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I found your email on the web and noted that you were able to
answer some questions similar to my own. If you can, please
advise me on the following.
I am a Canadian citizen working in Michigan on an H1-B visa since
March of 2003. My wife is a U.S. citizen, as is her son. We
have a daughter together who was born in the U.S. and has U.S.
citizenship.
To keep things easier for us, we are assuming we will have to
submit our taxes separately in the U.S. and I will have to submit
a Canadian return for the time I worked in Canada in 2003.
My first question is, do you think my filings will be straight
forward enough for me to do by myself or would you suggest we
seek assistance from a CPA?
Second, how do I claim my daughter on my returns if it is
advantageous for me to claim her rather than my wife?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thank you,
B XXXXXXXX
=======================================
david ingram replies:
First of all, get your resident alien (green card) on its way
with your wife as your sponsor.
Getting your green card means that you can change jobs, etc and
stay there if the US company closes down or just plain lays you
off for their own economic reasons. If they did that now, you
could not take another job right away.
You should likely be filing a joint 1040 for 2003 although you
could certainly file Separately. If your incomes are equal, the
tax would be about the same as a joint return. However, if your
incomes are disparate (i.e. you make $100,000 and your wife makes
$25,000) you should definitely file a joint return.
If you file separately, either your wife or yourself can claim
your daughter. Just write her name and SSN on either return. If
you file jointly, it does not matter.
You can NOT claim your daughter on your Canadian Return.
Most US tax people will have trouble with your return. You are
not the norm. I can likely think of a dozen people that I know
who would just take your return and do it routinely.
There are five people in this office alone who can do it
routinely because that is what we do. We specialize in your type
of return and would do the Michigan, 1040 and Canadian return at
the same time. Our cost would likely be $700 with a high of
$1,000 if you have mutual funds, etc. We accept returns by
mail, fax, email or courier.l
You will also have to file a T1161 if you had more than $25,000
of assets when you left Canada.
You can find T1161 at
http://www.ccra-adrc.gc.ca/menu/AFAF_T-e.html
Note that the penalty for failing to file this form is $25.00 a
day to a maximum of $2,500.
Hope this helps you.
Your name has been added to our list because of an emailed
enquiry. At the moment there are some 200 unanswered questions
and many are the same. To justify the time spent answering these
questions I simply send them to the list. this has two
advantages:
1. 3,000 other people sometimes give me a better idea or a better
answer.
2.I do not answer the same thing five times in one week.
This list was $125.00 a year from 1992 to 2001. It is free for
the time being. However, if you do not want to be on it, just
send back any message received with the word remove and I will be
happy to remove you.
Remember though, if you ask to be removed before your question
gets answered, you will not get an answer because they go to the
whole list to justify my time.
david ingram - [email protected]
108-100 Park Royal South
West Vancouver, BC, CANADA, V7T 1A2
(604) 913-9133 - (604) 913-9123 www.centa.com
Cell is (604) 657-8451 (10 AM to 10 PM seven days a week)
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and Dallas Houston Rockwall Garland
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wizard - consultant - expert - advisor -advisors consultants -
gurus - Paris Prague Moscow Berlin
Lima Rio de Janeiro, Santaigo
This from "ask an income tax and immigration expert" from
www.centa.com or www.jurock.com or www.featureweb.com. David
Ingram deals on a daily basis with expatriate tax returns with:
multi jurisdictional cross and trans border expatriate problems
for the United States, Canada, Mexico, Great Britain, the United
Kingdom, Kuwait, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan,
China, New Zealand, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Russia,
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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, and any of the 43 states with state tax returns, etc.
Rockwall, Dallas, San Antonio and Houston Texas
Income Tax and Immigration Tips, Income Tax and ImmigrationWizard
Income Tax and Immigration Guru Income Tax and Immigration
Consultant Income Tax and Immigration Specialist
David Ingram's US/Canada Services
US / Canada / Mexico tax and working Visa Specialists
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4466 Prospect Road
North Vancouver, BC, CANADA, V7N 3L7
Res (604) 980-3578 Cell (604) 657-8451
(604) 980-0321
New email to [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 and the author and any and all non-contractual
duties are expressly denied. All readers should obtain formal
advice from a competent and appropriately qualified legal
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Be ALERT, the world needs more "lerts"
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