American-Canadian cross border income taxes
 

So I just landed a tech job in San Francisco. Will be moving there shortly

I am a Canadian citizen and should be considered a factual resident(have ties) of Canada once I am down in the States.

I am aware that I will still have to file taxes in Canada here. And I should be able to claim Foreign Tax Credit on my earnings in the US so that I am not double taxed.

Am also aware that if Canada's tax rates are higher than the American rates, then I would have to pay the difference to Canada.


Questions
Does anybody have tips/experience minimizing the amount of tax in a situation like mine? (be investments, incorporating a side business, etc)

Does anyone know an accountant they can vouch for who specializes in cross border taxes?

US Canada taxes specialists. AG Tax chartered accountants

I have spoken with them before and they seemed quite professional. I didn't end up using them because of the distance (West vs. East coast and time zone). You can check them out while still in Van.

Doug Lindsay @ AmeriTax
ameritax consulting ltd

place where I work refers all our cross border clients to this guy

A whole lot cheaper than large firms.

You can also try Facet Advisors in Langley

Thanks guys

I was quoted $400/hour and minimum one hour from a firm in Richmond. AmeriTax is cheaper i suppose?

i'd start here - why will you still be a canadian resident? having ties doesn't matter as long as the stronger ties are within the US (residence, job, bank accounts, your day to day life) - i'm very surprised that you are remaining a canadian resident for tax purposes, unless you don't want to realize an unrealized gain on a major asset or something, this seems like bad thinking

feel free to PM me. staying a canadian resident for tax purposes will just be a headache for you, and really provides you no benefit.

thanks 4444. cleared alot of my misconceptions

So for anyone wondering about this residency status (http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/nnrsdnts...ncy-eng.html):
Determining this status is based on:
A. if you have Significant residential ties with Canada include:
1. a home in Canada
2. a spouse or common law partner in Canada
3. dependents in Canada

B. There are also some Secondary residential ties such as cars, social ties, financial accounts, passports, drivers license. But:
from Income Tax Folio: S5-F1-C1, Determining an Individual's Residence Status

So if filing taxes as a resident: this is where Canada would tax you on income earned abroad. keep in mind you also have Foreign Tax Credits to apply.

Conversely if filing taxes as a non-resident (http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/nnrsdnts...nrs-eng.html):
you would not be taxed on foreign income. only on income generated in Canada.

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So all in all, I will be claiming as a non-Canadian resident to CRA.

What u'll do is file ur 2014 taxes as ur last yr as a resident one. There's some forms u have to fill out, but that's it, wash ur hands of Canadian taxes (unless, as u rightly say, u have Canadian source income).

Just remember, ties or not is not black or white, get creative and u can fit in whichever column u want, resident, non-resident.

I remember doing one for a couple of clients and CRA asked a lot of questions later. They really hammer out to see if you have ties here or not. So be prepared to answer to them.

you fill out a form with all those questions on in the first place.

i'm sorry, i just don't think it's that difficult to do, just be smart about it and proactive

Do you guys know what would happen if I'm working in the states under a TN visa? I can't have an intent to be a resident of the US, but I currently live and work there. I have a SSN and bank accounts as well. In the eyes of the Canadian government would I be considered a non-resident? I am also getting married January next year and my fiance is currently living in Canada, will that effectively be a tie?

I know tax season is still pretty far but really need to think ahead for this one.

I'm sure the fiance is a really big tie. Pretty much to be considered non-res, you should not have anything that would make you want to come back to Canada. In very basic terms.

ur a non-res, don't sweat it. you are out for >2 years, you have your income, home, etc. in US. so what that your fiancee is in canada, in this day and age so many ppl work and live away from family.

ppl freak out too much about bank accounts, i hold US, Cdn, and European bank accounts and investment accounts as i travel between all three for personal reasons so need access to funds there, also i don't want to disturb my RRSPs and TFSAs at this time... as long as you have a valid reason, then you're fine.

be nervous if you're being dodgy, you're obviously not

Soo bumping this thread as it is now tax season and I'm still kind of unsure of where and who to file my taxes with. There is a firm here that does cross boarder taxes but they are charging in the range of 2.5-5k which is not something I would really want to pay.

I'm going to be filing as a non-res as I looked into it more and I think I do classify as a non-resident.

Unless you have a business, I doubt that it would be worth it to pay those firms 2.5-5k.

I think any accountant who can file EFILE is suitable (correct me if I am wrong, but once you claim to be a non resident, you cannot file for yourself that first year through NETFILE) so these guys are everywhere.

(Just curious, what kind of work do you do?)

I've got both a T4 and a W2 since I made income in Canada before I left :(. I've looked at some EFILE software but it doesn't have any straightforward support with handling both the T4 and W2. Do you have any accountant recommendations?

I'm a software dev

W2 is for USA hence you wouldnot find it in Canadian Tax Software ;)

Yes I understand that part haha but don't I need to file it for both ends? Declare my US earnings on the Canada side AND do the same for the US side? Or do I just file them separate?

I'm clearly not cut out to do this work haha but I can't for the life of me justify the price some of these firms are charging. KPMG is charging $3k++ :\

Decided to go with AGTax their rates are a lot better than anything over here haha.

how much are they charging?

i came across this too
http://www.reddit.com/r/PersonalFina...nation_of_non/