Hi David,

Not sure if you got this one as I sent it with my Hotmail address earlier today, and again sorry to bother you at such a busy time.
My concern was with my U.S. residency. If the U.S. Customs considers even an hour out of the country a full day. If I was to live in the U.S. (sleep there 5 nights a week), and work in Canada every day, I would be out of the country 4/5 times (days) a week. Assuming I was to visit my girlfriend, it could be 6/7 (days) times a week.
I would eventually like to become a U.S. citizen. Would these absences effect my allotted 5 year eligibility?

Thanks,
___________________________________________________________
david ingram replies:

Living in the US and commuting to work in Canada is a day in the US. Both countries say days but really mean "where do you sleeep. If you sleep in the US, you are in the US. Also, for the most paret the US counts an hour inthe US as a day and Canada (by tradition although they tried to change it five years ago) counts hours as hours and an hour a day for 24 days would only be 1 day.

As far as I am concerned, staying overnight at your lady friend's house in Canada every Saturday night would not be enough to count against you. Two nights a week likely would. Inveite her to the US for the odd weekend. And, when you take a vacation, try Alaska, the Grand Canyon, White Sands desert, Florida, Hawaii, Plymouth Rock, Fort Sumter and Gettysburg rather than Lake Louise, Fort Louisburg, L'Anse aux Meadows and/or the polar bears at Churchill. That way, you have spent the time in the US
.
david

My_question_is: Canadian-specific
Subject: income tax
Expert: [email protected]
Date: Tuesday March 06, 2007
Time: 01:47 PM -0500

QUESTION:

we were separated physically but not in paper and my wife had welfare and. we had to inform the government that we are getting together and asked ujs to refund the amout of welfare she took( around 4000$).
now that we are declared married what type of income tax should we do. a single one or separate. my wife doesnt work

_______________________________________

david ingram replies:

We only have separate returns in Canada but you both have to file if you have children so that your wife receives her child tax benefits.

My_question_is: Canadian-specific
Subject: capital gains on raw land
Expert: [email protected]
Date: Wednesday March 07, 2007
Time: 01:41 PM -0500

QUESTION:

I bought a 1/3 acre lot in Powell River in 2005 with the intention of building and retiring there.(Had the lot cleared, paid the services etc. One year later my husband changed his mind so we sold it.
The property was in both our names. Do we have to split the profit 50/50 on our taxes?
His income was $60,000.00, mine was $1200.00
The profit was $15000.00
________________________________________________________

david ingram replies:

Everyone I know wanted to buy in Powell River last year.

If you paid the down payment, made the payments, and also paid for the services, it would all be yours. If your husband made all the paymnets, it is his. If you did it sort of half and half, it can be split.

Maybe it should be 1/3 / 2/3rds

My_question_is: Applicable to both US and Canada
Subject: Moving to Canada but working for US Company
Expert: [email protected]
Date: Wednesday March 07, 2007
Time: 02:53 PM -0500

QUESTION:

My husband is currently on an H1-B visa, and we are both Canadian citizens.
We plan to move back to Vancouver for education, healthcare, living standards, etc. reasons.
My husband will continue to work at his computer development job in a telecommuting position, going into work once or twice a month.
He will continue to get paid in US dollars (approx. $94,000 US/yr). How will this affect us tax-wise, immigration wise, etc.?
We have been away from Canada since January 2000. I will not be working in Canada. Thanks.

__________________________________________________
david ingram replies

I am just too busy to answer in detail. This older answer will likley help you


[email protected]: Please see bottom of message if you wish to unsubscribe.
------------------------------------------



QUESTION:

Hi,

I'm an American citizen residing in Canada (permanent resident) and working for an American company remotely from home in Canada. I get a W2 at year-end. I assume I have to file both US and Canadian tax returns.

My questions are :
1) Do I file a US tax return and claim a foreign tax credit on my Canadians tax return. Or is it vice versa?
2) Do I still file state/local tax return in the US (I lived in Maryland prior to landing in Canada), even though I now reside in Canada?
3) For the extra tax I end up paying to the 2nd country (in excess to what I pay to the first country), can I claim any type of credit or deductions on that tax in next tax year?

Thank you very much!


====================================================
david ingram replies:

If you are working in Canada, you should not be getting a W-2. The reason is that as a reasident of Canada, you should not be paying into US Social Security or Medicare or paying basic income tax to the USA.

Your first tax liability for services rendered in Canada under Article IV of the US Canada Incomne Tax Treaty is to Canada.

You should be filing a Candian T1 return and paying Canada and provincial income tax first. Then you would file your US return and either:

1. Use form 2555 to exempt up to $82,400 of income from US tax and then file US form 1116 to claim a foreign tax credit on the excess OR

2. Use form 1116 to claim the foreign tax credit onyour US return for tax paid to Canada. If you have children, you woul dusually do the latter because it would usually qualify you for the $1,000 per child USA refundabvle tax credit.

3. In the case of interest (10%) and dividends (15%), you must get any excess tax back from the US by reclassifying the income on form 1116.

4. In the case of interest, you can claim the difference between 10 and 15% as a deduction on Canadian schedule 4.

5. You should NOT be paying into a US 401(K) or US Social Security. Canada will not allow the 401(K) as a deduction.

Your employer should start paying you on a 1099 Basis and pay you your salary plus their share of Social Security plus their share of Medicare plus their share of any 401 or other pension plan they contruibute to.

My_question_is: Applicable to both US and Canada
Subject: days or hours in Canada? - Confused
Expert: [email protected]
Date: Friday March 09, 2007
Time: 10:05 AM -0500

QUESTION:

David,
Here is your recent quote from recent replies:
"Living in the US and commuting to work in Canada is a day in the US. Both countries say days but really mean "where do you sleeep. If you sleep in the US, you are in the US. Also, for the most paret the US counts an hour inthe US as a day and Canada (by tradition although they tried to change it five years ago) counts hours as hours and an hour a day for 24 days would only be 1 day."


As far as I am concerned, staying overnight at your lady friend's house in Canada every Saturday night would not be enough to count against you. Two nights a week likely would. Inveite her to the US for the odd weekend. And, when you take a vacation, try Alaska, the Grand Canyon, White Sands desert, Florida, Hawaii, Plymouth Rock, Fort Sumter and Gettysburg rather than Lake Louise, Fort Louisburg, L'Anse aux Meadows and/or the polar bears at Churchill. That way, you have spent the time in the US
. david"

I am concerened because I live in Canada and commute to USA and come back daily ( 4 days a week) nver stayed back or had sleep in USA.
I want to complete 3 years in Canada for Cnadaian Citizenship.
Do I have to calculate hours I stayed in USA.
I heard I can count all days in Canada from somwhere.
Does hours really matter to me. OR I can count all days sslept in Cnada as full days in canada
Thanks a lot!
__________________________________________________

david ingram replies:

No!

As my answer says, it is where you spend the night that counts. Each night counts as a day for your immigration. You need 1095 days out of 1460 days (3 out of 4 years) to qualify for your Canadian citizenship.

Being in Canada part of every day and every night is residence in Canda for citizenship purposes.

Sent: Friday, March 09, 2007 10:23 PM
Subject: creditline mortgage - HELOC - Glen Kelleway - Fred Snyder - Stuart Rodger - David Ingram gives expert income tax & 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.


My_question_is: Canadian-specific
Subject: creditline mortgage
Expert: [email protected]
Date: Friday March 09, 2007
Time: 02:34 PM -0500

QUESTION:

Hi David,

I'm thinking of getting a creditline mortgage for the purpose of purchasing some Canadian stocks (dividend producing). I understand that the interest I'll be paying would be considered tax deductible and that 50% of the dividend income I earn is taxed. What I want to do is take the dividend income I'm earning and put it towards my mortgage ($90,000). The value of my home is just over $600,000. What type of paperwork do I need to provide Revenue Canada to allow me to do this? I'm just worried if things are not done in a particular order I'll have problems later on. I'm not sure how particular Revenue Canada is in this regard. Thanks in advance for your help.
________________________________________________________________________
david ingram replies:

You need a direct line showing that you borrowed the money and used it to buy stock, mutual funds, a business or any other income produvcing commodity, maybe a gravel truck.

If you do not show a direct linkage where the borrowed money is specifically used to buy the commodity or item, you will lose with Revenue Canada.

Stuart Rodgers with Manulife Bank is one Mortgage man who understands the process and his HELOC (Home Equity Line Of Credit) can be diveded into five portions. His phone number is (604) 351-6133.
[email protected].

Glenn Kelleway at Mortgage it Right is the mortgage broker I used for my own mortgage - He is also one of the few who understand the process. His number is (604) 476-0053.

His email is [email protected]

You can go to www.centa.com and read the November Newsletter in the top left box and you can listen to Fred Snyder's program on Sunday morning. He will give you a free written financial plan which will explain the system

You should also go to the CRA site and read Bulletin IT-533 on the subject.

My_question_is: Canadian-specific
Subject: Filing a nonresident return
Expert: [email protected]
Date: Friday March 09, 2007
Time: 12:38 AM -0500

QUESTION:

Hi,
I did a deemed disposition as of jan 1 2005, and liquidated all my canadian investments in 2006.

This year, I received:
an NR4 and a T2062 for my life insurance policy
(the NR lists gross income but no withheld tax)
a t5 (?) for interest income
a mutual fund t5008 for securities I sold

I know how to show the interest income, but am not sure a) why I got an NR4 and a T2062 on the life insurance. How does one show this on their return?

Lastly, my understanding is that my tax obligation to canada on capital gains on the mutual funds is complete, and I just show those now on my US return. Is this accurate?

Thanks,

-------------------------------------------------------

david ingram replies:
>
> Assuming that you filed your T1161 and T1243 and paid the tax on the deemed disposition, you are finished,.
>
> However, if you also filed form 1244 to defer the tax until actual sale, you would need to pay that tax now that you have sold it.
>
> The T5 implies that no tax was withheld. Technically, you need to file a tax return under article XI of the US Canada Tax Treaty to pay 10% tax on the interest.
>
> However, most of the time, you would just send the CRA a cheque for 10% and a copy of the T-5.and forget about the T1.
>
> Then, on the 1040, you would report the interest again, the actual mutual fund sales and have to decide if there was a taxable portion to the life insurance policy between the time you left Canda and the cashed in time. You would then claim the 10% tax on the interest on US form 1116 with your 1040.

QUESTION: Hi David. Thanks in advance for consideration of my questions.

How should the Cdn maternity benefits (UI payments) be classified for reporting in the US? I was trying to determine whether it would be a valid argument to include this as earned income (excludable under Form 2555) rather than taking a foreign tax credit on this income. Because of the substantial decrease in my income this year, we are having to pay taxes to the US and I was trying to minimize our exposure. (Filing Form 1116 alone does not allow us any additional child tax credits because our income is otherwise above the threshold).

Also, any thoughts on tax considerations of giving up my greencard? My husband is a US citizen so we would still have to continue to file in the US, however at least I wouldn't have to report my income and he can file as Head of Household. Is this more beneficial than filing jointly?
______________________________________________

david ingram replies:

The 1040 has a line for unemployemnt insurance. It does not qualify for form 2555 exemption.

If your husband is a US citizen, you can be sponsored back but it will still take 15 to 18 months and cost a lot of money at the time.

I believe that you should continue to hold your green card.

Paying tax to Canada on the value of your maternity benefits should be enough to cancel any tax to the USA on form 1116.

You might want to recalculate.

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 mucyh 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 specialize in selling securities, RRSPs, etc., to US citizens in Canada or Canadians in the US are:

Mr Darrell Thompson
Blackmont Securities
Toronto
Local (416) 874-8007
LD (866) 775-7704
www.blackmont.com

AND

Dan Walkow
Seabank Financial
White Rock
Local (604) 541-9952
L D (866) 541-9952
www.seabankcapital.com
__
These two individuals and their companies have gone to the effort to get themselves registered just about everywhere so they can deal with a Candian 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, both parties would welcome an exploratory call.