Just wondering if any of the Canadian-US couples on here could advise how the American filed their taxes in the US? Married? Single? Married filing separately? Is there a right answer or can you choose? This is assuming the US spouse lives in the US and the Canadian spouse does not. My husband just got a big tax bill and I think it's because of how he filed. Thank you so much!
US tax question please help
- Thread starter MNM2015
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before i moved to canada, i filed single even though i was already married (this was advised by my US accountant).
When i moved to canada, i filed married, filing separately.
how it works is, when you're in canada you first file canadian taxes then use that information to get credit for us taxes.
if your husband is not a PR yet in canada or living in canada, then he shouldn't be mentioning your income or any canadian taxes on his us taxes because technically he isn't paying canadian taxes yet. i don't think he can get credit for the taxes you paid. he should only be putting his income information.
he does NOT want to mention you on his tax return AT ALL, even when he is a pr.
from what my us accountant told me, unless you are claiming a lot of deductions or making a lot of money, it's fine to file single even when married. he used his clients as an example... they have been married for 30 years, they file as single, and the IRS has never questioned it. some people advise against this. i didn't have any issues (knock on wood) with doing this. I switched to filing married, separately because i did my taxes in canada and i didn't want to have to fight about whether it's ok to do.
how did your husband file?
When i moved to canada, i filed married, filing separately.
how it works is, when you're in canada you first file canadian taxes then use that information to get credit for us taxes.
if your husband is not a PR yet in canada or living in canada, then he shouldn't be mentioning your income or any canadian taxes on his us taxes because technically he isn't paying canadian taxes yet. i don't think he can get credit for the taxes you paid. he should only be putting his income information.
he does NOT want to mention you on his tax return AT ALL, even when he is a pr.
from what my us accountant told me, unless you are claiming a lot of deductions or making a lot of money, it's fine to file single even when married. he used his clients as an example... they have been married for 30 years, they file as single, and the IRS has never questioned it. some people advise against this. i didn't have any issues (knock on wood) with doing this. I switched to filing married, separately because i did my taxes in canada and i didn't want to have to fight about whether it's ok to do.
how did your husband file?
Thanks for the info. My husband filed married filing separately. He has not even landed so is not a Canadian PR yet. Do you think he can refile as single even though he already filed as married?
I think the issue he is having is they say since he filed married filing separately he not entitled to any of the healthcare subsidy he was getting so has to pay it all back! It's a lot of money
I think the issue he is having is they say since he filed married filing separately he not entitled to any of the healthcare subsidy he was getting so has to pay it all back! It's a lot of money
i'm not sure. i would think that would trigger some sort of questions from the irs and is risky? i'd recommend asking an accountant about that.MNM2015 said:
that's weird. why would being married affect his entitlement to a subsidy? doesn't everyone get it??? again, i'd recommend finding an accountant for this one.MNM2015 said:I think the issue he is having is they say since he filed married filing separately he not entitled to any of the healthcare subsidy he was getting so has to pay it all back! It's a lot of money
Thanks for the reply. The form seems to indicate married or single is ok for the subsidy but not married filing separately. Very weird. I think we will have to talk to an accountant although that's an expense we really don't need right nowCDNPR2014 said:
Can anyone else chime in on how you filed? Just curious if there is a right answer or general consensus on what others have done. There must be a lot of people on here in the same situation. Thanks everyone.
if you don't receive any help on this board after a bit, post the question on the settlement issue board on the forum. from my experience, tax questions are not easy to get answers to.
Thanks very much for trying to help CDNPR2014. I will do that. I understand tax advice questions are hard to answer but was just hoping a few more people would share what they did. Almost every Canadian American couple on this board would have encountered this issue at some point.
I am Canadian and my husband is American. He has always filed married filing separately and all that his accountant requires is my SIN. I also filed married. When I fill out my income tax I do report his income on my return. Hope that helpsMNM2015 said:
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply Bcgirl1. You said your husband uses your SIN when he files his American taxes. Just wanted to confirm if it's your social insurance number (SIN) or social security number (SSN) he uses? SSN is for the US and SIN is for Canada normally. I don't have a SSN. Thanks again.
His accountant uses my social insurance number, as he files married. I don't have a social security number. He doesn't report my income, however I do report his as we are supposed to. The reason for this is because in Canada it affects any credits we are entitled to such as working income tax benefit, GST, etc.MNM2015 said:
Thank you so much for confirming. It's so interesting they would use your Canadian SIN on his US taxes. Maybe that's what my husband needs to do. For my taxes in Canada I've done the same as you, filed as married and reported his income. It's a little annoying his income is fully taken into account for benefits when we are forced to maintain 2 residences because he couldn't live in Canada but that's how it goes. Thanks again.
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Why did the accountant advise this? Legally you are married so I would imagine you have to file: married, file separately.CDNPR2014 said:
to make it less complicated i'm assuming. he has clients who has filed single for 30 years and he didn't know they were married until a few years ago, and they continue to file as single. i had a very low income had no deductions or credits. he said unless you are claiming a lot, it's not going to matter. so i did what he said. i never had an issue with IRS. i changed my filing status after moving to canada. still haven't seen any issue. (knock on wood).keesio said: