I am so far behind that I expect to file over 100 US extensions in the next 6 days.
Here are the deadlines for our clients filing Canadian and US returns
April 15, 2008 US citizens or US residents in the USA for their 1040, 1040NR and most state returns..
I am not going to get 100 or so done by April 15th. I will file a form 4868 for an automatic extension. We will also be finishing another 75 or so in the next 6 days (there are 4 1/2 of us here). we will automatically file an extension for each one of these because they are being couriered out to places like Ne York, San Francisco, Houston, Kansas City, Tulsa, San Diego, Hyattsville, Newark, Boston, Hawaii, etc. To avoid possible late 'filing' penalties, we will send in an extension as we mail or courier the return off.
April 20, 2008 Some State tax returns such as Hawaii - check your state.
April 30, 2008 Canadian employee returns - Does not employee if either member of a married, civil or other marital type union is self-employed part or full time.
June 15, 2008 Deadline for US filers living outside the physical United States. US filers in Dubai, Saudi, Greenland, Indonesia, Japan, and Canada, etc need to file by June 15th to avoid late filing penalties. Note that if you owe tax, late 'paying' penalties and interest will apply from April 15. If installments were supposed to have been made, there will also be installment interest assessed.
June 15, 2008 Deadline for Canadian returns for both spouses when one or both is self-employed. If you owe tax, interest will apply from April 30th.
But let me make a point. even if you owe $10,000 and the penalty for late paying is 2%, that is only $200.00
I might charge you 5 x's that much for priority processing to meet the deadline. Far far far better to file an extension.
------------------------
Why are we so late?
Every return is taking half an hour to two hours longer and I have never seen a year when we have done so many returns two or even three ways.
For instance, A couple leaving Washington state are saving over $4,000 because in the year of leaving, they have to file a dual status return in this case. A dual status return without making an election to include world income cannot be a joint return. By filing two MFS returns and splitting the husband's W2 between both people, they are saving over $4,000 in tax. To understand why we split the W-2, you have to understand community property rules. If you look at pages 8, 9 and 10 of Publication 555, you will get the idea.
See pages 8, 9 and 10 at: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p555.pdf
In another case, moving to the US with three kids and electing to file a Joint return with 10 months of Canadian income added to the US return resulted in over $4,000 more refund because they were able to claim the full Child tax benefits of $1,000 per child even though there was only 2 months of US income.
In other cases, different US tax rates on qualified dividends and different Canadian rates on Eligible dividends and the different capital gains tax rates are wrecking havoc with my foreign tax credit calculations.
This year, when real estate has collapsed in most of the US, I have been swamped with taxable home sales as US citizens in Canada have sold their Canadian homes with big profits and owe anywhere from $54,000 to $300,000 in tax to the IRS on the sale of their Canadian home.
Anyway, file your extensions and take it easy if you have not got your return finished yet. this is not the time to expect the best service from your tax overworked preparer. I got 1 1/2 hours of sleep on Sunday night and I am not going to do that again - life is too short
find US form 4868 at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f4868.pdf
And remember, if you send in money with the 4868, it will stop any late paying penalties on that amount so make a guess and send it in.
Since Canada's CRA has not become sophisticated enough to come up with the equivalent of a 4868, you have to file an actual tax return to avoid an actual late filing penalty.
File a partial return with PROFORMA written on it. Proforma means that one or more figures is guessed at and not accurate. Then, as soon as possible, finish the return after April 30th and send in a form T1-Adj to bring the final figures up to date.
Do NOT expect it to be dealt with immediately. On June 15, 2006 I sent in a PROFORMA 2005 Canadian return for a fellow the with a $272,000 US W2 (lived in Canada, worked in the US), a Canadian Proprietorship and a US rental house. We then sent in an amendment with a T1-ADJ on October 10, 2006 when we finally got all the information for this gentleman who was working in the US, Canada and Asia.
The CRA finally sent a reassessment for the 2005 return on March 10, 2008.
So, if we file an extension for your return, you will know why but I guarantee you will get a better job if we finish it in a reasonable and timely fashion than if we stay up 23 hours a day and finish it off bleary eyed to catch a April 15th Midnight artificial deadline.
Remember, BE ALERT, the World needs more "LERTS".
-------------------------------------------------------------------
On April 6. 2008,
David
Ingram wrote:
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
However, I regularly search for the words"PAYING
CUSTOMER" and always answer them first if they did not get spammed out.
For the last two weeks, I have just found out that my own email notes
to myself have been spammed out and as an example, as I wrote this on
Dec 25, 2007 since June 16th, my 'spammed out' box has
47,941 unread messages, my deleted box has 16645 I have actually looked
at and deleted and I have actually answered 1234 email questions for
clients and strangers without sending a bill. I have also put aside
847 messages that I am maybe going to try and answer because they look
interesting. -e bankruptcy expert US Canada Canadian American
Mexican Income Tax service and help
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 dual citizenship
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
Therefore, if an email is not answered in
24 to
48 hours, it is likely lost in space.
You can try and resend it but if important AND YOU TRULY WANT OR NEED
AN ANSWER from 'me', you will have to phone to make an appointment.
Gillian Bryan generally accepts appointment requests for me between
10:30 AM and 4:00 PM Monday to Friday VANCOUVER (Seattle, Portland, Los
Angeles) time at (604) 980-0321. david ingram 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:
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
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.
Disclaimer:
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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
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included." e bankruptcy expert US Canada Canadian
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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 -
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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 if 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.
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.
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.
This from "ask an income trusts tax service
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, United
Kingdom, Kuwait, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan,
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with state tax returns, etc. Rockwall, Dallas, San Antonio Houston,
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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 dual citizenship
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help.
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ingram
International non-resident cross border expert income tax service &
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& immigration consultant, income trusts experts on rentals mutual
funds RRSP RESP IRA 401(K) & divorce preparer preparers
consultants Income Tax Convention Treaty. advice
on bankruptcy expert US Canada Canadian American Mexican Income Tax
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Be ALERT, the world needs more "lerts". bankruptcy expert US Canada
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