Taxes

[DarkDragons91]

Hey, sorry for bothering you guys with this again but for some reason my brain just wont accept it.

I am moving to Ottawa, ON

I will be living with my husband in his mothers apartment.

I am also worried about taxes. VERY WORRIED.

Does anyone know how we would file taxes in Ontario? I mean, do I file US taxes and Canada. Will a tax agency be able to do it for me???? I do not plan on giving up my US citizenship even though I will no longer be a resident in the US. I don't want to go to Canada without full knowledge about it all. XD!!!! I feel like I am spazzing over everything anymore.

 

[scylla]

Yes - you will have to file both US and Canadian taxes. (Americans have to file US taxes regardless of where they are living.) You will file two separate tax returns of course (i.e. one for each country). Your American taxes would of course be sent to the US. Sure - you can get assistance from a tax agency. Expect to pay a couple of hundred and up depending on the complexity of your taxes if you don't want to do it yourself.

 

[Dave4236]

Scylla is quite correct here. The key to dealing with US and Canadian taxes is to have some understanding that it is a mine field and you need to at least know that there are the various serious pitfalls if not done correctly. In general it is not all that bad because there are tax treaties between US and Canada to prevent you from being taxed twice, but it all needs to be done the right way.

There is a really good book that was updated earlier this year that can help you out a lot. It is called “The American in Canada” by Brian Wruk and it is an incredible wealth of information mostly about how to deal with the financial aspects of this. The US has for a very long time required its citizens to file taxed no matter where they are in the world. This became much more serious after 2010 with new FATCA rules. US citizens cannot escape the long arm of the IRS. Even if you renounce your citizenship you still have to file for another 10 years.

The other advice I had been given was to find a tax accountant or firm that does know how to correctly do US taxes in Canada and have them do it the first year. You can use that for subsequent years to get things into the right places yourself if you are comfortable with doing taxes. If your income and tax situation is not that exciting you will not owe anything to the US. There is a 100K personal deduction on the 1040NR (Non-Resident), but even if you do not owe anything you MUST FILE.

 

[DarkDragons91]

Alright. Thank you very much. I can see that this is going to be a big pain. XD!!!