It is tough to pick an accountant these days. Completely lost in the Arthur Anderson / Enron Scandal was the story below which has resulted in a $15,000,000 fine for Ernst and Young. Following that is the story where KPMG and BDO were being investigated for the same offence and recently 4 KPMG partenrs and the firm itself were indicted for fraud for inappropriate audits of XEROX over a seven year period. see http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2003-16.htm

The following indicates that the IRS is investigating over 90 professional accounting firms. OUCH!!

QUESTION:

I have been offered a consulting job with a Canadian Corporation in
Saskatoon, Sk. for 8 to 12 months starting in mid-September.
I am a US citizen and I have my own US 'S' type Corporation.
Should I contract with the Canadian Corporation Corp-to-Corp for my services
or should I contract as an individual and close down my US Corporation for
this term? I am the sole employee of my Corporation.

QUESTION:

Hello

I was hoping you could answer a few questions for me. I am a Canadian citizen who has been working in the US on TN Visas for ~ 4 Years. I am current planning to move to Canada but prior to leaving I am considering buying a US rental property. What are the Tax implications of doing this? Does the income produced from this property have to be declared in both the US & Canada? Can the property depreciation be claimed when filing a Canadian Tax return? Are the professional service used to manage a US property deductible? Are trips to visit and provide maintenance to the property deductible ? Would owing a US property have any bearing on being approved for further mortgages in Canada? Any other info or direction would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

My son applied for Canadian citizenship in May of last year.He applied at the New York consulate in New York city. They told him it will take him from three to six months. His mother is a Canadian living in the US with a green card . The consular agent can't say how long it will take. After numerous phone calls they finaly told him that they need his mother's parent's US citizen papers proving that they became US citizen's after 1977. The question is why is this taking so long and why can't my son contact the Nova Scotia processing center by phone or email. The only way he got any response from the consulate is by constantly badgering them this seems a bit rediculous.

QUESTION:

Aloha, please do not tell me to stay in Hawaii. I have had the best of 20
years here and now it is time to leave. I am seeing from your email that
Canada is not friendly from a tax standpoint. What would you suggest my
husband and I do if we want to live on Vancouver Island? We have a federal
retirement and social security and a business in which we are self employed
and may consider doing that business in Canada, but maybe not. Could we
live in the US and Canada? We are novices at this and need some guidance.
Thank you for your input...

My question is: US-specific

QUESTION: I have a three unit property. The only property I own. I live in
one of them and rent the other two out. I claim it as owner occupied, principle place of residence when I bought it.
I now want to sell it. Do I need to pay capital gains tax on the
appreciation. I know that any thing over 4-unit is treated as a commencial
property and if it is just a single unit that is my principle place of
residence, I do not have to pay capital gains tax if it is less than $250k.
Please, help a confused man.

I'm Canadian living in Hong Kong with signifcant offshore assets in funds
and insurance savings plans and portfolio bonds. I haven't filed a return
in Canada in several years. I want to return to Canada but minimize my tax
liabilities on these assets. Do I have to report them? Can I put them in a
trust to reduce taxes? Do I need to liquidate or consolidate them before I
return to avoid capital gains?

Hi
My wife has bought a property in Canada and we are
USA citizens. What rules are we under in coming into
Canada with goods for the property? We put 35% down
and have a mortgage with the Royal Bank. I understand
we can only stay for 180 days a year. We just bought
a RV class motor home 34' long and will be bringing
that in along with having a mover bring the furniture
etc. Do we need anything else besides a list of what
is being brought and what may come after and the
ownership papers and insurance on the RV? We owe on
the RV is that a problem? I lived in Canada in
Vancouver for a few years and know of David from his
TV shows. We will need tax advice when we get up
there do you handle American citizens?
I thank you in advance for your advice

Hello david,

I found the extract of your 'Border book' very interesting and informative.

I have a cross border tax returns to prepare and would like some advice from a tax expert.

Here is the scenario:

The client is a US resident living and working in MA, USA. He has a

rental property in Vancover, BC, Canada. A Canadian tax preparer prepared his

Canadian tax returns. The returns shows rental income of $13,100 BUT zero

Net Income ( income of 13,100 less expense of 13,100). The rental property was

put into service in April 2003.

Question:

1) Can he claim on his US tax returns all the taxes (Transfer, GST, PST) he paid to
acquire the rental property as a Foreign Tax Credit. OR are these taxes just figures to be used to adjust the cost basis of the property?


2) Do I have to prepare a US fed form Schedule E and 4562 using converted dollar figures
(canada to US) and also show ZERO net income.

Your response to these two questions will be highly appreciated.