Thread for outland Buffalo applicants!

[QCSunshine]

I am interested in the married filing separately tax thing too.... I was told the same thing as Scylla by a CPA friend of mine, so I hope I was well-informed....? But I have been wondering about it. Especially about if there were a joint account....how does that work? And does it matter if the account does or doesn't earn any interest? I was thinking I only had to declare all my international income, and since my husband has never worked in the US and has never lived there, he has no reason to submit any US tax forms.

 

[QCSunshine]

Anyone here live in the US and have a spouse in Canada and file joint taxes on your US tax return? I'm having a tax return issue with my US return and I'm curious to know if anyone else found a professional who actually knew the US/Canadian tax treaty I could hire to review my return? I'm looking for an accountant or preferrably a tax lawyer. I'm really getting screwed over for filing married filing separately in 2010.

I have heard the name of a CPA in Montreal that knows US and Canadian taxes. My friend has used him and was pleased. If you are interested in his name, let me know.

 

[Hobby]

In the end they were of very little assistance and essentially recommended that my husband file married filing separately and that I submit nothing. No joke the woman must have said the following 20 times during the visit (directed at me): "So you're Canadian. And you're married to an American. And you're living in Canada. And you have no status in the US." It was like she was repeating something she thought was impossible.

I can get behind this! I didn't know how to file my Canadian taxes last year because my spouse was visiting but we don't have any passport stamps so can't prove they're "really" here. In the end I filed without checking off any of the boxes, (or mentioning I had a spouse at all) and got dinged with overpayment payback.

This year I'm hoping our probable landing will sort out any tax issues I have and this year we'll be filing my Canadian job and their 0 income for 2011. Might fill out a "married filed separately" with the 0 dollar income for them, too, because I don't want the IRS to start thinking we're rolling in the cash. We may even want to file a 0 dollar income as long as my spouse doesn't have a job. I pulled up a 1040 a few weeks ago, and my head started hurting. VERY different from us.

And scylla, don't you know that if you marry an American you're automatically wanting to live in the United States? lol That IRS agent sounds like they're just a trifle bit "special".

 

[scylla]

And scylla, don't you know that if you marry an American you're automatically wanting to live in the United States? lol That IRS agent sounds like they're just a trifle bit "special".

Ha ha! That is SO true. I honestly think that's what she didn't understand.

 

[francohoosier]

:'( I feel like an idiot. There was a huge Job/Education fair here in Montreal that I was looking forward to going to. When I went back to their website today to check out in more detail the exhibitors and their hours... I found out it ran Wednesday-Friday. WTF? Who holds a major show like that with no weekend dates?? *sigh* Kinda depressed now. Is there anyone in/around MTL that could point me towards some reliable immigrant services/animation schools/job opportunities? :/

 

[ddobro2]

Yeah, although to play devil's advocate, perchance they thought weekdays only would be fine considering people who might be attending a job fair might not be working during the day anyway.

I think Concordia has a decent film program. I believe they had a shorts fest that played at the Cinérobothèque several months ago (which is having a series of animation events October 27th through 30th). I don't know a lot about the program though. Our neighbor's son studied 3D animation at Cégep du Vieux Montréal, but that's a francophone school. You know you are eligible from those free francisation classes from MICC, right?

:'( I feel like an idiot. There was a huge Job/Education fair here in Montreal that I was looking forward to going to. When I went back to their website today to check out in more detail the exhibitors and their hours... I found out it ran Wednesday-Friday. WTF? Who holds a major show like that with no weekend dates?? *sigh* Kinda depressed now. Is there anyone in/around MTL that could point me towards some reliable immigrant services/animation schools/job opportunities? :/

 

[ddobro2]

lol, those arrogant Americans

Ha ha! That is SO true. I honestly think that's what she didn't understand.

 

[Stumpedmom]

Anyone here live in the US and have a spouse in Canada and file joint taxes on your US tax return? I'm having a tax return issue with my US return and I'm curious to know if anyone else found a professional who actually knew the US/Canadian tax treaty I could hire to review my return? I'm looking for an accountant or preferrably a tax lawyer. I'm really getting screwed over for filing married filing separately in 2010.

A close family friend is an accountant in Arizona, where hubs is from. He said to file married, and separate. That is how he did my husbands, and he had no issue whatsoever. If he was to include me and my info, it would be much more of a headache because I would have had to get a SSN, and other stuff, that I had no inclination to deal with. I had enough dealing with immigration and not having him here.

If you would like, I can talk to him and maybe he can go over stuff with you, just by faxing back and forth and phone calls??? Let me know.

 

[prophet3]

hey nhl1011 ,,,
did you hear anything back for the information request. I have not heard anything and the credit card has not been charged the fee yet.thanks

 

[QCSunshine]

:'( I feel like an idiot. There was a huge Job/Education fair here in Montreal that I was looking forward to going to. When I went back to their website today to check out in more detail the exhibitors and their hours... I found out it ran Wednesday-Friday. WTF? Who holds a major show like that with no weekend dates?? *sigh* Kinda depressed now. Is there anyone in/around MTL that could point me towards some reliable immigrant services/animation schools/job opportunities? :/

Unfortunately, I don't know anything about job fairs coming up in Montreal, but the one job fair I went to was full of opportunities that did not align with my work experience or career field. The opportunities were for very corporate environments and there was nothing in a remotely arts-related field. Oh well.

Anyhow, I found my job on the Emploi Quebec website (which is the Quebec division of the Canada website, Job Bank, it seems). Here's the link: http://placement.emploiquebec.net/mbe/ut/rechroffr/erechroffr.asp?CL=english

I looked for jobs where English was a plus or required (instead of my non-native-French being a negative thing) and that's how I found work. Good luck!

 

[nhl1011]

hey nhl1011 ,,,
did you hear anything back for the information request. I have not heard anything and the credit card has not been charged the fee yet.thanks

Nah, I havn't received/heard anything from buffalo.
However buffalo VO told me that
"Your application is in process. and e-Cas is for applications processing within Canada only.
Immigration cases being processed in Visa offices outside Canada use a system different from that used to process similar applications in Canada. As a result, the e-Client Application Status (e-CAS) does not reflect the status of cases being processed in Buffalo.Do not use the CIC e-Cas on-line change of address system. Your new address will not be downloaded to your file in Buffalo." I think the system he is referring to is something like CAIPS or GCMS...
Hope above information helps a little...and I ordered notes like 2 weeks ago...

 

[TryingToGetHome]

Well, here is what I know for sure - I work in taxes (but am not confident in non-resident alient taxes) and I spoke with the IRS at length about the issue.

You CAN file MARRIED FILING JOINT. According to the IRS (and I have this in writing in an email from them) a spouse who is a non-resident alien, meaning they have no tax status in the US can be treated as a US Resident for tax purposes so that you can file MFJ. If you treat them as a US Resident, then the US/Canadian tax treaty no longer applies to them and you claim all of their worldwide income on your MFJ tax return. However, there is a foreign income tax exclusion up to 92,000 that you can take for a spouse's income. So, if he/she makes up to 92,000 you can exclude it from being taxed in the US.

My problem with married filing separate is that I lose a lot of deductions and credits. I took university classes for continuing education and I should be able to get a credit for that education money spent. You do not get it if you file MFS. Additionally, I have rental properties and sustained significant losses on them throughout the year. With MFS I lose the ability to claim the loss on my tax return so I am taxed on all of that money as well. Additionally, I contributed to a Roth IRA last year and if you file MFS, you are not allowed to contribute to a Roth IRA unless you make under 10,000. SO I am penalized about 6% for doing that. All in all, if I were able to file single I'd end up only paying near 12,000 in taxes. By filing MFS I now have to pay around 16,000 (4,000 more than was withheld from my income).

Filing married filing joint is a HUGE benefit, you're in a lower tax bracket, so you'll end up paying less tax overall. 99% of the time, it will not help you our to file married filing separate, you end up paying more taxes. If I knew someone who actually knew the tax law I'd give you their name because a lot of you and your spouse's should be filing MFJ and getting the tax break the US gives to married couples. You can amend returns up to 3 years back. If you want to do your own research, Publication 54 applies to nonresident aliens and is the publication that explains everything you can and can't do with a Canadian spouse.

I think I'll end up being on the phone with the IRS all day Monday trying to figure it out. Because I know I can do it, I just want to dot my i's and cross my t's in the legal way!

Nope - have been looking for one but have had no success. If you find someone smart and capable, please share their name.

Out of curiosity (if it's not too personal) - what type of general problem have you run into by filing married filing separately? This is how my husband filed (he's the American) and everything seems to be OK (fingers crossed). We even walked into an IRS office when we were visiting the US earlier this year and spent about two hours trying to sort out how we should file with their "help". In the end they were of very little assistance and essentially recommended that my husband file married filing separately and that I submit nothing. No joke the woman must have said the following 20 times during the visit (directed at me): "So you're Canadian. And you're married to an American. And you're living in Canada. And you have no status in the US." It was like she was repeating something she thought was impossible.

We filed his Canadian tax return on time (partial year since he only landed in October 2010) and still aren't sure we got it right. Very confusing understanding how to report his interest, capital gains, employment income and rental income from the US (on the Canadian tax return) for a year when he wasn't living in Canada fully.

Also (you probably know this already), it doesn't matter where you're living. As an American, you'll have to continue filing US taxes forever no matter where you're living (unless you're making next to no income). My husband has lived outside of the US for 20 of the last 25 years and has filed taxes every year.

I decided about six months ago that dealing with taxes are the one thing I hate about being married to my husband. Freakin' nightmare.

 

[Maple3]

Yahhh! Got a new Status update today ... "In Process" as of Oct 13,2011. :-*

 

[kourts]

my ecas still says application received but inside it says medical results received. does it change to in process after this? and is there a estimate on how long from medical results received til ppr?

 

[prophet3]

Nah, I havn't received/heard anything from buffalo.
However buffalo VO told me that
"Your application is in process. and e-Cas is for applications processing within Canada only.
Immigration cases being processed in Visa offices outside Canada use a system different from that used to process similar applications in Canada. As a result, the e-Client Application Status (e-CAS) does not reflect the status of cases being processed in Buffalo.Do not use the CIC e-Cas on-line change of address system. Your new address will not be downloaded to your file in Buffalo." I think the system he is referring to is something like CAIPS or GCMS...
Hope above information helps a little...and I ordered notes like 2 weeks ago...

ok, thanks for all the info, i still have no information whatsoever from them, :'(