Canadian Bank Accounts

I have joint bank accounts with my common-law husband. Do I have to report
these on my US tax return?


david ingram replies:

you have to report any foreign accounts on form T DF 90-22.1 if the total of
all accounts is over $10,000 and you are:

1. A US citizen or green card holder living anywhere in the world or

2. You are living (legally or illegally) within the geographic boundaries of
the United States.

I am assuming here that the total of all balances (including your RRSP
accounts) is over $10,000. If all your accounts combined do not add up to
over $10,000 US dollars, you do not need to fill in T DF 90-22.1 but you DO
need to report any earnings on schedule B of your 1040. Pay attention to
the two questions at the bottom of Schedule B.

This information is required to file form T DF 90-22.1 which can be found at
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f9022-1.pdf note that there are fines of up
to $500,000 plus five years in jail for failure to file this form.

There is also a requirement to file a separate form 8891 to report the
internal earnings on any RRSP accounts you have.

Failure to file the requisite paperwork (8891 and REV-PROC procedures) for
your RRSP accounts carries an IRS penalty of 35% of the amount you put in
plus 5% for each year it remains unreported.