TN Cross Border Taxation ask the income tax experts

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment
QUESTION:
Hello,
I am a Canadian Citizen but lived and worked in the US for 1.5 years.  The first 5 months, I was still paid via the Canadian "affiliate" company.  I filed Canadian taxes as normal in 2002 (even though my residence was in US).
My question is this:  How do I avoid paying more taxes than I already have in the US?  What order should I do the forms in?  I have the US taxation forms for both state and IRS and form to establish residency in Canada.  Also, I am not employed at the moment.  Could you recommend a tax accountant that charges on a sliding scale?
Thank a lot,
TXXXXXXXXXX
================================================================
david ingram replies:
You should have filed a US return and paid tax to the US for your first five months, while asking for a refund from Canada.  Your employer left you in a horrible position and should be chastened for doing so.
The US income would not have been taxable in Canada because you were a departing Canadian.  (I am assuming here that you actually moved to the US and were not commuting daily or weekly from a home you kept in Canada.  Your next return would have been all of 2003 in the USA and no tax return to Canada unless they asked for it and if they did, you would file a nil return and claim exemption from Canadian Tax under Article IV of the US Canada Income Tax Convention (Treaty).  It sounds like you were still there for one month of 2004.  This month is taxed in the US and you then return to Canada as an arriving Canadian.
You would have paid much less tax under this scenario,  
Goto www.centa.com and read the US/Canada Taxation section.  It will help you.  Even with the penalties resulting, it is likely to your benefit to  correct 2002.  You should ask your former employer to make up for any penalties because your employer is the entity that left you hanging on the line.
===================================
Answers to this and other similar  questions can be obtained free on Air every Sunday morning.
Starting this Sunday at 9:00 AM on 600AM in Vancouver, Fred Snyder of Cartier Partners and I will be hosting an INFOMERCIAL but LIVE talk show called "ITS YOUR MONEY"
Those outside of the Lower Mainland will be able to listen on the internet at
www.600AM.com 
This from ask an income tax immigration planning and bankruptcy expert consultant guru or preparer  from www.centa.com or www.jurock.com or www.featureweb.com. Canadian David Ingram deals daily with tax returns dealing with expatriate:
multi jurisdictional cross and trans border expatriate gambling refunds for the United States, Canada, Mexico, Great Britain, the United Kingdom, Kuwait, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, South Africa,  Thailand, Indonesia, Egypt, Antarctica,  Japan, China, New Zealand, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Russia, Georgia, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Scotland, Ireland, Hawaii, Florida, Montana, Morocco, Israel, Iraq, Iran, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Mali, Bangkok, Greenland, Iceland, Cuba, Bahamas, Bermuda, Barbados, St Vincent, Grenada,, Virgin Islands, US, UK, GB, American and Canadian and Mexican and any of the 43 states with state tax returns, etc.
income tax wizard wizzard guru advisor advisors experts  specialist specialists  consultants taxmen   taxman tax woman planner planning preparer of Alaska,  Alabama,  Arkansas,  Arizona, 
 California,  Colorado, Connecticut,  
Delaware, District of Columbia,  Florida, 
Garland, Georgia,  Hawaii,  Idaho,  Illinois,
  Indiana,  Iowa,  Kansas,  Kentucky, 
 Louisiana,  Maine,  Maryland,  
Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota,  
Mississippi,  Missouri,  Montana,  Nebraska,  
Nevada, New Hampshire,  New Jersey, 
New Mexico,New York, North Carolina,  
North Dakota,  Ohio,  Oklahoma,  Oregon. 
Paris,  Rome, Sydney, Australia Hilton
Pennsylvania,  Rhode Island,  Rockwall, 
South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee,  
Texas,  Utah, Vermont,  Virginia, 
West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, 
British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, 
Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec City, 
New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, 
Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Yukon and 
Northwest and Nunavit Territories,  
Mount Vernon, Eumenclaw, Coos Bay 
and Dallas Houston Rockwall Garland 
Texas  Taxman and Tax Guru  and wizzard 
wizard - David Ingram's US/Canada Services
US/Canada/Mexico Tax Immigration & working Visa Specialists
US / Canada Real Estate Specialists
4466 Prospect Road
North Vancouver,  BC, CANADA, V7N 3L7
Calls accepted from 10 AM to 10 PM 7 days a week
Res (604) 980-3578 Cell (604) 657-8451
Bus (604) 980-0321 
[email protected]
www.centa.com www.david-ingram.com
Disclaimer:  This question has been answered without detailed information or consultation and is to be regarded only as general comment.   Nothing in this message is or should be construed as advice in any particular circumstances. No contract exists between the reader & the author and any and all non-contractual duties are expressly denied. All readers should obtain formal advice from a competent financial, or real estate planner or advisor & appropriately qualified legal practitioner, tax or immigration specialist in connection with personal or business affairs such as at www.centa.com. If you forward this message, this disclaimer must be included."
You are looking at a $700 Cdn bill for us to straighten the returns out and that is on a sliding scale.  It is worth  more.
---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.centa.com/CEN-TAPEDE/centapede/attachments/0ac366a3/attachment.htm
---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--

Trackback

Trackback URL for this entry: http://www.centa.com/trackback.php/UsCaWeekofMon20040405000997.html

No trackback comments for this entry.

0 comments