ROTH IRA and TSFA Questions

ROTH IRA and TSFA Questions

Question

Hello!

This is Erin from the recent question about what to do with American investments.

A little about me:

I make 12k USD per year through remote work for an American company.

I make about 30k Canadian self employed income.

Is it possible to invest in both TFSA and Roth IRA? Should I not bother with the IRA and just invest more in Canadian accounts?

I just recently changed my Chase Bank address to my Canadian address (I just forgot to do it until now), and it basically froze my investment account.

I know I can use the Foreign Income Tax Credit to still have money to put into the IRA as opposed to the FEIE.

Any advice would be much appreciated. And I am willing to pay for your time!

– XXXXXX

Answer

Hi XXXXX

Thanks for the email.

These are just my general thoughts on your situation based on the information you gave below. We would need to confirm an approach via a paid consult. That being said, here are my initial thoughts (I’m assuming you’re a US citizen).

• If you’re already in Canada you won’t be able to contribute to a ROTH IRA
• Investing in a TSFA can be tricky as you may have 3520 and 3520-A filing requirements and the income earned in the TFSA will be taxable in the US
  • You may have passive 1116 credits on your 1040 that could reduce the US tax on the TFSA
• You can always invest inside an RRSP which would allow you to claim a deduction and shelter some of your income from tax, however your income may not be high enough to see significant tax benefits
• Contributions to a regular IRA will not help as you won’t get the deduction on the US side.

Hope that helps.

Cheers

Phil

Newsglobal, CPA, CA, CPA (Colorado)

Partner

Specializing in Canadian and US Tax

(250) 661-9417

phil@hutcheson.ca