by Polaris Tax Counsel | Jan 23, 2015 | Cross-Border Tax
The United States has two tools to get information on accounts held by its citizens: FATCA and FBAR. Lots of attention has been paid to FATCA — less to FBAR (Foreign Bank Account Reporting). Its rules have been around since the 1970s. FBAR targets accounts that US...
by Polaris Tax Counsel | Jan 23, 2015 | Cross-Border Tax
Ben Franklin famously said that nothing in life is certain except death and taxes. One wonders, then, what Franklin would say about taxes due on death? US citizens living in Canada are subject to two different tax regimes on their death. For them, it would seem that...
by Polaris Tax Counsel | Jan 23, 2015 | Cross-Border Tax
Owning real property on both sides of the border can create a confusing tax situation. Consider this example. Stefan and Jane are married and live in Vancouver. Jane is a Canadian citizen while Stefan holds both US and Canadian citizenships. In 1994, shortly after...
by Polaris Tax Counsel | Jan 23, 2015 | Cross-Border Tax
Canada has a raft of registered plans. They all have different US tax consequences. Consider the following example. Julia is a US citizen living in Canada. She has an RRSP to save for retirement. She uses her Tax Free Savings Account to invest in some individual...
by Polaris Tax Counsel | Jan 23, 2015 | Cross-Border Tax
Common Canadian investments can inadvertently cause American tax problems for US citizens living in Canada. Let’s take a really common example. Jack is a 50-something US citizen married to Jill (a Canadian citizen) for 30 years. They have lived in Canada for 25 years....
by Polaris Tax Counsel | Jan 23, 2015 | Cross-Border Tax
Many US citizens in Canada want to be rid of their citizenship to avoid being subject to American tax rules. Let’s use an example. John is a Canadian citizen who lives in Ottawa. His mother was American, so John is a US citizen too. He keeps reading in the paper that...
