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----- Original Message -----
From: ">
To: <david@centa.com>
Sent: Thursday, April 11, 2002 2:24 PM
Subject: HELP!!
Hello,
You probably get a lot of emails starting like that. I am a Canadian, with a dual citizen (Can / US) wife, living in the US. I want to know if I need to pay US taxes. I was under the impression that I did not have to until recently, which is the reason for this late question. I have residential ties to Canada (residence, AB health, driver's license, plates on car, banking) and was in the US from Jan 30, 2001 to the present. I was paid a monthly retainer fee that required me to be available to the employer, which is why I am in the US. If I was not required to be available, I would be at my residence in Canada. The retainer was deposited directly into a Canadian bank (Canada Trust). I am in the middle of a request for a green card - I recently obtained my Employment Authorization and Advance Parole. I have my Canadian taxes taken care of, I want to know if I should be paying US taxes, or at least to submit a request for an extension until I figure things out. In my thinking, submitting a request for an extension implies that I concede that I need to pay US taxes. I am happy with paying my Canadian taxes, but I do not think I need to pay US taxes. I will be a US employee this year for the company that pays me my retainer. Do you need more info? I really need to take care of this soon. I was told of US forms 8840 and 8833. I do not understand them. JJ
--------------------------------
The answer is simple. Your
first tax liability is to the US. You do not likely owe Canada any
taxes and you should likely stand whoever is doing your Canadian taxes up
against a brick wall and shoot him or her for not realizing that fact.
If your Canadian return has not been mailed. Do not
mail it unitl it is correct.
Your AB health card is invalid because to be valid, you
have to sleep in AB 184 days in a year unless you have written permission to be
gone longer than that and then it only applies for one year.
With your green card application in place already, your
Alberta Driver's licence and car registration are likely invalid as well.
When you leave with the intent to stay away (your green card application is
proof of that), most provinces require you to re-register and re-licence in
either 30 or 60 days.
Canada may well rule you to be a "factual resident" of
Canada. but under Article IV of the US / Canada Income Tax Treaty,
you owe tax on your world income to the States and Have to report
your world income to Canada. However, you DO NOT PAY TAX TO CANADA on the
income earned by your physical presence in the USA.
You should apply for a Social Security Number at your
nearest Social Security office and we need to file an extension for you.
If you can give us a figure for what you earned from Feb to Xmas, we can figure
out the US tax and you can "try and make a deposit on the account. I say
"try" because the IRS does not like accepting extensions and deposits from
people without SSNs.
The people hiring you have also been remiss in not
suggesting competent help for you..
Hope this helps...
ingram
.(604) 913-9133
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