Income tax for dual US-Canada

Subject:        Income tax for dual US-Canada citizen?
Expert:         taxman at centa.com
Date:           Wednesday November 22, 2006
Time:           12:24 AM -0500
QUESTION:
I was born in the USA but have resided in Canada my whole life.  I have
recently become a Canadian citizen, so I now have dual citizenship.
Assuming I continue to live and work only in Canada, am I obliged to pay US
income tax?
Thank you for your attention,
----------------------------------------
david ingram replies:
As long as you remain a US citizen you are obliged to file a US income tax
return.
In fact, there is more legal reason to file a US return than a Canadian
return if you are an employee with tax deducted at source.
Let me explain.  If you made a $100,000 salary in BC in 2005 and were a
single man with no RRSP or any other income or deductions, your tax would be
$27,836.00.  Typically, your employer would have deducted $28,300 tax and
another $1,600 or so EI and CPP.  If you filed a tax return, you would get
back $464.00.  Since you do not owe Canada tax, there is no requirement to
file for Canada if you do not want your refund unless the CRA actually
requests a return.
However, as a US citizen, you owe tax to the US on $100,000 Canadian.
Assuming you are single, if you do not file a return, you owe them about
$17,500 plus late filing penalties and interest.
However, if you file a return and claim the proper exemptions and foreign
tax credits, you would not owe anything.
If you have not been filing your returns, the proper thing to do is file the
current year and 6 back years.
The first one of these I really saw where the IRS "really" went after
someone was in 1995 when the IRS issued arbitrary assessments against my
North Vancouver client for $218.000 for 1986, 87 and 88 - i.e. 9, 8 and 7
years back.  By the time we had finished two years later, he had a $5,000
bill from me, and had lost his house, car and wife.
We actually got the bill reduced to $146.00 but it had cost him everything
and he is now living in Alaska.
-----------------------------------
If you give up your US citizenship to stop having to file US tax returns,
you are then banned from the USA.
-----------------------------------------
We, of course, are available to file the old returns.
==============================
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:
4466 Prospect Road
North Vancouver,  BC, CANADA, V7N 3L7
Cell (604) 657-8451 -
(604) 980-0321 Fax (604) 980-0325
Calls welcomed from 10 AM to 10 PM 7 days a week  Vancouver (LA) time -
(please do not fax or phone outside of those hours as this is a home office)
email to taxman at centa.com <mailto:taxman at centa.com>
www.centa.com <http://www.centa.com/>  www.david-ingram.com
<http://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
practitioner or tax specialist for expert help, assistance, preparation, or
consultation  in connection with personal or business affairs such as at
www.centa.com <http://www.centa.com> . If you forward this message, this
disclaimer must be included."
Be ALERT,  the world needs more "lerts"
David Ingram gives expert income tax & immigration help to non-resident
Americans & Canadians from New York to California to Saudi Arabia to Mexico
to China or Chile - Cross border, dual citizen - out of country investments
are all handled with competence & authority.
New York, Boston, Sacramento, Minneapolis, Salem, Wheeling, Philadelphia,
Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Pensacola, Miami, St Petersburg, Naples, Fort Myers,
Cape Coral, Orlando, Atlanta, Arlington, Washington, Hudson, Green Bay,
Minot, Portland, Seattle, St John, St John's, Fredericton, Quebec, Moncton,
Truro, Atlanta, Charleston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego,
Sacramento, Taos, Grand Canyon, Reno, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Sun City, Tulsa,
Monteray, Carmel, Morgantown, Bemidji, Sandpointe, Pocatello, Bellingham,
Custer, Grand Forks, Lead, Rapid City, Mitchell, Kansas City, Lawrence,
Houston, Albany, Framingham, Cambridge, London, Paris, Prince George, Prince
Rupert, Whitehorse, Anchorage, Fairbanks, Frankfurt, The Hague, Lisbon,
Madrid, Atlanta, Myrtle Beach, Key West, Cape Coral, Fort Meyers,   Berlin,
Hamburg
Warsaw, Auckland, Wellington, Honolulu, Maui, Kuwait, Molokai, Beijing,
Shanghai, Tokyo, Manilla, Kent, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Regina, Red Deer, Olds,
Medicine Hat, Lethbridge, Moose Jaw, Brandon, Portage La Prairie, Davidson,
Craik, Edmonton, Calgary, Victoria, Vancouver, Burnaby, Surrey, Edinburgh,
Dublin, Belfast, Glasgow, Copenhagen, Oslo, Munich, Sydney, Nanaimo,
Brisbane, Melbourne, Darwin, Perth, Athens, Rome, Berne, Zurich, Kyoto,
Nanking, Rio De Janeiro, Brasilia, Colombo, Buenos Aries, Squamish,
Churchill, Lima, Santiago, Abbotsford, Cologne, Yorkshire, Hope, Penticton,
Kelowna, Vernon, Fort MacLeod, Deer Lodge, Springfield, St Louis, Centralia,
Bradford, Stratford on Avon, Niagara Falls, Atlin, Fort Nelson, Fort St
James, Red Deer, Drumheller, Fortune, Red Bank, Marystown, Cape Spears,
Truro, Charlottetown, Summerside, Niagara Falls, Albany Zimbabwe
international non-resident cross border income tax help assistance expert
preparation & immigration consultant david ingram, experts on rentals mutual
funds RRSP RESP IRA 401(K) & divorce preparer preparers consultants
Alaska,  Alabama,  Arkansas,  Arizona,
California,  Colorado, Connecticut,
Delaware, District of Columbia,  Florida,
Garland, Georgia,  Hawaii,  Idaho,  Illinois,
Indiana,  Iowa,  Kansas,  Kentucky,
Louisiana,  Maine,  Maryland,
Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota,
Mississippi,  Missouri,  Montana,  Nebraska,
Nevada, New Hampshire,  New Jersey,
New Mexico, New York, North Carolina,
North Dakota,  Ohio,  Oklahoma,  Oregon.
Pennsylvania,  Rhode Island,  Rockwall,
South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee,
Texas,  Utah, Vermont,  Virginia,
West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming,
British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan,
Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec City,
New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island,
Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Yukon and
Northwest and Nunavit Territories,
Mount Vernon, Eumenclaw, Coos Bay
and Dallas Houston Rockwall Garland
Texas  Taxman and Tax Guru  and wizzard
wizard - consultant - expert - advisor -advisors consultants - gurus - Paris
Prague Moscow Berlin
Lima Rio de Janeiro, Santaigo Zimbabwe
 David Ingram expert income tax help and preparation of US Canada Mexico
non-resident and cross border returns with rental dividend wages
self-employed and royalty foreign tax credits
This from "ask an income tax and immigration expert" from www.centa.com
<http://www.centa.com/>  or www.jurock.com <http://www.jurock.com/>  or
www.featureweb.com <http://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, United Kingdom, Kuwait, Dubai,
Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Indonesia, 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, and any of the 43 states with state tax returns, etc. Rockwall, Dallas,
San Antonio Houston
Denmark, Finland, Sweden Norway Bulgaria Croatia Income Tax and Immigration
Tips, Income Tax  Immigration Wizard Antarctica Rwanda Guru  Consultant
Specialist Section 216(4) 216(1) NR6 NR-6 NR 6 Non-Resident Real Estate tax
specialist expert preparer expatriate anti money laundering money seasoning
FINTRAC E677 E667 105 106 TDF-90 Reporting $10,000 cross border transactions
Grand Cayman Aruba Zimbabwe South Africa Namibia help USA US