Do I pay taxes to the US or Canada or BOTH??

QUESTION:
I moved to the US in March of 2004 with a K1 visa.  I married a US citizen
in mid-March and started the application process for my green card.  I
worked for a Canadian company for 4 years and continued to work for them
after my move.  I currenty work out of my home in Massachusetts but return
frequently to Canada for training and other business related events.  I also
am a full time student in Canada.  I am currently finishing my Thesis which
allows me to work from the US mostly.  I occasionally return to Canada for
School related events.  My employeer has been paying my tax to the Canadian
government.  Do I file my taxes in Canada and pay tax there (and claim a tax
credit in the US?  or do I try to get my Canadian tax back and pay tax in
the US?
=========================
david ingram replies:
What an interesting set of facts.
1.  You are taxable in Canada for Jan and Feb as a resident.
2.  You are taxable in the US on your world income from the moment you moved
to the US and likely for the year..
3. After you left Canada and started working for the Canadian company in
the US, you ceased to be taxable in Canada on the money you earned for
services performed in the US.  However, you "are" still taxable on services
you perform when you come back to Canada for training and other business
related events.
You are also responsible to file a Massachusetts return as well and will
likely do best to file your US return jointly with your husband by reporting
all your Canadian income for the year and claiming foreign tax credits for
the Canadian Income after you moved and exempting the Jan and February
income (before you moved) by filling out form 2555.
You will have trouble finding anyone there to do the returns so you should
just send them to us here. For us, you are a typical client, for most
offices, you are a head scratcher and they will not know where to start.
So, we need to determine how you are paid. If you are on a salary and we can
calculate your earnings on daily basis, it is easy.  Canada gets first dibs
on the income earned from work performed in Canada and  the US and
Massachusetts gets first dibs on the earnings for work performed physically
in the USA.
IT IS NOT DOUBLE TAXATION and would be just as complicated if you had moved
from  California and were still commuting back and forth. Foreign tax
credits will mean that you will credit in the States for the tax paid to
Canada.
Answers to this and other similar  questions can be obtained free on Air
every Sunday morning.
Every Sunday at 9:00 AM on 600AM in Vancouver, Fred Snyder of Dundee Wealth
Management and I, David Ingram  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 <http://www.600am.com/>
Local calls are taken at (604) 280-0600 and Long Distance calls are taken at
1( 866) 778-0600
I do not know how far the LD line reaches.
=========================================
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transactions
=========================
Answers to this and other similar  questions can be obtained free on Air
every Sunday morning.
Every Sunday at 9:00 AM on 600AM in Vancouver, Fred Snyder of Dundee Wealth
Management and I, David Ingram  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 <http://www.600am.com/>
Local calls are taken at (604) 280-0600 and Long Distance calls are taken at
1( 866) 778-0600
I do not know how far the LD line reaches.
=========================================
This from "ask an income tax and immigration expert" from www.centa.com
<http://www.centa.com/>  or www.jurock.com <http://www.jurock.com/>  or
www.featureweb.com <http://www.featureweb.com/> . David Ingram deals on a
daily basis with expatriate tax returns with:
multi jurisdictional cross and trans border expatriate problems  for the
United States, Canada, Mexico, Great Britain, the United Kingdom, Kuwait,
Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Indonesia, 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, and any of the 43 states with state tax returns, etc. Rockwall, Dallas,
San Antonio and Houston Texas
Denmark, Finland, Sweden Norway Bulgaria Croatia Income Tax and Immigration
Tips, Income Tax and ImmigrationWizard Income Tax and Immigration Guru
Income Tax and Immigration Consultant Income Tax  and Immigration Specialist
Section 216(4) 216(1) NR6 NR-6 NR 6 Non-Resident Real Estate tax specialist
expert preparer consultant expatriate anti money laundering money seasoning
FINTRAC E677 E667 4789 4790 TDF-90 Reporting $10,000 cross border
transactions
=========================
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