4 Chrissake what else. The H&R Block guy HAS NO CLUE

[Married_my_love 0]

The reason I went to a tax guy instead of doing it myself was so that they could HELP ME figure out this Married filing joint, foreign tax, etc.

He got to the part about physical presence vs. bona fide and stopped, changed it back and forth, looked bewildered, asked me questions I didn't know the answer to and then asked if I can come back and he'll "research" this weekend.

My husband was a wandering nomad from Jan 1 to Sept 1. He was in the US 8 mos then returned to canada. All his 2005 income is Cdn. We filled out the ITIN, got the passport copy notarized, wrote the "declaration" that he wants to be treated as a US resident for taxes.

But I'm lost on the physical presence thingie. He was in the states for 244 days. He had a perm mailing address in Ottawa, and a temp mailing address while in the states. Does he fall under "bona fide residence" ?

he** if I know. I thought I was paying for him to help ME. I do not have a good feeling that he's going to do this right, even though he seemed like a nice tax man.

Wouldn'tya think they'd have ONE person at H&R who has done something like this before?

[Flames9_RN 358]

Totally believable!! I waited an extra week last yr to see the H&R block Cdn specilaist and he knew zip and would not listen to me. One can't expect much from them (or hewitt jackson, that I eventually went to) as they aren't really there to handle the more complex cases. I dont believe they get that much training. I went to JH and the fellow I talked to was much older and experienced, and didnt know everything, but at least listened to me. I got a lot of great advice from a CDN/USA tax forum http://forums.serbinski.com/index.php?sid=...69e26b292b2d1cc

As well Serbinski does do CDn /USA taxes. PAck up your stuff and mail it to them. 1 member of here used them, And I believe they were happy. A bit more $$ than H&R block, but at least it will be done correct. Lots of info on that forum though

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i2555ez.pdf instructions

Its early morning, and brain is fuzzy and I may be incorrect, but accordingto the above link, to qualify for the physical presence test, one would have had to spend 330 days back in Canada, which by your post he did not, as he spent 244 days in the USA. I may be incorrect though!!

I believe there is another option than a form 2555, and that is fillingout a form 1116. Include his Cdn Income, and then you use form 1116(Foreign tax credit) Again, I'm no tax guru. Check out that forum, if you can't find any info after a search, ask your question there. The fellow that answers 99% of the questions--Nelson-- may or may not answer, as he tends to shy away during the tax time!! He gets sick and tired of answering the same questions over and over again! lol Best of luck

[Married_my_love 0]

Its early morning, and brain is fuzzy and I may be incorrect, but accordingto the above link, to qualify for the physical presence test, one would have had to spend 330 days back in Canada, which by your post he did not, as he spent 244 days in the USA. I may be incorrect though!!

Yeah, this is where it got all confusing for Mr. H&R because he kept trying to make him physically present in US, but he didn't have enough days really in either country to reach the 330 for a 12 month period.

thanks for the link, I've actually been getting some help over there on the "personal" forum with the canadian immigration issues too.

[Mand 1]

The 12 month period does not have to be from Jan to Jan, it can be from Sept to Sept, June to June etc.

[Married_my_love 0]

The 12 month period does not have to be from Jan to Jan, it can be from Sept to Sept, June to June etc.

Still can't do it, because it has to start or end in 2005; I can only come up with 306 days no matter how I slice it. ack.

[MDighe 0]

Hi

I can't help you with your problem..But I would like to say be careful very careful with H&R Block..My husband used them for the first time in 2004..After he landed in Canada, First time filing taxes in Canada.The man that did our taxes did not put my husbands landing date on the return...We got a letter in Jan,2006 from CRA and they did a reassessment of his 2004 taxes and assessed him as a non-resident.. Now CRA says we owe them over 3 grand..And H&R Block refuses to help us straighten this out..We have went clear upto the Corp office no luck there either....We are on our own to straighten this out...Now that we have given them proof that he is a PR in Canada CRA says it will take 6 months to reverse this if they decide to..And the taxes for 2005 CRA is keeping!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Michelle

[daisy16 0]

We just took our file away from a very relieved H&R block staffer. She had no clue, and now hubby knows almost as much as I, and either one, far more than she She kept saying she'd call us back and never did. She told us information that I KNEW was wrong, said she'd called a few people. Doesn't help if they're all H&R block staff!!!! They suck and can't do much more than fill out the online forms.

We're going to do the taxes ourselves with a bit of help from an accountant friend.

[Jasman0717 9]

[KarenCee 3]

So what should those of us do in situations like this? Obviously H&R and Jackson Hewitt aren't the ones to use. Go to a CPA? Joel and I will be doing this in 2007, since we'll be getting married in June of this year. We hope..no plans actually made, just a projected date. Gawd, I hate doing taxes.....sigh.

[Flames9_RN 358]

http://forums.serbinski.com/index.php?sid=...69e26b292b2d1cc

You should start gathering info!! Great free tax forum!! Plus Serbinski will do your taxes. Just send them all your paperwork, they do it, mail it back to you!! Once you start reading up on stuff, its not really that difficult, a bit confusing yes!!

[KarenCee 3]

Thanks so much...we'll look into this. I'm the kind that gathers and holds on to stuff...kinda like a packrat. Least we know where to get help with this.

Gonna be sipping some Timmy's in about two weeks!

[Married_my_love 0]

http://forums.serbinski.com/index.php?sid=...69e26b292b2d1cc

You should start gathering info!! Great free tax forum!! Plus Serbinski will do your taxes. Just send them all your paperwork, they do it, mail it back to you!! Once you start reading up on stuff, its not really that difficult, a bit confusing yes!!

Hey flames any idea on their fee?

My Blockhead hasn't called, he said he was going to today. Yep. Serbinski did reply to my post and said I can't use 2555, that I have to use 1116, so I was going to see if blockman could figure that out - but if he can't i'm grabbing my stuff back and running out the door.

And H&R Block refuses to help us straighten this out..We have went clear upto the Corp office no luck there either....We are on our own to straighten this out...Now that we have given them proof that he is a PR in Canada CRA says it will take 6 months to reverse this if they decide to..And the taxes for 2005 CRA is keeping!!!!!!!!!!!!! Michelle

Hey Michelle, did you guys pay for the H&R insurance? the one that says they'll go with you to an audit and pay for the fees if they messed up?

[Flames9_RN 358]

http://www.serbinski.com/Returns/returns.html explains their fees

[MDighe 0]

http://forums.serbinski.com/index.php?sid=...69e26b292b2d1cc

You should start gathering info!! Great free tax forum!! Plus Serbinski will do your taxes. Just send them all your paperwork, they do it, mail it back to you!! Once you start reading up on stuff, its not really that

And H&R Block refuses to help us straighten this out..We have went clear upto the Corp office no luck there either....We are on our own to straighten this out...Now that we have given them proof that he is a PR in Canada CRA says it will take 6 months to reverse this if they decide to..And the taxes for 2005 CRA is keeping!!!!!!!!!!!!! Michelle

Hey Michelle, did you guys pay for the H&R insurance? the one that says they'll go with you to an audit and pay for the fees if they messed up?

Hi

yes we did and all they did for us file the T1 with is some kind of adjustment paper..And when my husband questioned them at the promise to stand behind their work and pay this 3 grand and CRA could send it back to them so we file this years taxes they said no that they didn't trust our check not to bounce...And that they had already done us a favor by filing the T1 free of charge..Plus they offered to do this years taxes at a 15% discount as if we would go back to them again..LOL And they would not pay the interest on this 3 grand...Something about the promise to stand by the work had to do if you had to pay penalties...I don't know what the difference is? Penalties-interest it's all the same to me it comes out to owing more money..

We have contacted a lawyer about all of this...

Michelle

[notrepetiteashley 0]

We just had our taxes done at H&R Block. The guy who did them was totally inappropriate. He kept telling us stories about how he used to live in Vegas and he was some kind of criminal and has a warrant out for his arrest, but he wants to join the army. He also regaled us with tales of his drycleaning expenses and how he has kids "everywhere." Pretty awesome. Ha.

Won't be surprised if we get a letter from the IRS saying the forms are messed up. Gah.