1,423 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 Position Check is the smarter first step.
September 7, 2026
US states are not bound by the Canada-US tax treaty. Here is how states tax Canadians who work in them, commute to them, or work remotely for employers in them: residency rules, day-count thresholds, the convenience-of-the-employer rule, reciprocity, and the state that taxes your RRSP.
Read more →September 7, 2026
The streamlined procedures are federal. A taxpayer who was a resident of a US state during the covered years, or who had state-source income, has state returns to file or amend, state penalties that the IRS program does not waive, and in some states a voluntary disclosure program of its own. Here is which taxpayers have a state problem and what to do about it.
Read more →September 7, 2026
The domestic streamlined procedure charges a 5% miscellaneous offshore penalty. It is not 5% of the income, the tax, or everything foreign; it is 5% of the highest aggregate year-end value of the foreign financial assets that should have been reported and were not, across the six FBAR years and three return years. Here is how the base is built, what is excluded, and how a Canadian mover's RRSP usually escapes it.
Read more →September 7, 2026
A US person catching up through streamlined who holds Canadian mutual funds or Canadian-listed ETFs has passive foreign investment companies, and each requires Form 8621 for each year in the submission. Here is how the PFIC rules apply in a catch-up, the elections available and not available late, the excess distribution computation, and the plan to end the problem afterward.
Read more →September 7, 2026
The streamlined procedures require non-willful conduct and carry no penalty (foreign) or 5% (domestic). The Voluntary Disclosure Practice is for conduct that may have been willful, and under its current terms it costs failure-to-file and accuracy-related penalties plus per-year FBAR penalties, in exchange for protection from criminal referral. Here is how willfulness is judged, how the two routes compare, and how to decide when the facts are mixed.
Read more →September 7, 2026
The IRS substantial presence test uses a three-year weighted formula, not a simple 183-day count. Here is how to count, which days are excluded, how the test interacts with visas and the treaty, and what happens the year it is first met.
Read more →September 7, 2026
Yes, in most cases. Article XXVI A of the treaty lets each country collect the other's finally determined tax debts using its own collection powers, with one exception for citizens. Here is how it works, what is exempt, the limitation periods, and the practical picture for someone who owes on one side and lives on the other.
Read more →September 7, 2026
Tax equalization keeps a relocated employee's tax burden at what it would have been at home, with the employer absorbing the difference. Here is how equalization and protection policies work between Canada and the US, what the hypothetical tax typically omits, and how to audit the year-end settlement.
Read more →September 7, 2026
A tax residency certificate proves to a foreign tax authority that you are a resident of your country for treaty purposes. Americans get Form 6166 by filing Form 8802 with the IRS; Canadians get a certificate of residency from the CRA. Here is when each is needed, how to apply, and what they do and do not prove.
Read more →September 7, 2026
When a Canadian company and its US affiliate buy, sell, lend, license, or provide services to each other, both tax authorities require arm's-length prices. Here is what transfer pricing means for a small cross-border group, the documentation each country requires, the penalties, and the methods that work.
Read more →September 7, 2026
The streamlined procedures are framed around foreign financial assets, and a person whose only omission was a Canadian salary wonders if they belong. In practice, the salary was deposited in a Canadian account whose interest was also unreported, and that account puts the file in the program. Here is the eligibility language, the edge case with truly no foreign assets, and what to file in each.
Read more →September 7, 2026
A test-by-test walk through Article IV(2) of the Canada-US tax treaty: what counts as a permanent home, how the centre of vital interests is weighed, when habitual abode decides, the citizenship step, and competent authority. With the evidence each agency asks for and the fact patterns that go each way.
Read more →September 7, 2026
What a US citizen or resident faces when buying real estate in Canada: the federal foreign-buyer ban and its exemptions, the Ontario and BC non-resident transfer taxes, the Underused Housing Tax, Part XIII withholding on rent, Section 116 on sale, and the US side.
Read more →September 7, 2026
A Canadian who dies owning a Florida rental is subject to US estate tax on it above $60,000 under US law. The treaty prorates the full US exemption by the US share of the worldwide estate, which eliminates the tax for most Canadians, but only on a Form 706-NA filed within nine months. Here is the calculation, the marital credit, the mortgage, and the alternatives.
Read more →September 7, 2026
A Canadian who put a US rental into an LLC and lists it on Airbnb has a US disregarded entity earning rent and a Canadian foreign affiliate earning FAPI. Here is what the LLC does to the Canadian return, the Form 5472 the US now requires, the platform's W-9 and 1099-K, and how to unwind it.
Read more →September 7, 2026
The US tax deadlines that apply to Americans living in Canada: the automatic two-month extension to June 15, the further extension to October 15, the FBAR's own calendar, the information-return due dates, and the estimated payment schedule. With the Canadian deadlines beside them.
Read more →September 7, 2026
When a Canadian corporation earns US-source income (royalties, service fees, dividends, interest), the US payer withholds 30% unless the corporation provides Form W-8BEN-E claiming treaty benefits. Here is how to complete it, which chapter 3 and chapter 4 statuses apply, the limitation-on-benefits certification, and what to do when it was not filed.
Read more →September 7, 2026
How a Canadian employee completes Form W-4 for a US employer: the special non-resident alien rules, the switch to the ordinary form when residency begins, treaty exemptions through Form 8233 rather than W-4, and the state withholding forms.
Read more →September 7, 2026
A streamlined submission produces no acknowledgment. The returns are processed, the statute of limitations starts, and the file is subject to ordinary examination selection like any other. Here is what to expect in the months after, what an examination of a streamlined year looks like, and the compliance that keeps the file quiet.
Read more →September 7, 2026
The complete list of situations that require a Canadian to file a US return: becoming a US resident under the substantial presence test or green card, US employment or business income, US real estate sales, and information returns; plus the optional filings that produce refunds.
Read more →September 7, 2026
The IRS does not 'accept' a streamlined submission; it processes it, and it rejects the penalty relief when the submission is incomplete, the certification is inadequate, the residency test is not met, or the facts show willfulness. Here are the seven ways submissions fail, in order of frequency, and the fix for each.
Read more →September 7, 2026
A year-end checklist for people who file in both countries: the December 31 items that cannot be done in January (residency days, RRIF conversion, TFSA and RESP moves, loss harvesting, foreign tax credit sequencing, NR6 for next year), the ones that can, and the ones that differ by direction of the move.
Read more →September 6, 2026
US alimony under post-2018 agreements is neither deductible nor taxable. Canada still lets the payer deduct and taxes the recipient. When support crosses the border, the treaty decides which rule wins, and the answer depends on which way the money flows.
Read more →September 6, 2026
Both countries have an alternative minimum tax. Canada rebuilt its version for 2024. Here is how each works, when cross-border filers get caught, and how the foreign tax credit interacts with each.
Read more →The content on this page is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional tax, accounting, or legal advice. See our full legal disclaimer.
