CANADA / U.S. Social
Security Agreement. (I sure hope all this is impressing
you).
Therefore, a U.S. citizen
living in Canada who had a rental house, a job, an RRSP, some dividends
and some capital gains from the sale of stock would file his or her
Canadian return first and then file a U.S. return with these forms:
* 1040 - is the basic return
for a citizen or resident of the U.S. or landed immigrant of
* Schedule A - to claim
itemized deductions if needed
* Schedule B - to report the
dividend income
* Schedule D - to report the
capital gains
* Schedule E - to report the
rental income
* 4562 - to report
depreciation on the rental house
* 1116 - (maybe two foreign
tax credit forms) - one for any income from services over $82,400
- one for the rental, capital gains, and dividend income and another
for the wages.
* 1116(AMT) - two more forms
to calculate the foreign tax credit for Alternative Minimum
Tax purposes (AMT)
* 2555 - to exempt up to
$82,400 (2006) U.S. of earnings from services - Note that this ran from
$70,000 to $80,000 before.
* 6251 - Alternative Minimum tax form
* 1161 AMT - AMT foreign tax credit
* FICA (Social Security)
exemption - to exempt income from U.S. FICA
* 8891 - RRSP election forms
to exempt income earned within the RRSP from current U.S. income tax
until withdrawal
* TDF 90-22.1 form(s) - to
report foreign bank accounts including Canadian RRSP accounts which are
considered "foreign trusts" - failure to file this form can result in
up to a $500,000 fine PLUS up to five years in jail
He or she might also have to
file either of the following two specialty forms when he or she owns
shares in corporations.
* 5471 form - If you are a
U.S. citizen and 10% or more owner of a Canadian corporation.
Failure to file this form can create fines of $10,000 every 30 days up
to $50,000
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The subject was the reporting of foreign bank on form T D F 90-22.1.
In particular, the tele-conference made the point that June 30th "IS" the deadline and that fines are being increased and in particular, there are / will be severe penalties for non-compliance.
It would seem that there is NOW a $10,000 penalty for failure to file the form although that is in the regulations and not on the form.
I know from other sources that some 1,000 clients of former advisor Jerome Schneider are in the process of being fined as I write this.
I also admit that I have not worried much about the June 30th filing date in the past.
However, the teleconference made the point that practitioners are subject to fine for not following up on these filings.
As I write this Terry or Phyllis ?? is making it very clear that RRSP accounts must be reported but that the Company Pension does not have to be reported.
So--- if you have not being reporting your foreign accounts - report now.
AND, they also made the point that everyone with foreign accounts MUST file schedule B, even if there is no earnings form the accounts.
AND, they also made the closing remark that if they have NOT been filed in the past, taxpayers should file back SIX years.
.
david ingram
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QUESTION: I would like to put some money away for retirement. I'm a U.S. citizen living in Canada for the near future, but I know I'll be living in the U.S. again before I retire. Should I put my money in an RRSP or an IRA?-----------------------------------------
david ingram replies;
This would be a great question for the Sunday morning radio program on CKBD 600AM from 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM.
The answer,though, is that you would likely be better putting after tax dollars down on your mortgage if you have one. Other than that, you can only buy an RRSP for a tax deduction. Of course, you then have to make sure that you fill in forms TDF 90-22.1 and 8891 as follows:
The following question deals with a US resident but you have to fill in the same forms living in Canada - failure to file them can mean big big big penalties.
TDF 90 rules here 8891 rules follow
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david ingram replies:
If you roll the RRSP into an RRIF (Registered retirement investment Fund), The payer will have to deduct 15% non resident withholding tax under the terms of Article XVIII of the US . Canada Income Tax Convention (Treaty).
You will then report it again on form 8891 of your 1040 and there may or may not be US tax to pay. If your income is high enough that you are in a federal 28% tax rate, there 'will' be tax to pay on the RRIF.
You will claim the 15% tax paid to Canada on US form 1116.
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Now, you have been supposed to report the existence of that account to the Department of the Treasury in Detroit on form TDF 90-22.1 since 1989 when that law was passed and shown in bulletin 89-45. Failure to report can be a penalty of a minimum of $10,000 to a maximum of $500,000 PLUS up to 5 years in jail for each year you did not report it. See the bottom question on schedule B of your 1040 where your foreign trust requires the preparing and filing of a 3520.
Thankfully, you do NOT have to do a 3520. the 8891 takes it place and is much easier.
The penalty for not also reporting the RRSP and its internal earnings to the IRS (it was the Dept of Treasury above) is 35% of the principal plus 5% for each year it was not reported since 1989 when the reporting rules started. The form 8891 is an exemption for paying the tax on those internal earnings.
See form 8891 at: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8891.pdf
RELIEF
Although I know of over 1,000 people who have paid $10,000 fines for not filing form TDF 90-22.1, I (at this time) do not know personally of a single individual who has been fined under the 8891 / 3520 rules. I also have NEVER seen a person fined for filing the TDF 90-22.1 forms late and voluntarily.
In my opinion, you should file the TDF 90-22.1 forms retroactively for six years.to the Department of the Treasury.
See Form TDF 90-22.1 at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f90221.pdf Note the penalty of up to $500,000 plus five years in jail for failure to file. The minimum fine is now $10,000.
You should file retroactive 8891 forms with a 1040X to the IRS for the same years. Note that you are the BENEFICIARY so follow the Beneficiary rules. The 8891 form is actually only 3 years old. Before that, you just wrote out the information on a free form page but it is a convenient form to use retroactively.
Hope this helps and we would be glad to assist if needed.
If you are in the lower mainland, this will be of interest
Every Thursday at 12 noon and 7 PM, Fred Snyder of Dundeee Wealth Management
presents free Financial Seminars for his clients, potential clients and anyone who phones and asks to attend.
THERE is NO CHARGE! (I used to charge up to $999.00 for essentially the same thing)
AND - NO ONE'S ARM IS TWISTED TO BUY SOMETHING.
They are presented at the Dundee Boardroom (holds about 30 people max)
1764 West 7th
Vancouver, BC
phone (604) 731-8900 - ask for Freda to register for free.
These are genuine educational seminars dealing with everything from how to buy a house to making your mortgage tax deductible to buying an RRSP to alternatives to RRSP accounts to estate planning. What started as 13 separate seminars has now evolved into 23 separate topics.
IT IS NOT UNUSUAL FOR PEOPLE TO COME TO ALL OF THEM.
ONE LADY CAME TO 53 separate seminars and her husband came to about 20 with her.
If you have a financial consultant, bring them. People have brought their bankers and life insurance agents with them.
Take your spouse, your best friend, your son, your daughter, your mother or your worst enemy But do phone 604-731-8900
Fred Snyder also is the host of ITS YOUR MONEY every Sunday morning on CKBD 600AM (600 on AM dial) from 9:00 to 10:30. This is a phone in financial show which I appear as a guest on most Sundays (when I get up). (Originally I was the co-host but the program is really devoted to BC finances because of BC Securities Legislation and my practice is world wide.) You can listen to 4 weeks back at www.600am.com and listen to the program live around the world every Sunday morning at the same spot. We have taken calls from around the world. In one case, a lady phoned from Florida, got her answer and then asked if I was the David ingram she knew in Regina back in 1959. Small world as they say.
Call (604) 280-0600 with your question on Sunday Morning.
It is very unlikely that blind or unexpected email to me will be answered. I receive anywhere from 100 to 700 unsolicited emails a day and usually answer anywhere from 2 to 20 if they are not from existing clients. Existing clients are advised to put their 'name and PAYING CUSTOMER' in the subject line and get answered first. I also refuse to be a slave to email and do not look at it every day and have never ever looked at it when I am out of town. e bankruptcy expert US Canada Canadian American Mexican Income Tax service and help
david ingram's US / Canada Services
US / Canada / Mexico tax, Immigration and working Visa Specialists
US / Canada Real Estate Specialists
My Home office is at:
North Vancouver, BC, CANADA, V7N 3L7
Cell (604) 657-8451 -
(604) 980-0321 Fax (604) 980-0325
Calls welcomed from 10 AM to 9 PM 7 days a week Vancouver (LA) time - (please do not fax or phone outside of those hours as this is a home office) expert US Canada Canadian American Mexican Income Tax service help.
$1,700 would be for two people with income from two countries
Catch - up returns for the US where we use the Canadian return as a guide for seven years at a time will be from $150 to $600.00 per year depending upon numbers of bank accounts, RRSP's, existence of rental houses, self employment, etc. Note that these returns tend to be informational rather than taxable. In fact, if there are children involved, we usually get refunds of $1,000 per child per year for 3 years. We have done several catch-ups where the client has received as much as $6,000 back for an $1,800 bill and one recently with 6 children is resulting in over $12,000 refund.
David Ingram expert income tax service and immigration help and preparation of US Canada Mexico non-resident and cross border returns with rental dividend wages self-employed and royalty foreign tax credits family estate trust trusts income tax convention treaty advice on bankruptcy
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