redBlue

Just a quick question for those of you Canadians that are filing from the US for 2009.

I worked full time until Oct 2009 when I moved to the US and therefore, have to file Canadian taxes. In the section for my martial status, I put married because I was in 2009.. The nice man from the 1-800 CRA line told me that I should put n/a and a note that he is an american in the area that asks for his SIN and 0$ as his income. So I did that.

I also put $0 in all the other lines asking about my spouses income although I did not claim him as a dependent.

So after I did that and computed it all in I went from owing $600 filing as single to getting a $1450 refund filing as married with a spouse with $0 income.

Im just wondering if that's what I was supposed to do? Obviously he didnt make 0 dollars in 2009.. he made almost double what I did but none of it was Canadian income nor did he live in Canada at any time. It just seems weird putting $0 income for him. Should I claim his American income? Or can I take the refund and run

I can't wait to get this cleared up so I can move on to filing my American taxes.. woohoo.

I believe this would be your last tax for canada.Are u also official informing CRA that you are no longer resident of canada and will not file the taxes anymore and this will be your last one?

Ok - do you know what the paramters are re joint or single?

When I'm ready to do my taxes I'm meeting with my accountant up here because there are many questions and issues ie RRSPs and keeping them in Canada. They are a creature of the Canadian system and will be respected by the USA unless you take the money. There is an annual form to be completed with US taxes to ensure the RRSP money doesn't get taxed. There's also issues re can you keep Canadian stocks of you are a non resident, and some banks allow you to have non resident status and others don't. Plus the filing in both countries issue. I know there are tax treaties between Canada and the USA. It's a tad complicated as sometimes taxes can be but...

Regards to stocks:if they are mutual funds ,you can not transfer it to US.You can keep them in Canada,but don't forget ,you will have to pay 25% non-resident taxes in Ca

If you have stocks with a trading company:You have two choices:You can transfer them to a US Brokarage firm as is.so u don't need to sell anything.thats what I will be doing soon...OR you sell all your stocks ,take the money to the US and make any investment you'd like...You can also leave them here with ur trading company,but you have to talk to them and clarify this since not all of them like this solution

good luck

If he was married in 2009, then he can't file single. He must file Married Filing Separately or file Married Filing Jointly (even if you didn't live here). In the joint case, worldwide income of both spouses must be claimed. That means your Canadian income would have to be reported under other income. You would also be able to qualify for excluding up to around $91k (in US dollars) of you income on the form 2555EZ. His taxes could actually be lower than filing Married Separately so he should do it both ways to see which is to his advantage.

If he's using TurboTax, here's a thread where I explained where to report the foreign income. They suggest doing that before entering the exclusion, even though it comes later in the list. http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=242999

but I've already did my canadian tax here , 'so If he files married jointly ,it sounds like he has to do the taxing again on my income which i've already done it.

also,if we choose,married seperatly or married jointly ,then it still asks for SSN#,tax # etc. which I don't have any of these info and you can't even proceed if u leave blank...

Would "head of household" be an option for us?not sure if we are qualified for that?

I didn't think you could file "single" if you were legally married...no matter where your spouse lives.

Maybe "married filing seperately" would be the option.

I think "head of household" would be the USC claiming another person as a dependent....I don't know if that would work in this case.

filling as "married filing seperately" still asks for my SSN,tax etc... which I don't have any of them

Hello all:

My husband is filling his taxes and he is confused with the questions related to me.I hope someone can answer this question;I'm sure it's very simple for those of who've done it already.

I'm a Canadian and will be moving to US in Apr,2010;never lived in US yet.

We got married on Mar 2009

I've got my CR1 visa on Feb 2010

Hubby is US citizen.

For the entire 2009,I didn't have any status in US other than being married to a US citizen.

When he files his taxes for 2009,does he file as a single or married?When he checks box for "married",he gets all these questions about my SSN,Tax # etc... which I don't have any of them.How can he skip these questions?

Thnx

Hello all:

My husband is filling his taxes and he is confused with the questions related to me.I hope someone can answer this question;I'm sure it's very simple for those of who've done it already.

I'm a Canadian and will be moving to US in Apr,2010;never lived in US yet.

We got married on Mar 2009

I've got my CR1 visa on Feb 2010

Hubby is US citizen.

For the entire 2009,I didn't have any status in US other than being married to a US citizen.

When he files his taxes for 2009,does he file as a single or married?When he checks box for "married",he gets all these questions about my SSN,Tax # etc... which I don't have any of them.How can he skip these questions?

Thnx

Hello all:

My husband is filling his taxes and he is confused with the questions related to me.I hope someone can answer this question;I'm sure it's very simple for those of who've done it already.

I'm a Canadian and will be moving to US in Apr,2010;never lived in US yet.

We got married on Mar 2009

I've got my CR1 visa on Feb 2010

Hubby is US citizen.

For entire 2009,I didn't have any status in US other than being married to US citizen.

When he files his taxes for 2009,does he file as a single or married?When he checks box for "married",he gets all these questions about my SSN,Tax # etc... which I don't have any of them.

Thnx

Hey everyone,

This is completely unrelated to visas, immigration, etc., but I wanted to ask anyway. I'm just about ready to graduate, and over the past year or two (of my four year bachelor's) have realized that I HATE my degree. Yes. Hate. Used to love it, now I hate it. I might just be burnt out, and it might be a bad combination of experiences with coordinators, profs, and group projects, but the thought of working in a field related to my degree (which would be Computer Science, IT, Software Engineering, etc) is incredibly distasteful. I'm thinking of maybe going into teaching, which would pay less but I've always wanted to do.

So here's my question: how many of you work in the same field your degree is in? Do any of you have a degree/diploma/education that is completely useless right now, as you do something entirely different? How many of you have experienced what I'm going through?

I really want to know!

The good thing about the degree that you studied for four year is that it can open up alot of doors for you.I agree follow your heard..

Teaching position at a college/university might be good for you;that would be combination of what you studied and what u'd like to do-teaching...

Good luck!

Hi everyone! I posted a desperate question back in 07/09. And I just posted a couple of replies regarding this, but I don't think people have seen them, so I want to tell you how I did go around my problem of having a degree and still being only able to get a gas station job.

There is a branch of the Peace Corps called Americorps. Inside this branch, there is another one called Americorps VISTA. The program is for any citizen or resident that has either a degree or extensive experience.

Advantages:

* HIGHLY respectable work experience (It will look awesome on your resume, universities love it in applications for financial aid, and it's what they would call "respectable American work experience")

* They have a smallish grant of 5 thousand dollars towards any student loan or new university enrollment, provided it is a proper university (some universities abroad are also accepted)

* They have a huge amount of opportunities, I met a rocket Scientist who had gotten a job in West Virginia, a Marketing graduate, an environmental engineer who had also gotten a position and all of them had a job that somehow related to their careers or what they wanted.

* If you already have a student loan, they paralyze the interests for the whole year of service.

* You get one year of preference when applying to any Federal Job.

* Once inside, they provide free training (they sent me to this awesome hotel in Atlanta, with classes, meals and absolutely everythign paid for) They have courses and training in several things including Grant Writing, Resource Development, fund Raising and they are all paid for by the government

* It is a program started by JFK

Disadvantages

*The stipend is supposed to be according to the level of poverty in your state, you get 900 dollars a month and THAT IS IT. You cannot get another job, and you are committed for a whole year in this.

And well, think about it,. In my house, my husband is the tofu bringer, and we can live with his income. So we can afford the 900 dollar stipend, and let's face it, I wasn't making a lot more at the gas station.

Also, in my personal experience, I got a job as an Interpreter coordinator and legal assistant (I want to go to Law School), so I am getting all the knowledge and practice I need, I am meeting people from all over the world, and I contribute to resettle refugees in their new homes in the USA. It's an awesome job, the atmosphere is fantastic, and they have already told me they plan to hire me properly next year, so I think I'm set, hopefully. since I speak Spanish, they are sending me to an otherwise very expensive training that will have me certified as a Interpreter in Health and Legal environments by AHEC, and that's huge. After that, they will send me to a Grant Writing course, possibly out of state. So I may be getting 900 a month, but in reality I'm getting so much more!

Please consider this, last time I posted my question about being desperate about my career many people replied saying they were in the same situation. Consider this and even if you choose not to, there is nothing worse than not trying...! I'll keep you in my mind and hope that you get the careers you dreamed of! Good luck to us!

Ask me all the questions you want, there also other branches inside Americorps, or you could even join the Peace Corps! (it's for two years) We have friends (husband and wife) that lived in Ukraine for two years as part of the Peace Corps.

thnx for the gr8 info!.

so do they have a job for all the fields or are they specilized on some areas only?

Hi,

Sorry if this has been covered already, but I'm looking into the best option for moving my stuff from Toronto to California. I won't be moving much: just some clothing, books, CDs, and a few personal effects (no furniture). The options I can think of are:

1. Rent a car and drive down (costs about $1,200 plus gas and hotel, food)

2. Ship via UPS (looks like it'll be about $75 per suitcase-sized box)

3. Hire a moving company

4. Get a driveways car (ie: drive someone else's car down, if one is available). Probably a long-shot.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Know of a good moving company that's reasonably priced? Or, is UPS a better option? I'd like to keep the cost as low as possible and would appreciate any help or suggestions

If you don't have a car,try U-HAUL trucks

If you have a car,try U-HAUL trails..

I'm about t move as well,very soon..so did lots of research.

The best option for me is to rent a trail wih U-HAL and use my own car....increadibley cheap comparing to other moving companies...

good luck

thanks all.I've started to call each of them...

Update: I had my baby two weeks ago (vaginal birth after c-section) and just got the final bill. For everything (prenatal care, ultrasounds, hospital stay, blood and other tests, epidural etc) it cost us 9230 dollars.

is this because you don't have a insurance coverage or is it what you paid after the coverage?

congr. on ur new arrival!

I sent an e-mail on Jan 17 and finally received a response on Friday. So about a 6-7 week wait!!!

ohh thats too long ...I've been still waiting for one and sent mine on Feb 12,2010

Basically, my situation is this, I want to move a large-ish sum of money down the United States into an American bank account prior to filing for the K1 Visa. Is this going to send up any red flags about me when I do file? And how do you get an American bank account anyway as I always thought they required an SSN in order to give you one. Though some sources say you can argue with them over that, I really don't want to spend a whole lot of energy having fits with banks across the border. Thanks for any insight.

How did everyone else bring their money down to the US when they moved? Were there any hassles when you did it?

I'm in the same situation and after lots of search and reading,I've decided to transfer the money to my husband's account.I will be using Customhouse for the transfer.

If I wanna open up another account,I will do so after getting there..

That's the best option for me

Good luck

You don't want to do this until you are a US citizen, though, or are willing to give up your US Permanent Residency. You cannot live in two countries at the same time and in order for your husband to become a permanent resident of Canada he needs to live there.

thnx...i think i read here that as long as he is married to a canadian citizen he can retain his canadian residency whithout being in canada physically...but i guess i mis-understood..

Yes, you have to prove domicile by the time he gets his Permanent Residency.

$1040

thank you

I'm sure it's been asked before but I'm trying to find all the info that I need.

Here is the scenerio:

I'm a Canadian citizen living in US.My husband is a US citizen.How can I sponsor my husband to become a Canadian residence?

If we apply for it from US,do we have to come back to Canada and live here in order for him to retain his Canadian residency?

Whats the avarage cost for this process?

Thnx in advance.

I like Charles Schwab.

I do my payroll deposit, savings, checking, open stock brokerage fund, IRA's and home mortgage there.

thank you...would you know anything about e-trade and TD Amerita..they are in my list as well...

Hi

I was wondering if any of you use brokerage firm to trade stocks and if u can recommend a good firm with a good customer service &low service charges etc....

Thnx in advance.

Another thread with this same question was started here yesterday, the answers might help you too

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=243754

ahh thnx trailmix..i didn't mean to repeat it...didn't see the threat before...

I talked to my financial advisor today & he said anything over $15,000 is subject to 30% tax(so it has gone up).

He didn't give me advice on what I should do...he said he would look into my case & let me know this week.

Thanks for the relpies...

"he said anything over $15,000 is subject to 30% tax(so it has gone up)."---------but this 30% is after you become a non-res. right? what if u withdraw the money while u are still in Canada,u wiouldn't get hit by that then...

I can't decide whether or not I should leave my RRSP contributions in Canada or sell them out and take it with me.

So I need some help.

What did u do with yours before u left the Canada?

If you sold them out and took it with you,do u regret?any cons or pros..

If you are keeping them here,do u regret?any cons or pros...

thnx

For anyone with a Mazda that wants to import it to the US.

I just called Mazda and they directed me to their website to fill out a form to be faxed in.

The form can be found here: http://www.mazdausa.com/MusaWeb/pdf/faq/us...mp_exp_form.pdf

The message said that you will get your letter in 10 business days while the form says it takes approximately 20 days. It also looks like they email it to you unless you specify otherwise. Best part, it looks like there is no charge!

hey redmen:did u also advise them that the compliance letter should indicate whether or not ur call has a recall...there is no check mark for that on the form...I own mazda too..will be sending the form shortly...

thank you all

Is your fiance' going to fly or drive to California from Toronto?

we will be driving my car together