1,407 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.
October 1, 2026
Why Canadians moving to the U.S. choose Florida, explained through state tax: no personal income tax, no estate or inheritance tax, and how that compares with New York, California, and other popular states — plus the costs that offset it (property tax, insurance) and how the Canadian departure works regardless.
Read more →September 30, 2026
Canadians buy Florida businesses — a franchise, a service company, a motel, a restaurant — often as part of an E-2 treaty investor visa plan. The purchase has to work for the visa, the entity has to work for both countries' tax systems (the LLC that suits an American buyer usually doesn't suit a Canadian), and the profits have to reach the Canadian owner without being taxed twice. Here is the purchase structure, the entity choice, the U.S. and Florida taxes on the business, and the Canadian side for an owner who keeps Canadian residency or gives it up.
Read more →September 30, 2026
A Canadian company moving into the Florida market decides first whether it will have a permanent establishment in the United States — and if it will, whether to operate through a U.S. subsidiary or a branch of the Canadian company. The answer shapes which country taxes what, the forms on both sides, the transfer pricing between the companies, the payroll for the first U.S. employee, and Florida's own corporate tax. Here is the decision and its consequences.
Read more →September 30, 2026
A Canadian company that hires someone who lives and works in Florida — a remote employee, not a Canadian on assignment — becomes a U.S. employer: an employer identification number, federal withholding and FICA, Forms 941 and W-2, Florida reemployment tax, and possibly a U.S. permanent establishment. A Canadian employee sent to work in the U.S. is a different case with a totalization certificate and immigration status. Here are both, and the employer-of-record alternative.
Read more →September 30, 2026
A U.S. LLC is the default entity for American small businesses and one of the worst entities a Canadian resident can own: the United States treats a single-member LLC as disregarded (its income is the owner's), while Canada treats it as a foreign corporation — and the mismatch can produce tax in both countries with no credit to fix it. Here is how the double tax happens, the Form 5472 the LLC must file, the rental property and business cases, and the fixes — the corporate election, the limited partnership, and the direct ownership alternatives.
Read more →September 30, 2026
When a Canadian sells a Florida condo, house, or commercial property, the buyer must withhold 15 percent of the sale price and send it to the IRS under FIRPTA — often far more than the seller's actual U.S. tax on the gain. The withholding certificate (Form 8288-B) can reduce it before closing; the U.S. nonresident return recovers the excess after. Here is the withholding, the exceptions, the certificate, the U.S. return, the depreciation recapture, and the Canadian return where the gain is taxed again with a credit.
Read more →September 30, 2026
A Canadian who winters in Florida and does some business there — manages a rental, consults for a client, runs a small venture — has two separate U.S. questions: is the Canadian a U.S. resident for tax purposes (the substantial presence test and the closer connection exception), and is the business income effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business, taxable in the United States regardless of residency. Here is each test, the forms, and the Canadian side that must stay intact.
Read more →September 30, 2026
A U.S. citizen living in Canada who owns a Canadian-controlled private corporation — the standard structure for a Canadian small business — owns a controlled foreign corporation in the eyes of the IRS: Form 5471 every year, the GILTI inclusion on the company's active profits, subpart F on its passive income, and the section 962 election that can make the U.S. tax on those inclusions workable. Here is each piece and how it meets the Canadian small business deduction.
Read more →September 29, 2026
Adjusted cost base explained: what ACB is, the formula (cost plus commissions, adjusted for return of capital, reinvested distributions, and superficial losses), averaging for identical shares, foreign currency, and why a Canadian's ACB and a U.S. resident's basis in the same shares can differ.
Read more →September 29, 2026
The Canada Revenue Agency's individual tax number (ITN) explained: who needs one (non-residents filing a Canadian return or selling Canadian property who cannot get a SIN), how to apply on Form T1261, the documents required, processing time, and how it differs from a SIN and a U.S. ITIN.
Read more →September 29, 2026
The Canada–U.S. tax treaty explained: the residency tie-breaker, the reduced withholding rates on dividends, interest, royalties, and pensions, the permanent establishment rule for businesses, the treatment of RRSPs and Roth IRAs, the saving clause that lets the U.S. tax its citizens anyway, and the forms (8833, NR301, W-8BEN) that claim its benefits.
Read more →September 29, 2026
The Canadian dividend tax credit explained: how eligible and non-eligible dividends are grossed up and credited to approximate corporate integration, the federal and provincial rates, why the credit is unavailable to non-residents, and how a U.S. resident is taxed on Canadian dividends instead.
Read more →September 29, 2026
CRA Represent a Client explained: how an accountant, family member, or business gets authorized access to someone's CRA account, RepID and GroupID registration, authorization levels 1 and 2, how a taxpayer approves the request, and what non-residents and cross-border filers need to know.
Read more →September 29, 2026
Does Canada have a 1099? The Canadian equivalents explained — T4A for contractor fees and other income, T5 for investment income, T3 for trust distributions, NR4 for payments to non-residents — plus what a Canadian who receives a U.S. 1099-NEC or 1099-K should do with it, and how a U.S. business pays a Canadian contractor.
Read more →September 29, 2026
Form NR301 explained: the declaration a non-resident gives a Canadian payer to have Part XIII withholding reduced under a tax treaty — who completes it, what income it covers, the treaty rates for U.S. residents, its three-year validity, NR302 and NR303 for partnerships and hybrids, and what happens without it.
Read more →September 29, 2026
Form NR73 explained: the optional questionnaire a person leaving Canada can send the CRA for an opinion on their residency status — what it asks, why most advisers say don't file it, when it helps, the residential ties that decide the answer, and what a departure return requires instead.
Read more →September 29, 2026
Form T1135 explained: who must file (Canadian residents with specified foreign property costing over C$100,000), what counts and what is excluded (U.S. retirement accounts, personal-use property, Canadian mutual funds), the simplified and detailed methods, the penalties, and the American in Canada who has to file it.
Read more →September 29, 2026
Form T776 explained: the statement of real estate rentals every Canadian landlord files, the deductible expenses and capital cost allowance, and — for a landlord living in the United States — the 25 percent withholding on gross rent, the section 216 election to be taxed on net income instead, the NR6 undertaking, and how the same income is reported on U.S. Schedule E.
Read more →September 29, 2026
Is inheritance taxable in Canada? No — there is no inheritance tax, but the deceased's final return taxes a deemed sale of everything at death, the estate pays it, and heirs receive assets after. How the deemed disposition works, the spousal rollover, probate fees, and what a U.S. heir must report.
Read more →September 29, 2026
RRIF minimum withdrawal explained: the prescribed factor table by age, the formula under 71, the spouse's-age election, when the first withdrawal is due, withholding on amounts above the minimum, and the treaty rules for non-residents in the United States.
Read more →September 29, 2026
RSP vs RRSP explained: why banks say RSP and the CRA says RRSP, how the registered retirement savings plan works — contribution room, the deduction, tax-deferred growth, withdrawals — and how the United States treats an RRSP for a Canadian who moves south.
Read more →September 29, 2026
Severance pay tax in Canada explained: how a retiring allowance is taxed, the lump-sum withholding rates (10, 20, 30 percent), the RRSP transfer for pre-1996 service, the difference between severance and salary continuance, and the non-resident and cross-border treatment when the employee has moved to the United States.
Read more →September 29, 2026
TFSA vs Roth IRA explained: how each account works in its own country, why the United States does not recognize the TFSA (its growth is taxable to a U.S. person), why Canada recognizes a Roth IRA only with a treaty election and only for pre-move contributions, and what to do with each account when you cross the border.
Read more →September 29, 2026
W-9 vs W-8BEN for Canadians explained: why a Canadian resident who is not a U.S. person gives Form W-8BEN (not W-9), how it claims treaty rates on U.S. dividends and other income, W-8BEN-E for Canadian companies, why a U.S. citizen in Canada gives a W-9, and what happens with no form at all.
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.
