Guides

Straight answers, written by the people who’d file it.

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.

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CROSS-BORDER A Canadian Corporation With a U.S. Shareholder

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1,423 guides

Cross-Border Tax (U.S.–Canada)

Do You Need Two Wills? Cross-Border Estate Planning for Assets in Canada and the US

September 7, 2026

If you own property in both countries, a single will can work, but two wills, one per jurisdiction, is usually better. Here is why, what each should cover, and what happens if the two revoke each other by accident.

Cross-Border Tax (U.S.–Canada)

Does Managing My US Airbnb Make Me a US Tax Resident? Residency Is Days, but a Short-Term Rental Is a Business

September 7, 2026

Running a US short-term rental does not make a Canadian a US tax resident; only days present or a green card do. But a short-term rental with services is a US trade or business, which changes how the income is taxed, what forms are filed, and whether the days spent managing it count. Here is the distinction.

Cross-Border Tax (U.S.–Canada)

Resident of Both Countries? How the Treaty Tie-Breaker Decides, and What Happens After It Does

September 7, 2026

If both countries claim you as a tax resident, the Canada-US treaty has a tie-breaker. Here is how each test works in order, what happens when the tie breaks, and the consequences for green card holders who use it.

Cross-Border Tax (U.S.–Canada)

EI Benefits Across the Border: How Canadian EI Is Taxed for a US Resident, and US Unemployment for a Canadian

September 7, 2026

How Canadian EI benefits are taxed when you live in the US, how US unemployment benefits are taxed in Canada, and what the treaty says about both. Unemployment benefits are excluded from the treaty's social security rule, which changes the answer.

Cross-Border Tax (U.S.–Canada)

Estimated Taxes and Instalments: Paying Two Countries Through the Year Without Overpaying Either

September 7, 2026

The US uses quarterly estimated payments; Canada uses instalment notices. Here is how both systems work when you file in both countries, how withholding in one affects the requirement in the other, and how to avoid paying twice on the same income.

Cross-Border Tax (U.S.–Canada)

The FBAR in Your First US Year: The Canadian Accounts Everyone Forgets and the Maximum-Value Rule

September 7, 2026

The FBAR requires US persons with foreign financial accounts exceeding $10,000 in aggregate to report them to FinCEN. For a Canadian who has just become a US person, the accounts are all Canadian, and the ones that get missed are the RRSP, the TFSA, the RESP, the LIRA, the joint account, and the corporate account you can sign on.

Cross-Border Tax (U.S.–Canada)

FIRPTA and Cost Segregation Recapture on a Vacation Rental Sale: The Accelerated Depreciation Comes Back at Ordinary Rates

September 7, 2026

Cost segregation front-loads depreciation on a vacation rental and lowers tax during ownership. On sale, the accelerated depreciation is recaptured at higher rates than the building's, FIRPTA still withholds 15% of the gross price, and Canada recaptures its own CCA if any was claimed. Here is what a Canadian seller faces.

Cross-Border Tax (U.S.–Canada)

Your First US Tax Return After Moving From Canada: The Twelve Items That Make It Different From Every Return After

September 7, 2026

The first US return after a move from Canada is a dual-status return with a residency start date, a basis election, a FBAR, and a set of one-time decisions that never come up again. Here are the twelve items, in the order they matter.

Cross-Border Tax (U.S.–Canada)

The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion for Americans in Canada: How It Works, and Why the Foreign Tax Credit Usually Wins

September 7, 2026

How the foreign earned income exclusion works for Americans living in Canada: the qualification tests, the exclusion amount, the housing deduction, the five-year revocation rule, and why the foreign tax credit produces a better result for most people in a high-tax country.

U.S. Expats

Foreign Tax Credit Carryforward and Carryback: Ten Years Forward, One Back, and Only Within the Basket

September 7, 2026

How unused foreign tax credits carry forward ten years and back one year on Form 1116, why the basket rule strands credits, and how Americans in Canada accumulate credits they can use when they move to a low-tax state or country.

Cross-Border Tax (U.S.–Canada)

When the Foreign Tax Credit Doesn't Cover It All: The Limitation, the Baskets, and the Residual You Still Owe

September 7, 2026

The foreign tax credit is limited to the US tax on the foreign-source income. When the foreign rate exceeds the US rate, the excess carries over; when the foreign rate is lower, or the income is in the wrong basket, a residual US tax remains. Here is how the limitation works and where cross-border filers get caught.

Cross-Border Tax (U.S.–Canada)

Form 1040-NR: The Seven Situations Where a Canadian Has to File a US Non-Resident Return

September 7, 2026

If you are a Canadian with US-source income, you may need to file Form 1040-NR. Which income triggers it, how the treaty reduces the tax, the deadlines, the ITIN, and the cases where filing is optional but produces a refund.

Cross-Border Tax (U.S.–Canada)

Form 1042-S: How a Canadian Gets Back US Tax Withheld at 30% Instead of the Treaty Rate

September 7, 2026

If a US payer withheld 30% on your income when the treaty rate was lower (or zero), you file a US return to get the difference back. The 1042-S is the slip that proves the withholding, and the W-8BEN is the form that stops it from happening again.

Cross-Border Tax (U.S.–Canada)

Form 8233: Stopping US Withholding on Wages and Fees Exempt Under the Treaty

September 7, 2026

Form 8233 lets a non-resident alien claim a treaty-based exemption from withholding on compensation for services performed in the US. Here is when a Canadian needs it, how it differs from the W-8BEN, and what happens when it is not filed.

Cross-Border Tax (U.S.–Canada)

Winning in the Other Country: How Canada and the US Tax Gambling and Lottery Winnings Across the Border

September 7, 2026

Canada does not tax casual gambling winnings. The US taxes them at 30% withholding for non-residents. A Canadian who wins in the US can recover some or all of the US tax by deducting losses under the treaty; an American who wins in Canada owes the IRS on it anyway.

Cross-Border Tax (U.S.–Canada)

Getting Married Across the Border: Filing Status, the Joint-Return Election, and What Each Country Does With a Foreign Spouse

September 7, 2026

Marriage changes your filing status, opens (or closes) elections, and creates new reporting obligations in both countries. Here is what changes on the tax side when a Canadian marries a US person, or when a couple ends up on opposite sides of the border.

Cross-Border Tax (U.S.–Canada)

The Green Card Holder Living in Canada: A US Resident for Tax Purposes Wherever You Are

September 7, 2026

What a US green card holder owes when living in Canada: the worldwide filing obligation, FBAR, Form 8938, the treaty tie-breaker and its immigration and expatriation risks, and the abandonment decision.

Cross-Border Tax (U.S.–Canada)

H-1B and L-1 in the First US Year: The Dual-Status Math, the Full-Year Election, and the Canadian Bonus Paid After You Left

September 7, 2026

The US tax filing for Canadians arriving on H-1B or L-1 visas: how the substantial presence test sets the residency start date, when the dual-status return beats the full-year election, how FICA applies from the first paycheque, and what happens to Canadian income that arrives after the move.

Cross-Border Tax (U.S.–Canada)

I Haven't Filed US Taxes in Years. How Far Back Do I Go? Three Returns and Six FBARs Under Streamlined, or Six Years Outside It

September 7, 2026

A US person who has not filed for years does not file every year back to the beginning. The streamlined procedures require three years of returns and six years of FBARs; outside the program, the IRS's own policy asks for six years of returns. Here is what governs the lookback, what stays open forever, and how to choose.

Cross-Border Tax (U.S.–Canada)

The Home Office Across the Border: What Canada Lets You Deduct, What the US Doesn't, and the Remote Worker in the Middle

September 7, 2026

How to claim home office expenses when you work from home across the Canada-US border: Canada's detailed method with Form T2200 for employees and business-use-of-home for the self-employed; the US rule that employees get nothing and the self-employed choose between simplified and actual; and the complications for a remote worker taxed in both.

Cross-Border Tax (U.S.–Canada)

What Drives the Cost of a Cross-Border Tax Return, and Why Two Files With the Same Income Can Differ by Multiples

September 7, 2026

Cross-border returns cost more than domestic ones. Here is what drives the price: the number of returns, the forms each account triggers, the departure-year work, and whether the file is current or a catch-up. Fairlight's pricing is published; this explains the ranges.

Cross-Border Tax (U.S.–Canada)

Reporting Canadian Income on a US Return: Where Each Slip Goes, Which Rate to Use, and the Mistakes That Trigger Letters

September 7, 2026

A practical guide to converting T4, T4A, T3, T5, T5008, T4A(P), T4A(OAS), T4RSP, and NR4 slips into 1040 line items: where each type goes, which exchange rate to use, how Canadian dividends and capital gains are characterized, and the common mistakes.

Cross-Border Tax (U.S.–Canada)

Income Splitting Across the Border: What Canada Allows, What the US Allows, and What Stops Working When a Spouse Moves

September 7, 2026

How income splitting works in Canada and the US, and what changes when you are a cross-border taxpayer: pension splitting, spousal RRSPs, TOSI, prescribed-rate loans, joint filing, and the coordination when spouses are resident in different countries.

Cross-Border Tax (U.S.–Canada)

Incorporating Across the Border: Canadian Corporation, US C Corporation, LLC, or ULC, and Why the Owner's Residence Decides

September 7, 2026

Where to incorporate when you live in one country and do business in both. Canadian corporation, US LLC, US C corporation, and the unlimited liability company, and the cross-border tax traps that follow each choice. The owner's residence, not the customers' location, is the deciding factor.

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