Your best source to find Experts in Filing US Back Taxes, Canadian and American Income Tax Preparation, Real Estate, Investment and all manner of Cross Border Business and Personal Activities Advice and Information, Forms, Filing, Resources. Our Tax Specialists are Expert in all manner of Personal and Executive Trans-Border Problems

Did you know that there are over 1,000,000 Americans living in Canada who have not been filing their income tax returns or reporting their Foreign Bank Accounts to the US Treasury??

As a US citizen you are required to file 1040 tax returns even if you live outside of the US. The good news is that we can take care of that for you. Please see our Checklists on the top left side to get started.

As an American living in Canada or anywhere else for that matter you are responsible to file US tax returns no matter how much you earn (how little) or where you live. US citizens are taxable on their world income.

But don’t worry … you will not be double taxed and sometimes even get a refund!!

The key is to file your returns before you get a request to file - AND YOU WILL GET ONE!! In most cases you would file the last 6 years of past due returns plus present. All we need to get started are copies of your Canadian T1 Returns. The CRA can help you get transcripts if your older records are not accessible.

Now, so far, we have not seen a single person penalized who came forward voluntarily.

We, of course, would be happy to assist you with your filing requirements.

There are exemptions up to $100,000 of earned income from other countries, plus foreign tax credits that almost always remove the threat of double taxation. It is only possible to exempt active income and it becomes more complex when all of your income becomes passive but we are specialists and can get you the best results.

And don’t forget that Capital Gains are taxed at 100% in the US so when you have to file on both sides of the border some Canadian investment strategies no longer work! Moreover, Dividend income is not the answer as there is no Dividend Tax Credit in the US.

IMPORTANT REMINDER! as an American you have an obligation to disclose all of your Foreign Bank Accounts to the US Treasury. Failure to do so is met with extreme fines and penalties. This is being reported regularly by Canadian media. Bank account reporting must be done six year retroactively. Do not even consider not reporting these accounts as the US is threatening to fine you 5% of the balance in each account.

The criteria is as follows;

If you have more than a total of $10,000 in all of your combined accounts you must report TDF-90 (F-Bar) (s) annually to the Treasury. This includes RRSP’s and ANY account which you have signing authority over. More information can be found at our Filing Back Taxes Checklist on the top left hand corner on the main page.

This task is not as daunting as it sounds and your banks will be happy to comply.

We are here to help you through this sometimes stressful ordeal and our expertise

will guide you through the entire process.

Don’t forget the deadline for this filing is the end of August!

Office hours are Monday to Friday from 10:00am to 4:00pm Pacific and we accept files by courier, snail mail, e-mail, fax (fine resolution only), or you are welcome to drop it off in person if you are in the area.

Feel free to give us a call during office hours for any further information and to get started on filing your back taxes.

604-980-0321 Vancouver office

1-866-980-0499 Toll free

604-980-0325 Fax

peter@centa.com

gillian@centa.com

David's Legacy Lives On

Thank You David Ingram

Shortly before David's untimely death, he donated all the equipment he and I had been using for his online show from his home in North Vancouver.

Today, March 6, 2011, marks the beginning of Live From Hancock Wildlife Foundation Research Center - a new online video presentation from Hancock Wildlife Foundation.

I met David Hancock through David Ingram, nearly 30 years ago. Today I'm the Executive Director of Hancock Wildlife Foundation and I can't think of a better use and legacy from David Ingram's huge media presence over the years, including the many times he had David Hancock on his TV and internet programs.

I can assure you that we'll put all this equipment to the best use possible - and we'll continue to tell you about David Ingram's involvement in David Hancock's endeavours - including his many trips with Hancock to gather grouse and ptarmigan in Alaska and Northern British Columbia, as well as his involvment in CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

Bless you David Ingram - and thank you from all of us.

Richard C. Pitt

R.I.P. David Glen Towers Ingram

We start this tax season off with very sad news…

Legendary Tax Guru David Ingram passed away February 21, 2011, from cancer.

David had been fighting this battle for several months and spent his last few days in Palliative Care in North Vancouver. He died peacefully surrounded by his family.

Many thanks for the beautiful cards and flowers he received. We extend our greatest thanks to all of you who made his last few days memorable and for the hundreds of emails he received.

Please join us in looking back on his life at www.david-ingram.com

David’s oldest son, Peter, will be taking over the business, and along with Gillian and Mitchell will be here to help take care of all of your Canadian and US tax needs.

Office hours are Monday to Friday from 10:00am to 4:00pm Pacific and we accept files by courier, snail mail, e-mail, fax (fine resolution only), or you are welcome to drop it off in person.

Feel free to give us a call during office hours for any further information.

This year we have prepared both Canadian and US Checklists to help you get organized.

Please contact us for your copies or download them from the Canadian Checklist Page or US Checklist Page on this web site.

Looking forward to hearing back from you soon!!

The Cen-ta Group

Peter Ingram, Gillian Bryan, Mitchell Ingram

tax @ centa.com (NOTE: New Email Address!) Questions and inquiries only.

To contact your tax preparer:

peter @ centa.com
gillian @ centa.com
mitchell @ centa.com

Trackbacks (1)

BORDER KIT -- American boyfriend, property purchase in USA?

I have been subscribing to your newsletter for almost two years now, but have not read anything similar to my question.

I have been dating an American for over seven years now. I live in Saskatchewan and work in health care as a technologist, him in USA as an electrician. We both travel back and forth three or four times each per year for about 12 days each.

We both rent.

If I bought an American property ie condo, my boyfriend moved in it and paid the property taxes, and other incidentals, would this be considered rental income for me? Or a "holiday" home?

I would of course go there and stay in my property (solely in my name as purchaser) and with him when I went there and then after retirement consider the options then. I am 52, him 57years.

Also, would I then be considered a person of interest in USA for having substantial residential ties and make things complicated crossing the border? ie "common-law relationship?"

Thanks

aging parents - Expert Income Tax help on cross Border tax and immigration and divorce and RRSP and IRA and other matters

we have dual citizenship in USA and Canada. Due to aging parents we are considering spending more time in USA. I understand that spending more than 6 months in USA would require us to change our residency to USA ( both of us born in USA). Our residency now is Ontario. I understand also that any income in USA is taxed only in USA and not in Canada if residency is USA? But my main question is..... concerning health care from Ontario you are required to be there five months a few days, but, having dual citizenship, are we able to take advantage of being up in Ontario the 5months few days, keep the health insurance with travel insurance, but yet our residency is USA?
Not sure if this is in your line of questioning. but thank you for any help you may offer.

Sincerely

xxxxxxxx

Spousal sponsorship US to Canada Ron McKay - Expert Income Tax help on cross Border tax and immigration and divorce and RRSP and

My_question_is: US-specific

question: I am a Canadian citizen living in the U.S. with my American
wife and 2 children. My children are both dual citizens as they were
born in Canada. We've been in the States for 9 years now and
subsequently, my wife has lost her landed immigrant status in Canada.
We would like to move back to Canada, so now I have to sponsor her. My
question is, Do I send the sponsorship application 1st and then send her
application afterward or do We send them both at the same time along
with all fees? Also, do I need to put our kids name on the sponsorship
forms as I will not need to sponsor them as they are already Canadian
citizens??  I'm just a little unsure of what to do first as the website
doesn't make it totally clear.  Thank-you for any help you may have...

Filing US returns to sponsor a Spouse

My_question_is: US-specific

question: Moved to Canada from the US with my Canadian wife and obtained Canadian Citizenship 10 years ago.

I've filed all my 1040's (sometimes a year or two late, sorry) but I'm current.  I've just now heard of Forms 8891 and TDF90.22.1  How do I go about getting up to date with these documents when I've never filled them before?

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Family Inheritance into Canada

Hello David Ingram,

Do you know what tax implications, if any, are there for receiving family
inheritance into Canada from abroad?

I will appreciate your advice/ response.

Regards

xxxxxx

Moving on an L1 visa

My_question_is: Both

question: My wife has accepted a transfer from Alberta to Pennsylvania. Her employer is providing her with an L1 visa and me a L2. it is a 4 year assignment. I have 2 questions about rental income.
1. If we rent our house in canada how will we be taxed on the income and will we loose the tax exemption for gains on a primary residence?
2. If we purchase a US property with multiple units live in one and rent the others how will this effect our taxes?

I have more questions that we could schedule a time to talk about.

US Taxation of RRSP form 8891 - TDF 90-22.1 - Expert Income Tax help on cross Border tax and immigration and divorce and RRSP

Dear David:

My name is xxxxxxx xxxxxxx and I hope you can help me with resolving a question I have regarding US taxation of my RRSP.

In 2000, I resigned from the government of Canada to take a position with an IT company in the US. This action triggers a remittance of my Superannuation into a locked in RRSP, and along with my personal RRSP, gave me a combined RRSP balance of approximately $100,000 (cdn). After ten years and a couple of market bubbles later the balance is pretty much the same. I have never filed a 8891 with my US income tax, simply because my tax accountants in the US never mentioned it, so my question is can I file a request for tax deferment on undistributed earnings in the RRSP under Article XVIII (7) of the US-Canada tax treaty?

I know may require further information in order give an informed answer, so I am willing to engage your services because I have several more questions regarding taxation and my commuter Green Card.

Thanks,

xxxxxxx xxxxxxx

US to Canada - sponsoring spouse - Expert Income Tax help on cross Border tax and immigration and divorce and RRSP and IRA and o

Here's hoping you can assist and/or shed some light as it seems I've reached several dead ends with the following.

I am a Canadian (born and raised) Citizen married to an American working and residing in Dallas, Texas since July 1999. I am a permanent resident in the U.S. We would, at some point, like to retire back in Canada however my husband would like the opportunity to also work in Canada when we decide to make the move. I have a Social Insurance Number so I can move back and obtain employment tomorrow but what does my husband need to do?

1. Can we obtain permanent residency for my husband ahead of time? I mean, if we decide to relocate back to Canada how would he even enter Canada without some kind of documentation?

2. Can he apply for a work visa ahead of time i.e., before moving to Canada?

At this point, we don’t even know if it's possible. I've been to several links at the .Gov site but I can't seem to find anything that refers or pertains to this scenario.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

xxx xxxx