Overwhelmed by Taxes

[catheaven 3]

Soooo...

I'm a Canadian citizen who gained US residency through Marriage. I got my Greencard in October, but entered with my Fiancee visa in May.

I have not gained any income in the US, but I did work in Canada prior to enterring with my Visa. Wh-what do I do about taxes? It's April 14th and I'm thinking 'daaaaamn'.

[catheaven 3]

Soooo...

I'm a Canadian citizen who gained US residency through Marriage. I got my Greencard in October, but entered with my Fiancee visa in May.

I have not gained any income in the US, but I did work in Canada prior to enterring with my Visa. Wh-what do I do about taxes? It's April 14th and I'm thinking 'daaaaamn'.

Oh! I also am filing in Canada and have a Canadian address and all that jazz.

Edited April 14, 2012 by catheaven

[jkb11 26]

If you got your green card in October, it means you pass the "green card test" that year and you have to file US taxes for 2011. You need to figure out the way you want to do it (dual status, full year resident, etc.), but the fact is that yes, you NEED to file the forms. Otherwise, as far as I am concerned, this is a big no-no when you try to remove conditions / apply for citizenship. That will be checked and you might run into trouble.

EDIT: some reading:

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/international/article/0,,id=129390,00.html

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/international/article/0,,id=96433,00.html

Good luck!

Edited April 14, 2012 by jkb11

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Your best bet is for you and your husband to file married, filing jointly. Since you have no US income you will get some good benefits in return that will help with a refund.

You will need to do your Canadian taxes first, though as the best way to do this is to claim all of your Canadian income on the US return and then claim the Foreign Tax Credit which basically cancels out the tax you paid in Canada. In order to do that, though, you need to know what the amount of taxes are that you paid in Canada.

Since you did not work in the US after coming from Canada, even though you arrived in May, you can address your Canadian income as your 'world income' for the year, and can claim the full federal tax credits, instead of pro-rating them back to May. This will give you a really nice tax refund from Canada as well.

You are running out of time though. Your US return needs to be filed by April 17th. (Your Canadian is due on the 30ths). What has your husband done? Has he already filed taxes? He can make an amended return filing jointly if that works out. If he has already filed married filing jointly, then when you get your Canadian return completed, he can amend it to claim your income for the year and the foreign tax credit, giving you that nice refund. You can file married, filing separately but you don't get to claim any of the tax benefits from being married.

Any reason why you waited so long?

Btw- you don't use a Canadian address when you file your Canadian tax return - you use your US address. You are filing an exit tax return with Canada which means you are filing from January 1st to the day you moved to the US in May, and you are filing 'single' (unless you were married when you still lived in Canada). You will need to use your US address as you are not a Canadian resident any longer- and in fact, claiming a Canadian address for tax purposes says you are claiming Canadian residency still - and that is enough to cancel your green card! You cannot have a green card and be a resident of any other country than the US (note I said 'resident' , not citizen). You definitely don't want to do that. You would file your Canadian return with the International Tax Office in Ottawa (or it may still be in Hull - you will need to check the actual address).

Here is a link to a really good little booklet put out by Revenue Canada Agency for emigrants (people who leave Canada during a year):

http://www.cra-arc.g...056/README.html and more useful information: http://www.cra-arc.g...s/lvng-eng.html

If you are very overwhelmed, then hire an accountant who is familiar with cross border taxes. You do need to get them done.

Edited April 14, 2012 by Kathryn41

[SF2007 48]

Also, if the overall money amount you still have in Canadian accounts is over 10 000$, you need to declare the value of your accounts, bonds, etc. in Canada. The form is TD F 90-22.1. It has to be sent by mail separately to the Department of Treasury before June 30th. I believe you are not taxed on this amount unless its value is greater than 150 000$.