971 plain-English guides on cross-border moves, US and Canadian returns, and small-business money. Each one ends in what to do next, and says when a written Diagnostic is the smarter first step.
Page 41 of 41, newest first.
Most E-2 movers become US tax residents the year they land and file a final Canadian return with a departure date.
Cross-BorderOnly if you're both a long-term resident (green card in 8 of the last 15 taxable years) and a covered expatriate. Plenty of people are neither.
Cross-BorderSix steps: sever ties, inventory assets, file T1161 and T1243, settle RRSP and TFSA, check CPP/OAS, and shut down CRA benefits.
Cross-BorderCanada's departure tax skips both: RRSPs and TFSAs are excluded from the deemed sale that hits most other property.
Cross-BorderWithout a section 116 certificate, the buyer holds back 25% of the full sale price. File T2062 before closing. On a rented building the holdback is 50%.
Cross-BorderThe tax bill is only half the departure story. The unfiled T1161 and the unhandled US side of that gain are where people.
Cross-BorderNo definitive answer. The IRS has never ruled on TFSAs specifically. There's no definitive answer, because the IRS has never ruled on TFSAs specifically.
Cross-BorderFor most people, the periodic route wins. Convert the RRSP to a RRIF and keep each year's withdrawals inside the treaty's periodic ceiling.
Cross-BorderMost Canadian streamlined files cost US$2,500 to $4,500 in preparer fees, and a typical employee file owes $0 US tax.
Cross-BorderA $1,200 TFSA quote usually means protective Form 3520 and 3520-A filings for every account. Here's what that work involves and when the number is fair.
Cross-BorderCanada's departure tax, also called the exit tax, deems most of your property sold at fair market value when you cease residence.