I transferred from Canada to US in 1998 and continued working for the same company. I have a Canadian pension from my employer based on 15 years working in Canada and also one in the US based on 11 years here. I was just laid off making me eligible to access the commuted value of my Canadian pension. I can roll ~3/4 of it into a LIRA, but the overflow is subject to 25% withholding tax.
As I want to keep that money separate for my retirement in 10+ years, is there any tax sheltered or tax deferred program available to put the overflow funds in either Canada or the US?
Thanks,
XXXXXX XXXX Long
david ingram replies:
You likely have some RRSP room left which would roll it over tax free but your problem is that few people in Canada are licenced to deal with a non-resident to open an RRSP for them. I you have an existing RRSP, you might sneak some in it but not if the holder knows you are in the USA. And if you do have an RRSP, I hope you are filing your TDF 90-22.1 and 8891 forms with your 1040.
I attended a CFA meeting in Vancouver today and talked to at least two dozen of them, none of whom could look after you and none of whom even knew of someone who can.
Fortunately, i know two who can look after the US and Canadian side of your pensions under the circumstances you describe.
If yo go to www.david-ingram.com, you will find interviews with Dan Walkow of www.seabankcapital.com. You can see more in the following older questions.
If you are on the east coast, Darrell Thompson of Blackmont Securities can also look after your situation
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- My_question_is: US-specific question: I understand that form 8891 has replaced form 3520 and 3520-A for US citizens to report their RRSPs. I am wondering if US citizens who are Canadian residents and who hold mutual funds in open, non-registered accounts must still file forms 3520 and 3520-A for each of those accounts? I am also wondering if US citizen resident in Canada or dual citizens should/must inform the Canadian mutual fund companies that they are US citizens? Many thanks! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------david ingram replies:
With the exception of one year, an RRSP has not required a 3520 since 1989.
US REV-PROC 89-45 was the first of three to cancel the need to file a 3520.
I have never heard of and can not see any reason to file a 3520 for a commercial Mutual fund. Although it may be a trust, it is not a trust of the kind asked about in question 8 on schedule B of the 1040.
Because of the newer reporting rules for a TDF 90-22.1, I think it behooves every US citizen. green card holder or holder of a US visa which allows them to live in the US to make sure that their Canadian financial institution knows that they are a US citizen and will require more information for their RRSP, RRIF and other accounts.
Because of this heavier reporting, we are finding that some people are reporting their earning twice. Some Canadian institutions are reporting earnings for US residents twice. They will provide a NR4 to the client in Canadian Currency and then for some unknown reason provide a 1099-DIV or 1099-MISC reporting the same income again in US Currency.
There are very few Canadian financial advisors who have taken the time to recognize these facts.
The following will help and you can see some archived interviews with Dan Walkow at www.david-ingram.com - You have to use Googlechrome or Internet explorer to view these at the moment and they will not view with a Mac.
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david ingram replies:
Thanks for the heads up FH
I have never heard of this but will pass it on just in case there are other US residents intending to roll over into a RRIF at the start of 2008 (or any other for that matter).
I qualified for OAS and CPP in September but decided to leave it until 2008 for instance,.
For those who need someone who can handle your RRIF, RRSP, IRA, 401(K) 403, other retirement plans and any open cash account on both sides of the US / Canada border, I give you the following:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
QUESTION:
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One person on the list wrote to say that they had satisfactory dealings with them after I wrote the following:
If the problem is dealing with cross border investments, I usually recommend Dan Walkow and / or Darrell Thompson
as in this older question about the same firm
---------------------------------------------
QUESTION: 1. have been trying to find ethical investment firm to go with in Canada and can not seem to get any unbiased answers We live in Red Lake Ontario (landed immigrants), but are also US citizens
2. Is this Stansberry & Associates legit, as they seem to have many different opportunities claiming great returns
Pinchot Retirement Plan, Master Limited Partnership, Market Index Target Term Security , Oakmark Select Funds
Thanks greatly looking forward to your email
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david ingram replies:
I have no good or bad
knowledge about Stansbery and Associates. None of my clients deal with them to
my knowledge.
>From looking at their website, they seem to be a
newsletter operation as much as anything. I have about 15 interviews with
newsletter writers on gold (John Embry), oil, uranium (Martin Kafusa), silver
(Sean Rahkimov) real estate (Ozzie Jurock), futures and commodities (Victor
Adai), Resources in General (Elsworth Dickson, Publisher of Resource
World) etc at www.howestreet.com - mostly in the third column.
Two ethical people who are properly
licenced to seal with the sale of securities, IRA's 403B, RRSPs,
RRIFs, etc., to US citizens in Canada or Canadians in the US
are:
Dan Walkow
Seabank Financial
White
Rock
Local (604) 541-9952
L D
(866) 541-9952
www.seabankcapital.com
AND
Darrell
Thompson
Blackmont Securities
Toronto
Local (416)
874-8007
LD (866) 775-7704
www.blackmont.com
These two individuals and their companies have gone to the effort to get themselves registered and properly licenced just about everywhere so they can deal with a Canadian in Florida or California or Nevada, etc.
____________________________________
Note that because of their specialty, they tend to deal with accounts in excess of $200,000
However, I know that both parties would welcome an exploratory call. Small accounts do grow into larger ones and of course, you do not have to have a cross border problem to deal with them.
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.
Email and Faxed information is convenient for the sender but very time consuming and hard to keep track of when they come in multiple files. As of May 1, 2008, we will charge or be charging a surcharge for information that comes in more than two files. It can take us a valuable hour or more to try and put together the file when someone sends 10 emails or 15 attachments, etc. We had one return with over 50 faxes and emails for instance.
--IRS Circular 230 Disclosure: To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the IRS, please be advised that any U.S. tax advice contained in this communication (including any attachments) is not intended or written to be used or relied upon, and cannot be used or relied upon, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code, or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed herein.--
-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 or www.garygauvin.com. If you forward this message, this disclaimer must be included." -
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