Taxes... Ugh

[twin810s 23]

Looking for someone with some experience in this area. It's my first time filing taxes in the US and it's going to be confusing. I moved to the US in June 2014, and have the following to declare for taxes:

Canada:

Income from my old job

Income from WSIB (worker's comp)

Income from Employment Insurance

Spousal support payments to my ex in Canada

USA:

Income from 3 different jobs

Will I need to claim my Canadian income on my US return, though it was earned prior to my moving here? Will I need to claim my US income on my Canadian return, though it was after moving away? The EI payments went into my Canadian account and, for the most part, stayed there to pay residual Canadian bills, though I was living here; where do those get claimed? Or do I just enter all my Canadian income on my Canadian return, US income on my US return and be done with it?

Thanks!

[thatangela 134]

There is a line on your U.S. return to state "worldwide income." This is where you log your Canadian income but you are not, I believe, taxed on it.

[Udella&Wiz 325]

You may want to go ask in the oft recommended Serbinski tax forum - he can help and give accurate advice for free

[kc247 22]

I have been searching and searching the internet for the past couple weeks trying to find the answers to all those questions! From what I have read, you still have to report your income you made in Canada for the whole tax year, even if you (like me) only worked before you moved to the US. I still haven't found a for sure answer about EI, but I do believe you declare it. Mine stayed in my Canadian account the whole time and I mainly use just to pay my Canada student loan each month. I believe there is a form you use that exempts the foreign income from being taxed.

Hopefully someone else with experience in this can help us out with the answers for sure!

[Udella&Wiz 325]

Flames and a few others including myself swear by this forum - read up and then ask a question if you can't find the answer

http://forums.serbinski.com/viewforum.php?f=2

[Udella&Wiz 325]

I had a similar situation and using the tax forum posted above I found out that due to the tax treaty between US/Canada I could 'attempt' to get some, but probably not all of the tax back from Canada using a Section 217 form (which must be filed by June 30th of 2015 for 2014 taxes. I was lame and forgot to do it until it was too late so I was taxed twice on my EI income Be forewarned

It doesn't really matter whether it stayed in a Canadian bank account, the IRS considers it part of your income, taxed or not by Canada. You will be taxed by the US but you can use the Canadian Section 217 form to get some of the Canadian Tax back.

That's my 2 cents

I have been searching and searching the internet for the past couple weeks trying to find the answers to all those questions! From what I have read, you still have to report your income you made in Canada for the whole tax year, even if you (like me) only worked before you moved to the US. I still haven't found a for sure answer about EI, but I do believe you declare it. Mine stayed in my Canadian account the whole time and I mainly use just to pay my Canada student loan each month. I believe there is a form you use that exempts the foreign income from being taxed.

Hopefully someone else with experience in this can help us out with the answers for sure!

[Flames9_RN 358]

Flames and a few others including myself swear by this forum - read up and then ask a question if you can't find the answer

http://forums.serbinski.com/viewforum.php?f=2

have not visited it in yrs..but it used to be (probably stil is) a great site! The 1 guy that used to answer the majority of the questions..was a bit of a grump..then again, the same questions kept being asked over and over,lol

[Ms Hogan 295]

have not visited it in yrs..but it used to be (probably stil is) a great site! The 1 guy that used to answer the majority of the questions..was a bit of a grump..then again, the same questions kept being asked over and over,lol

sounds like around here, huh?

[Ms Hogan 295]

I had a similar situation and using the tax forum posted above I found out that due to the tax treaty between US/Canada I could 'attempt' to get some, but probably not all of the tax back from Canada using a Section 217 form (which must be filed by June 30th of 2015 for 2014 taxes. I was lame and forgot to do it until it was too late so I was taxed twice on my EI income Be forewarned

It doesn't really matter whether it stayed in a Canadian bank account, the IRS considers it part of your income, taxed or not by Canada. You will be taxed by the US but you can use the Canadian Section 217 form to get some of the Canadian Tax back.

That's my 2 cents

AGREED... it doesn't matter WHERE the money is. The IRS doesn't care if it is in Canada or in a box in the ocean, they want to know about it and will tax you on it if they can. But there IS a reciprocal agreement between Canada and the U.S. which means we don't get taxed twice in the same income.

Now as I write this I'm confused, why did you get taxed twice on the EI income?

[Texas22 50]

Because you were only in the US for part of the year you will need to file both a Canadian tax return and a US tax return for 2014.

I came in May of 2013 and this is what I had to do.

You only claim on your Canadian tax return what you earned in Canada up until the time you moved.

You only claim on your US tax return what you earned after you moved. (If you still had Canadian income coming in AFTER you moved- whether it be in a Canadian account or not) you will need to claim that on your US tax return.

Also, you definitely need to let Revenue Canada know that you are now a non-resident so that for the 2015 tax year, you will only have to file a US return.

Edited February 11, 2015 by Texas22

[kc247 22]

Because you were only in the US for part of the year you will need to file both a Canadian tax return and a US tax return for 2014.

I came in May of 2013 and this is what I had to do.

You only claim on your Canadian tax return what you earned in Canada up until the time you moved.

You only claim on your US tax return what you earned after you moved. (If you still had Canadian income coming in AFTER you moved- whether it be in a Canadian account or not) you will need to claim that on your US tax return.

Also, you definitely need to let Revenue Canada know that you are now a non-resident so that for the 2015 tax year, you will only have to file a US return.

So...I don't need to report the income I made in Canada from January-the date I moved. But the pay I got after I moved, from work I did before I moved (since I got my vacation pay paid out to me) I do need to report?

Sorry...I keep seeing different answers and am so confused about it all!

[Texas22 50]

So...I don't need to report the income I made in Canada from January-the date I moved. But the pay I got after I moved, from work I did before I moved (since I got my vacation pay paid out to me) I do need to report?

Sorry...I keep seeing different answers and am so confused about it all!

The income you earned in Canada before you moved must be reported on Cdn tax return. So technically your vacation pay was earned for the work you did while in Canada. Even though you received the pay after you moved, it was still earned while living and being in Canada.

Make sense?

[warlord 73]

And also remember that you have to file an FBAR (Foreign Bank and Financial Report) which gets sent to a different Gov't agency for all investments or bank account information you have outside the US. This includes any Canadian retirement plans or bonds etc that you have, including all Canadian bank accounts.

You can file this up until June I believe as is filed separately than your taxes (though think you can do it on TaxAct online if you use that). I just file mine online separately from my taxes. But this is something that not many people knew about, and even I just found this out 2 or 3 years ago and had to gather up all my past information which was a pain and fill out all the previous years with a letter explaining why I didn't file the FBAR...

Here's the site.

http://bsaefiling.fincen.treas.gov/main.html

[kc247 22]

And also remember that you have to file an FBAR (Foreign Bank and Financial Report) which gets sent to a different Gov't agency for all investments or bank account information you have outside the US. This includes any Canadian retirement plans or bonds etc that you have, including all Canadian bank accounts.

You can file this up until June I believe as is filed separately than your taxes (though think you can do it on TaxAct online if you use that). I just file mine online separately from my taxes. But this is something that not many people knew about, and even I just found this out 2 or 3 years ago and had to gather up all my past information which was a pain and fill out all the previous years with a letter explaining why I didn't file the FBAR...

Here's the site.

http://bsaefiling.fincen.treas.gov/main.html

Do you have to do this no matter what? I only have a few hundred in my bank account from Canada, hardly use it except for EI and to pay my student loans. I thought I read somewhere that it had to have had over $10 000 in it over the past 5 years or something like that, but I could be wrong!

[warlord 73]

Yes I did forget to add it's $10,000 or over in foreign accounts. So in your case you don't have to worry about it. Taxes are so complicated here especially for US citizens as expats in other countries.

Hell even as a TN status or a US visa holder, you need to do a lot of ####### for taxes. It's not easy that's for sure...