The 5 Most Unique Retirement Neighborhoods in Toronto Although Toronto is one of Canada’s most expensive cities to live in, it is also one of the most diverse, most vibrant, and, some would suggest, the most American city that the country has to offer. As Canada’s biggest city, Toronto boasts a population of just over…
Update: President-elect Biden’s Views on a Second Stimulus Package With a first-ever pandemic holiday seasoning drawing nearer every day, there is no real change in the second-stimulus stalemate that has drawn on for months now. Deep partisan divisions in both the House and Senate continue to hold sway even as new coronavirus cases top 200,00…
Update: Second Stimulus Package and Payments As we all recover from Thanksgiving dinner and look ahead to the holiday season, discussions around the second stimulus package continue. However, a decision (and second stimulus payment) is far from imminent. Here is a brief update of what might be ahead as we move toward 2021. Recap Treasury…
Understanding Form T1135 – Expat Tax Podcast On episode #2 of the Expat Tax and Financial Planning Podcast we discuss form T1135 – Foreign income verification filings. For a comprehensive article on form T1135 and the issues related to foreign asset reporting click here. Form T1135 is required to be filed by tax residents of…
Offshore Tax Havens: What Is the Cost to Canada? A recent Report from the U.K.-based Tax Justice Network (TJN) used a powerful analogy to summarize the impact of offshore tax havens on the global economy: “The equivalent of one nurse’s annual salary is lost to a tax haven every second.” Overall, the Report concludes that…
Will they Implement a Canadian Wealth or Estate Tax? Question My wife and I have been reading lately about all this talk related to a possible wealth or estate tax on Canadians. We have significant investment accounts in both Canada and the US. Do you think Canada will actually implement a wealth tax anytime soon?…
The New Citizen Naturalization Test The oral exam that immigrants to the U.S. must complete to receive their citizenship just got more complicated. On Friday, November 13, officials from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) revealed plans to implement the revised version of what is known as the naturalization civics test. The oral test…
FBAR Exchange Rates 2022 As a US citizen or resident of the US, and to the extent that you have beneficial interest or signing authority over foreign financial accounts (foreign to the US) in excess of $10,000 (calculated as the total of the highest balance in all your non-US bank and investment accounts) USD you…
Canadian Wealth, Inheritance and Estate Tax I get these questions all the time, does Canada have a wealth, inheritance or estate tax? The quick answer, at least for now, is no… Canada doesn’t currently have any type of wealth tax other than a final death tax that calculates and taxes a taxpayer’s final capital gain…
Am I taxed on my inheritance from the US? Question Hi Phil I found your website online after doing some research. Please let know the charge to answer my questions (do you accept paypal?) I received an inheritance from my mother’s estate last month. It will take until 2021 to have the estate settled and…
Everything you Need to Know about form T1135 In addition to income reporting tax forms we also need to complete informational reporting forms for our clients. One example of such forms is form T1135 – foreign income verification statement. What is Form T1135? According to CRA’s official website the first iteration of the T1135 was…
Moving to Vancouver from Texas – How Much More Tax Will I Pay? The conversation below was between myself and a gentlemen asking some questions online. I decided to post it here as it may help others thinking of moving to Canada from the US. The decision to move to Canada from the US, especially…
Should I move my investments to Canada? Question Hi Phil I’ve just recently joined the Americans in Canada Facebook page and have been following your posts. All good stuff. We moved to Kelowna last year from California and have a few questions related to our investments in the US. I’m a dual citizen and my…
Canada Announces New Immigration Plan Levels On October 30th, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) released its Immigration Levels Plan for 2021 to 2023. The announced targets are history-making, with never-before-seen goals for each of the coming three years. Specifically, the country hopes to welcome: 401,000 new immigrants in 2021 411,000 in 2022 421,000 in…
Update: Second Stimulus Package As we enter the second week of October, a decision on a second stimulus payment is far from imminent. But here is a brief update of what you might watch for in the days leading up to Election Day: On Wednesday, September 30, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin offered a $1.62 trillion…
Update: Banks, Criminals, and Dirty Money In my blog on September 21st, I detailed the recent flurry of regulatory posturing and reactions to the leak of 2,657 documents known as the FinCEN files. Briefly, as BuzzFeed News (BFN) summarizes: “The FinCEN Files expose an underlying truth of the modern era: The networks through which dirty…
Banks, Criminals, and Dirty Money With the recent leak of 2,657 documents known as the FinCEN files, a spotlight is again on the relationship between international banks, Russian oligarchs, and the laundering of dirty money. The leaked documents reveal how some of the world’s largest banks took part in cleaning about $2 trillion. Feeling more…
Saving and investing advice for new investors Question Hi Phil I saw online that you help with financial planning. I don’t have much money to pay for advice, so maybe you can point me in the right direction. I always remember my grandfather telling me to invest as early as possible and now that I’m…
A Second Stimulus Round: How it Will Happen and When to Expect It Although the number of Americans decreased slightly in the past week, the pressure on individuals and families running out of benefits under the CARES Act only increases as the economy continues to grind toward recovery. And the recovery itself might not be…
How Can Americans Abroad Register and Vote in the Upcoming Elections? It is difficult to get an accurate sense of how many American citizens are living abroad at any time; however, rough estimates by the U.S. State Department estimates suggest that the number is in the range of 9 million citizens. Putting this number in…
Elderly Senior Couple in Vancouver – Late US Tax Returns Question Dear Mr Hogan, I am a volunteer providing free advice to marginalized and impoverished communities. I would really appreciate your help, if you are willing, in securing a quick bit of off-the-cuff advice for clients who are elderly Canadian citizens living in Vancouver. I…
T1135 and Moving to Canada from Texas Question Hi My wife and I will be moving from Texas to Calgary early in 2021. We’re trying to do as much research on the move as possible. To be honest, the complexities of the tax systems between both Canada and the US is making our heads spin….
Why Are So Many Americans Moving to Canada? According to a YouGov survey on June 23, 31 per cent of Americans are either very interested (15 percent) or somewhat interested (16 percent) in moving to Canada if the candidate they vote for is not elected in November. (Interestingly, 6 percent reported having no intention to…
US Resident Cashing Out RRSP Question Hello Phil, I found your commentary very helpful as I have been considering cashing out my RRSP and reinvesting in the US: https://www.hutcheson.ca/tax-on-rrsprrif-payments-after-moving-to-the-u-s/ I am Canadian living in the US and have been here along with my wife since XXXX. At the time we left our RRSP’s and let…
The Best Places to Retire in Canada in 2023 As Mark Twain once famously noted: “Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.” Wonderful words to live by and at no time more relevant than when considering the much-anticipated move into retirement. And with the average retirement age…
Canadian Tax Implications of Bitcoin and Crypto Assets Question Hi, I normally do my own taxes from a standard job that gives me T4 slips but in 2019 I started investing in cryptocurrencies and I’m not exactly sure how to declare what I’ve done to the CRA. (As of January 1, 2020 I think I…
Top 10 Expat Tax Return Mistakes – Are you making any of these? We file over 1,500 expat tax returns per year and we also review a significant amount of expat returns prepared by individuals and other accounting firms. First, I would like the preface the following list with the fact that I understand honest…
Retiring to Canada and help with with taxes and investments Question Hi I found your contact information on the Americans in Canada facebook group. I wanted to reach out to try and schedule a future appointment or consultation. Please let me know how I can book such a meeting. In preparation for this meeting I…
Expat Tax and Financial Planning Newsletter To keep up to date on Expat Tax and Financial Planning issues make sure to subscribe to our newsletter above. We look forward to hearing from you! [wd_hustle id=”4″ type=”embedded”/] Archive of previous newsletters below: November 21, 2020 Hi everyone First, I want to thank everyone that provided feedback…
How does CRA know about my foreign income in the US? Question I have a bunch of investments in the US that I had before I retired to Canada. It’s not much income right now, but once my IRAs and other pensions start paying distributions it will be fairly significant. I also have stocks in…
Retiring to Victoria BC from California – Need Tax and Investment Advice Question Hello I found information online when I was doing my research. My wife and I are in the process of planning our move from San Diego to Vancouver Island some time later this year. We won’t need help with taxes and investment…
How to Apply for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) UPDATED 03/26/2020 – please see attached the COVID-19 emergency response act. Highlights include: Personal tax measures Corporate tax measures Other tax measures Today Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unveiled a $2,000 a month benefit for those workers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Information on the new…
Democrats Propose Huge COVID-19 “Bazooka” Wow, the Democrats have proposed significant stimulus in their March 18, 2020 memo to the House of Representatives. Some highlights include: $2,000 for each adult and $1,000 for each child per month Suspension of credit payments Credit facility available to help reimburse creditors Suspend all negative credit reporting Prevent debt…
Moving to Canada with Investments, and I Need Help! Question Hi there I got your name from my mother that said that you help her with her Canadian and US tax returns. I’ll be moving back to Canada in 2020 and wonder if you are taking new clients. I think my situation is quite complex…
Canadian with 401k plan in the US Question Hello I worked in the US from 2001 to 2008 and contributed to a 401K plan. I moved back to Canada (I am a Canadian citizen) in 2008. I am now retired and mad a partial withdrawal this year from my Vanguard 401K plan. I gave them…
ROTH IRA disclosures in Canada Question I am a Canadian citizen living in Toronto and my wife is a U.S. citizen and living in Toronto with PR status. Below is the situation with Roth IRA disclosure: Status: • Due to lack of awareness (assumed all retirement accounts are the same and therefore not required to…
Disclosure of ROTH IRA for Canadian Question I am a Canadian citizen living in Toronto and my wife is a U.S. citizen and living in Toronto with PR status. Below is the situation wrt Roth IRA disclosure: Status: • Due to lack of awareness (assumed all retirement accounts are the same and therefore not required…
Bitcoin investment and Canadian tax Question I’m not sure this is the right place to post this, but I can’t seem to find a good answer anywhere. I was lucky enough to buy bitcoin at very low levels in 2013 (my brother is a tech at google) and I’ve held a significant amount of my…
2019 Federal Budget introduces Advanced Life Deferred Annuities availability for RRIFs We will have more info as these rules get rolled out, however it looks like the 2019 Federal Budget introduced measures that will allow individuals to stretch their RRIF accounts even further into retirement. By allowing Canadians to invest in Advanced Life Deferred Annuities…
Ultimate Cross Border Investment Guide We get a lot of questions regarding inheritances between Canada and the US. Whether it’s a Canadian client receiving an inheritance from a US relative or a US resident receiving an inheritance from their Canadian relatives, the tax intricacies can be significant and difficult to navigate. Outlined below are some…
IRS Streamline tax filing amnesty program for 2018 Question Hi I’m an American living in Canada that has not filed US tax returns for some years (based on my conversation with my friends I’m not the only one). I’m curious to know about how the IRS streamlined tax program works for amnesty. Do you help…
Cross Border Tax Topics – The Wealthy Life Appearance A big thanks to Sybil Verch and the crew at the Wealthy Life for having us down for the show. Although the segment was relatively brief we were able to touch on a few key cross border tax and investment topics: General Tax and Compliance Considerations…
Buying Canadian property as an American There are many reasons to invest in Canadian property as an American. The process, however, is not always straightforward. Here are a few tips to streamline the process and help you make the best decision for your investment. 1. Get your finances in order Before you start shopping for…
Should I convert my IRA to a ROTH IRA before moving to Canada? Question I’ll be moving to Ottawa from Boston late this year and I’ve been working through some financial planning with my broker. While doing some research online I came across your cross border tax articles, specifically the ones outlining IRA conversions. I…
Late Filing T1135 Under the New VDP Program – US Investments Question I read your article on Canadian voluntary disclosure and T1135 late filing forms. I wanted to ask about how I would go about filing these late forms given the changes to the program. I’ve had my taxes done by a professional accountant in…
IRA, 401k and US Investments for Canadians (FAQ) We meet with a lot of clients who are looking for some guidance on how to handle their US investment accounts. Whether they have moved from the US or inherited US assets from family members these individuals often have the same questions, concerns and tax planning issues….