Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted by
XXXXXXXXXXXX on Tuesday, June 2, 2009 at 07:02:44
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
My_question_is: Both
question: I am a Canadian citizen with assests in Canada living in the US with a green card rsidency and have been notified that I can no longer hold my mutual funds in a canadian based investment firm. I have to liquidate and move them to a US investment firm. I also have Canadian assests and property from an estate and wonder what the ramifications are with holding the property as a US resident. I plan on retiring in Canada in the future and wonder what the issues I need to know about in regards to investing in the US as a Canadian with green card. Will I be taxed excessively if I return to Canada to retire. Should I hold the estate property in Canada and what happens if I want to sell it in the future.. Help..
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
david ingram replies:
The problem is NOT you.
It is because you are dealing with an amateur firm which is not poised to work with a global economy.
You are welcome to pass this on to them.
You do NOT have to liquidate. That will just cost you commissions which would only be earned because of their ineptitude.
There are two people I recommend for you to contact. Both of them can look after your financial affairs with regard to mutual funds, RRSP, IRA, and other Canadian financial accounts while you are in the US and can continue to look after them if and when you return to Canada.
I hope, though that you have been checking off "yes" to question 7 on Schedule B of your US 1040 and I trust and hope that you have been reporting the Mutual Fund earnings on schedules B and D of your 1040 each year you have been there.
If you have not been doing so, the minimum penalty can be $10,000 a year with a maximum penalty of $500,000 plus five years in jail for failure to report the Canadian (or French or Australian or Indonesian or Indian) accounts.
In the meantime, the following older Q & A will give you some information. Note that Dan Walkow will be live on my Internet Broadcast Wednesday June 10th at 7 PM Vancouver time. You can phone him toll free on the program at 1-866-980-0499. AND, AND, AND, there are some archived shows you can watch to get the idea at www.david-ingram.com - note that you have to use Internet explorer or googlechrome to access the video. Firefox will not work.
XXXX XXXX wrote:
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.
Good on Dan Walkow. He intercepted what
could have been a problem. There is a stipulation regarding
payment of a RRIF to a non-resident that ends up requiring a 25% tax withholding
in any payments made from a RRIF to a non-resident in the first year of the
RRIF's existence. Even if they are clearly periodic payments.
So in order to get the normal 15% holdback on my first disbursements in
2008, I have to roll my RRSP into a RRIF before calender
year end 2007.
Just in case you weren't aware of this odd
stipulation, I thought I'd pass it on. It could cost non-residents a year
of taxation at 25% instead of 15% if they don't get that RRIF in place during
the calender year prior to the one in which they intend to draw. And
the US will never give a 25% offset tax credit, unless you are in a much higher
tax bracket than most retirees.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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:
Is Stansberry & Associates a legitimate
firm?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
david ingram replies:
So far as i know.
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
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
------------ 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.
SUGGESTED PRICE GUIDELINES - Aug 5,
2008
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.
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:
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
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.
pert US Canada Canadian American
Mexican Income Tax service and
help.
David Ingram gives expert income
tax service & immigration help to non-resident Americans &
Canadians from New York to California to Mexico family,
estate, income trust trusts Cross border, dual citizen - out of
country investments are all handled with competence &
authority.
Phone
consultations are $450 for 15 minutes to 50 minutes (professional hour). Please
note that GST is added if product remains in Canada or is to be returned to
Canada or a phone consultation is in Canada. ($472.50 with GST for in person or
if you are on the telephone in Canada) expert US Canada Canadian American Mexican Income
Tax service and help.
This is not intended to be definitive but in
general I am quoting $900 to $3,000 for a dual country tax
return.
$900 would be one T4 slip one W2 slip one or two
interest slips and you lived in one country only (but were filing both
countries) - no self employment or rentals or capital gains - you did not move
into or out of the country in this year.
$1,200 would be the same with one rental
$1,300 would be the same with one business no
rental
$1,300 would be the minimum with a move in or out
of the country. These are complicated because of the back and forth foreign tax
credits. - The IRS says a foreign tax credit takes 1 hour and 53
minutes.
$1,600 would be the minimum with a rental or two in
the country you do not live in or a rental and a business and foreign tax
credits no move in or out
$1,700 would be for two people with income from two countries
$3,000 would be all of the above and you moved in
and out of the country.
This is just a guideline for US / Canadian
returns
We will still prepare
Canadian only (lives in Canada, no US connection period) with two or
three slips and no capital gains, etc. for $200.00 up.
However, if you have a stack of 1099, or T3 or T4A or T5 or K1 reporting forms,
expect to pay an average of $10.00 each with up to $50.00 for a K1 or T5013 or
T5008 or T101 --- Income trusts with amounts in box 42 are an even larger
problem and will be more expensive. - i.e. 20
information slips will be at least $350.00
With a Rental for $400, two or three rentals for
$550 to $700 (i.e. $150 per rental) First year Rental - plus
$250.
A Business for $400 - Rental and business likely
$550 to $700
And an American only (lives in the US with no
Canadian income or filing period) with about the same things in the same range
with a little bit more if there is a state return.
Moving in or out of the country or part year
earnings in the US will ALWAYS be $900 and up.
TDF 90-22.1 forms are $50 for the first and $25.00
each after that when part of a tax return.
8891 forms are generally $50.00 to $100.00
each.
18 RRSPs would be $900.00 - (maybe amalgamate a
couple)
Capital gains *sales) are likely $50.00 for
the first and $20.00 each after that.
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.
This is a guideline not etched
in stone. If you do your own TDF-90 forms, it
is to your advantage. However, if we put them in the first year, the computer
carries them forward beautifully.
--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." -
--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." -
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 8.5.339 / Virus Database: 270.12.50/2150 - Release Date: 06/02/09 06:47:00
