Sent: Saturday, April 22, 2006 10:05 PM To: taxman at centa.com Subject: u.s. taxes My husband is a U.S. citizen (also has Canadian citizenship). We have lived in Canada for about 22 years. During this time he has paid his Canadian taxes each year. Now he has been offered a job in Washington State. As we were looking up immigration rules we came across the fact that he was suppose to filing a U.S. return each year. So we need some advice on what this would mean to us?? Is it possible to still file these returns or are they going to fine us or what. Would we be better off to stay in Canada or will they come after him even if we stay here? We really need some advice, as the internet information on the subject is very confusing. ------------------------------------------------------- david ingram replies: Your husband should file 1999 to 2005 US tax returns to bring himself up to good standing with the IRS. If done properly, a voluntary compliance set of returns should not incur any penalties and there will only be income tax as a rule, if his income exceeded $120,000 Canadian. even then, it usually works out to less than 1% of the amounts over $80,000. We have likely done 1,000 of these over the last 20 years and have not had a single person penalized. In general, the fee runs from $150 to $400 per year depending upon whether the person is self-employed, owns rental property, has sold stock or mutual funds, etc. The last year is always a couple of hundred more, because we use this year to catch up on RRSP and back account reporting. Hope this helps and happy to help you after April 30th. david ingram ------------------------ David Ingram's US / Canada Services US / Canada / Mexico tax, Immigration and working Visa Specialists US / Canada Real Estate Specialists My Home office is at: 4466 Prospect Road North Vancouver, BC, CANADA, V7N 3L7 Cell (604) 657-8451 - (604) 980-0321 Fax (604) 980-0325 Calls welcomed from 10 AM to 10 PM 7 days a week Vancouver (LA) time - (please do not fax or phone outside of those hours as this is a home office) email to taxman at centa.com <mailto:taxman at centa.com> www.centa.com <http://www.centa.com/> www.david-ingram.com <http://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. 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