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
When and how an RRSP must be converted to a RRIF, the minimum withdrawal schedule, how the treaty's 15% rate applies to periodic payments within a limit, and how a US-resident annuitant reports the withdrawals.
Read more →September 7, 2026
How an RRSP works for a US citizen living in Canada: the Canadian deduction, the absence of a US deduction, the treaty deferral on growth, the basis tracking for withdrawals, the FBAR and Form 8938 reporting, and why the RRSP still beats the alternatives.
Read more →September 7, 2026
The three Canadian registered accounts are treated differently in a streamlined submission. The RRSP's treaty deferral is restored retroactively under Rev. Proc. 2014-55 and the account goes on the FBAR. The TFSA's earnings are added to income for the three years and Forms 3520 and 3520-A are filed. The RESP is the same as the TFSA with the grant taxed too. Here is each account, form by form.
Read more →September 7, 2026
Banks use 'RSP' and 'RRSP' loosely, and the difference matters for a cross-border filer: an RRSP is a registered plan with treaty protection; an 'RSP' may be an RRSP, a group plan, or a non-registered savings product. Here is how to tell, and why the US return depends on the answer.
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The streamlined procedures have two tracks. The foreign track (SFOP) is for taxpayers living abroad and has no penalty. The domestic track (SDOP) is for taxpayers in the US, requires that returns were filed for the three years, and carries a 5% penalty. Here is how the IRS decides which one you are in, and the cases that fall between them.
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The 20% qualified business income deduction under section 199A applies only to income from a US trade or business. Here is who gets it, who does not, and how the 2025 tax law changed it.
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A section 85 rollover lets a Canadian transfer property to a corporation on a tax-deferred basis. For a US person, section 367 overrides the US nonrecognition rule for transfers to a foreign corporation, and the rollover that is tax-free in Canada is a taxable sale in the US. Here is how the two rules collide.
Read more →September 7, 2026
How a self-employed person with clients on both sides of the border is taxed: Article VII's fixed-base rule, Regulation 105 and US 30% withholding, GST/HST registration, CPP versus self-employment tax under the totalization agreement, and the currency and invoicing mechanics.
Read more →September 7, 2026
A self-employed US citizen living in Canada owes CPP contributions on their business income and, under the Canada-US totalization agreement, no US self-employment tax. Here is how the agreement assigns coverage, how to claim the exemption on Schedule SE, and what happens without it.
Read more →September 7, 2026
A Canadian selling a US short-term rental has more to close out than the sale: FIRPTA, depreciation and cost segregation recapture, the state return, the platform account, the tourist tax registration, the entity if any, the Canadian gain in Canadian dollars, the foreign tax credit, and the T1135. Here is the checklist in order.
Read more →September 7, 2026
How the Canadian principal residence exemption and the US Section 121 exclusion interact when you sell a home after moving across the border. Each has its own test, and a home can qualify under one, both, or neither.
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How severance and retiring allowances are taxed when the employee has crossed the border: Article XV sourcing to where the employment was exercised, Canadian non-resident withholding on retiring allowances, the RRSP transfer for pre-1996 service, and the US treatment of a Canadian package received by a new US resident.
Read more →September 7, 2026
Buying a Florida condo does not make a Canadian snowbird a US tax resident. It does create a US-situs asset for estate tax, a property tax bill at the non-homestead rate, a Florida probate question, a T1135 question if rented, and, if the condo is ever rented, a US filing. Here is what changes and what does not.
Read more →September 7, 2026
How a spousal RRSP works when one or both spouses are US persons: the Canadian deduction to the contributor, the US treaty deferral for the annuitant, the FBAR and Form 8938 reporting by the plan's owner, the attribution rule on early withdrawals, and the basis question when the US person is the contributor.
Read more →September 7, 2026
How the standard deduction and itemized deductions work for cross-border filers: who gets the standard deduction and who does not, what itemized deductions an American abroad actually has, and the choice between deducting foreign income tax on Schedule A and crediting it on Form 1116.
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Entity choice and tax consequences for a US citizen or US resident starting a business in Canada: why a Canadian corporation controlled by a non-resident is not a CCPC, why a US-person owner has a CFC, the branch and ULC alternatives, the registrations, and the permit question.
Read more →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 Foreign Offshore Procedures let a non-willful US taxpayer living abroad catch up on unfiled returns and FBARs with no penalties. Qualification turns on three things: non-residency under the IRS's own test, non-willfulness, and no current IRS examination. Here is each test and where Canadians fail them.
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 →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.
