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As income tax time approaches, did you ever notice: When you put the
two words 'The' and 'IRS' together, it spells
' THEIRS'?
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Hi David,
My husband, two children
and I want to move to Vancouver. We are
tired of being stuck in traffic, dealing with crime and poor public
schools. He
is a project manager / performance consultant. We live in Texas. Realistically,
is it even worth our time seeking employment in Vancouver? I know you
probably want to keep the beautiful city to yourselves. J
I am also visually
impaired and love the mass transit Van
has to offer. But, I imagine everyone wants to live there and do not
see a real
incentive for a BC employer to go through a bunch of legal hoops to
hire a US
citizen for a job which could be filled by a number of Canadians.
Any perspective or advice?
Thanks in advance,
----------------------------------------
david ingram replies:
My old partner in Ottawa, Gary Gauvin - www.garygauvin.com - has moved
just outside of Dallas and I understand would not give it up for
anything. He is also a superb US Canada Income Tax consultant. AND,
AND, AND, in the last three months, I have had at least a dozen clients
move to Texas. You can find some of those references on my website.
The grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence. The
cost of living there is much lower than Vancouver. Traffic jams can be
atrocious. Although we have Skytrain and Seabus which are wonderful
point to point, getting from some points to relatively close points can
involve three bus transfers as you move on three sides of a square. If
you want good public transit, I suggest Toronto..
However, since I have had a dozen families leave lately, we actually
have room for you in Vancouver.
Vancouver Employers are screaming for workers
at the moment.
The best and fastest method is for one of you to get a job here and
move that way. After a year, you can apply for permanent residence.
You could also come as an investor with a locked in $400,000 investment
and another $400,000 of assets.
Other than that, if one of you can qualify with 67 out of 100 points on
our self-assessment test, you can start the paperwork yourselves (it is
not that difficult) and do the paperwork yourself. It takes about two
years at the moment.
The test can be found at:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/skilled/assess/index.html
This is the self-assessment test
for an individual to determine his or her
eligibility to immigrate to Canada without being sponsored by a spouse.
If you get a score of 67 or better you qualify to sponsor yourself to
Canada.
67 or better, goto http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/apply-how.asp
for regular or simplified process.
Most applicants must use the simplified process. However, you must
use the regular process if:
- You are a provincial nominee;
- You have been selected by Quebec;
- You are eligible for points for arranged employment;
- You have been lawfully admitted to Canada for a period of at
least one year and you are submitting your application at the Canadian
visa office in Buffalo; or
- You have been lawfully admitted into the United States for a
period of at least one year and you are submitting your application at
the Canadian visa office in Buffalo.
If none of the situations described above apply to you, you must use
the simplified application process.
------------------------
Your job description does not qualify under
NAFTA (which Obama and Hillary want to cancel apparently). If it did,
you could find a NAFTA LISTED JOB and move here in 24 hours.
I am reproducing the NAFTA list here. this is my version for a
Canadian to go tot he US but it is the same in reverse.
On December 8,
1993, President Clinton signed the NAFTA Agreement, which took effect
on January 1, 1994 under 101(a)(15).
TD
- Spouse or Child of NAFTA Professional under 214(e)(2) (TN holder)
TN
- NAFTA Professional - (North America Free Trade Agreement)
PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS PERSON
A professional is
defined as a person with a minimum of a bachelor's degree, who applies
for a position, which requires a degree as its minimum entry-level
requirement unless otherwise specified.
This
is the one we heard about in the news. To meet this classification
which is unique to Canadians, Mexicans or Americans, you must have a
bone fide job offer and all licenses and degrees in place for your
profession.
CHECK LIST for the
TN Visa
* An applicant for admission must establish Canadian Mexican or
American citizenship
* The applicant must be entering the United States, CANADA or
Mexico to engage in a profession or occupation at a professional level
under NAFTA
* The applicant must be in possession of an offer or
contract of employment from a United States, Canadian or Mexican
employer stating:
1) The professional activity to be
engaged in
2) Purpose
of entry
3)
Remuneration
4) That the
position is temporary in nature and will not exceed one year (although it can be renewed)
* The applicant must provide documentation of his or
her educational degree or professional qualifications
* The applicant must meet all licensing requirements
* Employment need not be full-time
* Permanent residence abroad is not a prerequisite
* Maximum period of admission of a TN is one year
* TN dependants accompanying the principal TN will be
admitted under the "TD" classification for the
same amount of time as the principal
* A $56 U.S. fee is required ($85.00 for renewal by
mail)
*
TN applicants are not permitted to enter as a professional
to participate in any way to circumvent a strike
* SELF
EMPLOYMENT IS NOT PERMISSIBLE
The following is
a partial list of some who qualify under a TN Visa. Please note that
extensive experience can equal a degree in many cases. All need a
Bachelor or Baccalaureate degree unless otherwise noted. In some cases,
3 or 4 years of practical work in a discipline
can count for one year of a University degree. Therefore
if the University BA requires 3 years, you need 9 or 12 years of work
experience to qualify.
*
Accountants - RIA or SIA or CPA or CGA or CMA or CA
**
Actuaries (this is one of two classifications added since 1989)
*
Agriculturalists
*
Agronomists
*
Animal Breeders
*
Animal Scientists
*
Apiculturist
*
Architects - BA or state / provincial license
*
Astronomers
*
Biochemists
*
Biologists
*
Botanists
*
Chemists
*
Computer Systems Analyst - BA or Post-secondary Diploma or
Post-secondary certificate and three years of practical experience.
This does not get you to the USA, if your job is programming a computer. An Analyst might spend a day a month working on
some modifications (in a testing mode for instance), but they better
not be thought of as a "programmer" within the company.
**** Computer Software Engineer *** This is
NOT here as an approved occupation. However,
Jackie Bednarz (US head of the NAFTA Section 16 Working group in
Washington stated specifically that if a recognized University was to
offer the degree, she would consider computer software engineers under
the ENGINEER classification when a recognized University granted the
degree. My understanding is that SFU and McGill
are now granting such degrees and that the Professional Engineers of
British Columbia have recognized graduates as members of their
professional society. Note that TC and TN's
were being granted for this category on a sporadic basis until the INS
realized that no such "official" degree existed.
Jackie Bednarz also
pointed out (She was part of the original negotiating team when the
original FTA (Free Trade Agreement) was being negotiated in 1985, 86,
87 and 88, there was no such thing as the INTERNET, "web masters" and
"web sites". When negotiating the job titles, no thought was given to
the computer revolution, other than the computer system analyst
designation, which at the time meant a main frame analyst for a
$1,000,000 computer.
(Thanks to Stuart
Lynne and Richard Pitt) (www.fireplug.net), the CEN-TA Group was an
official member of the Internet as far back as 1986 and thanks to Bill
Gates himself (he told me to use Microsoft Xenix as my operating
system) and Radio Shack Model 16 computers, CEN-TA was using "email"
between offices in Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver as early as 1983.
As another aside,
Stuart Lynne and Richard Pitt went on to found WIMSEY, the FIRST ISP in
CANADA. Bill Gates became quite famous as well.
*
Dairy Scientists
*
Dentists - DDS, DMD, or state / provincial license
*
Dental Technicians
*
Dietitian
* Disaster Relief Insurance Claim Specialists -
(claims adjuster employed by an insurance company located in the
territory of a party or an independent claims adjuster) - BA and
successful completion of training in the appropriate areas of insurance
adjustment pertaining to disaster relief claims; or, three years
experience in claims adjustment and successful completion of training
in the appropriate areas of insurance adjustment pertaining to disaster
relief claims
*
Doctors - (see physician further on)
*
Economists
*
Engineers - BA or state / provincial licensing
*
Entomologists
*
Epidemiologists
*
Forester - BA or state / provincial licensing
*
Geneticists
*
Geochemist
*
Geologist
*
Geophysicists (including Oceanographer in the
United States)
*
Graphic Designer - BA or post-secondary diploma and three years
experience.
*
Hotel Managers - BA in hotel / restaurant management; or,
post-secondary diploma or post-secondary certificate in hotel /
restaurant management and three years experience in hotel / restaurant
management
*
Horticulturist
*
Industrial Designer - BA or post-secondary diploma or post-secondary
certificate and three years experience
*
Interior Designer - BA or post-secondary diploma or post-secondary
certificate and three years experience
*
Journalist BA plus three years experience - (This category is no longer
valid and has been left in to explain the circumstances. As I
understand it, journalists in general took it as an insult that they
had to have a BA degree, because, "most, if not all," of the best known
journalists do not have a BA degree.)
*
Land Surveyor - BA or state / provincial licenses
*
Landscape Architect
*
Lawyer (including notary in the Province of Quebec) - LLB, JD, LLL, BCL
degree (five years); or membership in a state or provincial bar
*
Librarians - MLS or BLS (for which another BA was a prerequisite)
* Management Consultants - BA; or equivalent
professional experience as established by statement or professional
credential attesting to five years experience as a management
consultant, or five years experience in a field of specialty relating
to the consulting agreement. I must make it
clear here. A Management Consultant is NOT a
manager. The surest way to lose your management
consultant renewal is to show up at the border with a business card
with the title General Manager, Western Region, or Human Resources
Manager, or, or, or. A management consultant
could consult with the actual sales manager about sales techniques or
about selling into Canada. A management
consultant could be advising the actual human resources manager in
hiring techniques or even suggesting that one candidate is a better fit
than another one. A management consultant can
do market research, gather and assemble data and write a report to give
to the manager. This is likely the hardest TN visa to get but is also a
very important one when it comes to serving the needs of the US company.
Note that the
management consultant does NOT need a degree, just five years
experience. This is the perfect job description
for the person with 23 years of job experience who has never gone
through the formal process of getting a university degree in the
discipline.
*
Mathematician (including statistician)
*
Medical Laboratory Technologist (Canada) / Medical Technologist (U.S.)
- BA; or post-secondary diploma or post-secondary certificate and three
years experience
*
Meteorologist
*
Nutritionist
*
Occupational Therapist - BA; or state / provincial license
*
Organic Chemist
*
Pharmacologist (Pharmacist) - BA; or state / provincial license
*
Physician - (teaching or research only), MD or state /provincial
license. To work as MD, a doctor must pass his MLE (medical licensing
exam), which has three, parts written over a year. After
passing, he or she would enter the U.S. under an H-1A.
*
Physicist (including oceanographer in Canada)
*
Physiotherapist/Physical Therapist - BA; or state /provincial
license
*
Plant Breeder
**
Plant Pathologists (This is one of two professions added since 1989)
*
Poultry Scientist
*
Professional (most recognized professions)
*
Psychologists - state / provincial license
*
Range Conservationist
*
Recreational Therapist
*
Registered Nurse - state / provincial license
*
Research Assistant (working in post-secondary
educational institution)
- * Scientific Technician - Possession of: (a)
theoretical knowledge of any of the disciplines: agricultural sciences,
astronomy, biology, chemistry, engineering, forestry, geology,
geophysics, meteorology, or physics; and (b) the ability to solve
practical problems in any of those disciplines, or the ability to apply
principles of any of those disciplines to basic or applied research.
*
Social Worker
*
Soil Scientist
*
Sylviculturist
* Teacher (College, Seminary, or University) (Post
Secondary level only)
*
Technical Publication Writer - BA, or post-secondary diploma or
post-secondary certificate, and three years experience
*
Urban Planner (including geographer)
*
Veterinarian
*
Vocational Counselor
*
Zoologist
SUBJECT TO CHANGE
And
then, as I was writing this exact section of the book in March, 1995, I
received a call from a Doctor who had a job offer from the U.S., sold
his house and Canadian practice, only to be told that he did not
qualify when he showed up at the border because although a practicing
family physician in Canada and fully qualified to go south with a Green
Card (a resident alien immigrant visa), he did not qualify as a TN (can
only teach or do research) and he did not qualify as an H-1B because he
had not written an MLE. This medical licensing exam is written in three
stages over a one year timetable. I guess he
has to sue his immigration attorney in Los Angeles. This
attorney knew he did not have his MLE, but charged him significant
monies and told him he could get in now!
-
On February 11, 2008, David
Ingram wrote:
It is very unlikely that blind or unexpected email to me will be
answered. I receive anywhere from 100 to 700 unsolicited emails a day
and usually answer anywhere from 2 to 20 if they are not from existing
clients. Existing clients are advised to put their 'name and PAYING CUSTOMER' in the subject line
and get answered first. I also refuse to be a slave to email and do
not look at it every day and have never ever looked at it when I am out
of town. e bankruptcy expert US Canada Canadian American
Mexican Income Tax service and help
However, I regularly search for the words"PAYING
CUSTOMER" and always answer them first if they did not get spammed out.
For the last two weeks, I have just found out that my own email notes
to myself have been spammed out and as an example, as I wrote this on
Dec 25, 2007 since June 16th, my 'spammed out' box has
47,941 unread messages, my deleted box has 16645 I have actually looked
at and deleted and I have actually answered 1234 email questions for
clients and strangers without sending a bill. I have also put aside
847 messages that I am maybe going to try and answer because they look
interesting. -e bankruptcy expert US Canada Canadian American
Mexican Income Tax service and help
Therefore, if an email is not answered in 24 to
48 hours, it is likely lost in space.
You can try and resend it but if important AND YOU TRULY WANT OR NEED
AN ANSWER from 'me', you will have to phone to make an appointment.
Gillian Bryan generally accepts appointment requests for me between
10:30 AM and 4:00 PM Monday to Friday VANCOUVER (Seattle, Portland, Los
Angeles) time at (604) 980-0321. david ingram expert
US Canada Canadian American Mexican Income Tax service and help.
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 9 PM 7 days a week
Vancouver (LA) time - (please do not fax or
phone outside of those hours as this is a home office) expert US Canada Canadian American
Mexican Income Tax service help.
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 and the author and
any and all non-contractual duties are expressly denied. All readers
should obtain formal advice from a competent and
appropriately qualified legal practitioner or tax specialist for expert
help, assistance, preparation, or consultation in connection with
personal or business affairs such as at www.centa.com. If you forward this message, this disclaimer must be
included." e bankruptcy expert US Canada Canadian American
Mexican Income Tax service and help.
David Ingram
gives expert income tax service & immigration help to non-resident
Americans & Canadians from New York to California to Mexico
family, estate, income trust trusts Cross border, dual citizen - out of
country investments are all handled with competence & authority.
Phone consultations
are $450 for 15 minutes to 50 minutes (professional hour). Please note
that GST is added if product remains in Canada or is to be returned to
Canada or a phone consultation is in Canada. ($472.50 with GST if in
Canada) expert US Canada Canadian American
Mexican
Income Tax service and help.
This is not intended to be definitive
but in general I am quoting $900 to $3,000 for a dual country tax
return.
$900 would be one T4 slip one W2 slip
one or two interest slips and you lived in one country only (but were
filing both countries) - no self employment or rentals or capital gains
- you did not move into or out of the country in this year.
$1,200 would be the same with one
rental
$1,300 would be the same with one
business no rental
$1,300 would be the minimum with a
move in or out of the country. These are complicated because of the
back and forth foreign tax credits. - The IRS says a foreign tax credit
takes 1 hour and 53 minutes.
$1,600 would be the minimum with a
rental or two in the country you do not live in or a rental and a
business and foreign tax credits no move in or out
$1,700 would be for two people with income from two countries
$3,000 would be all of the above and
you moved in and out of the country.
This is just a guideline for US /
Canadian returns
We will still prepare Canadian only
(lives in Canada, no US connection period) with two or three slips and
no capital gains, etc. for $200.00 up.
With a Rental for $400, two or three
rentals for $550 to $700 (i.e. $150 per rental) First year Rental -
plus $250.
A Business for $400 - Rental and
business likely $550 to $700
And an American only (lives in the US
with no Canadian income or filing period) with about the same things in
the same range with a little bit more if there is a state return.
Moving in or out of the country or
part year earnings in the US will ALWAYS be $900 and up.
TDF 90-22.1 forms are $50 for the
first and $25.00 each after that when part of a tax return.
8891 forms are generally $50.00 to
$100.00 each.
18 RRSPs would be $900.00 - (maybe
amalgamate a couple)
Capital gains *sales) are likely
$50.00 for the first and $20.00 each after that.
Catch - up returns for the US where we use the
Canadian return as a guide for seven years at a time will be from $150
to
$600.00 per year depending upon numbers of bank accounts, RRSP's,
existence of rental houses, self employment, etc. Note that these
returns tend to be informational rather than taxable. In fact, if
there are children involved, we usually get refunds of $1,000 per child
per year for 3 years. We have done several catch-ups where the client
has recieved as much as $6,000 back for an $1,800 bill and one recently
with 6 children is resulting in over $12,000 refund.
This is a
guideline not etched in stone. If you do
your own TDF-90 forms, it is to your advantage. However, if we put them
in the first year, the computer carries them forward beautifully.
This from "ask an income trusts tax service and
immigration expert" from www.centa.com or www.jurock.com or www.featureweb.com. David Ingram deals on a daily basis with expatriate tax
returns with multi jurisdictional cross and trans border expatriate
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Pensacola, Miami, St Petersburg, Naples, Fort Myers, Cape Coral,
Orlando, Atlanta, Arlington, Washington, Hudson, Green Bay, Minot,
Portland, Seattle, St John, St John's, Fredericton, Quebec, Moncton,
Truro, Atlanta, Charleston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego,
Sacramento, Taos, Grand Canyon, Reno, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Sun City,
Tulsa, Monteray, Carmel, Morgantown, Bemidji, Sandpointe, Pocatello,
Bellingham, Custer, Grand Forks, Lead, Rapid City, Mitchell, Kansas
City, Lawrence, Houston, Albany, Framingham, Cambridge, London, Paris,
Prince George, Prince Rupert, Whitehorse, Anchorage, Fairbanks,
Frankfurt, The Hague, Lisbon, Madrid, Atlanta, Myrtle Beach, Key West,
Cape Coral, Fort Meyers, Berlin, Hamburg, Warsaw, Auckland,
Wellington, Honolulu, Maui, Kuwait, Molokai, Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo,
Manilla, Kent, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Regina, Red Deer, Olds, Medicine
Hat, Lethbridge, Moose Jaw, Brandon, Portage La Prairie, Davidson,
Craik, Edmonton, Calgary, Victoria, Vancouver, Burnaby, Surrey,
Edinburgh, Dublin, Belfast, Glasgow, Copenhagen, Oslo, Munich, Sydney,
Nanaimo, Brisbane, Melbourne, Darwin, Perth, Athens, Rome, Berne,
Zurich, Kyoto, Nanking, Rio De Janeiro, Brasilia, Colombo, Buenos
Aries, Squamish, Churchill, Lima, Santiago, Abbotsford, Cologne,
Yorkshire, Hope, Penticton, Kelowna, Vernon, Fort MacLeod, Deer Lodge,
Springfield, St Louis, Centralia, Bradford, Stratford on Avon, Niagara
Falls, Atlin, Fort Nelson, Fort St James, Red Deer, Drumheller,
Fortune, Red Bank, Marystown, Cape Spears, Truro, Charlottetown,
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david
ingram
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& immigration consultant, income trusts experts on rentals mutual
funds RRSP RESP IRA 401(K) & divorce preparer preparers
consultants Income Tax Convention Treaty. advice
on bankruptcy expert US Canada Canadian American Mexican Income Tax
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Be ALERT, the world needs more "lerts". bankruptcy expert US Canada
Canadian American Mexican Income Tax service help. -
expert us Canada Canadian Mexico income tax
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