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 4, 2026
Fixing a wrong or missed Canadian departure year: establishing the real date, amending returns and reclaiming tax paid as a resident, late Form T1161 and the penalty, departure tax recalculation, the voluntary disclosures program, and aligning the U.S. residency start date.
Read more →October 1, 2026
The Canada–U.S. treaty's Article XIII(7) election explained: how a new U.S. resident who paid Canadian departure tax elects to treat property as sold and repurchased in the United States too, aligning the U.S. basis with the Canadian departure value so the same gain isn't taxed twice.
Read more →October 1, 2026
Canada's departure tax explained: the deemed disposition of most property at fair market value when you emigrate, what's excluded (Canadian real estate, RRSPs, pensions), the election to defer with security, Forms T1161, T1243, and T1244, and the U.S. basis election that prevents double tax.
Read more →October 1, 2026
A Canadian owner moving to Florida often wants the business to come too — and a Canadian corporation can't simply relocate: continuing it out of Canada triggers a corporate departure tax on its unrealized gains and an extra tax on its surplus, while leaving it in Canada with a non-resident owner creates its own issues. Here is each route — continuance, selling the assets to a new U.S. company, keeping the Canadian corporation, and winding it up — with the owner's personal departure tax alongside.
Read more →September 18, 2026
Canada taxes your accrued gains when you leave; the US, when you arrive, keeps your historical cost basis — so a later US sale taxes the same pre-departure gain a second time with no Canadian tax to credit that year. The treaty's departure election fixes it: you may elect to treat the property as sold and reacquired for US purposes at the same value Canada used, aligning the two countries' basis. Here is the election, which property it covers, how it's made, and what happens without it.
Read more →September 18, 2026
Departure tax is computed on the fair market value the day you leave. If the property later sells for less — the private company that stumbled, the portfolio that dropped — you paid Canadian tax on a gain that never materialized. The Income Tax Act allows an emigrant who sells deemed-disposed property at a loss while non-resident to elect to reduce the departure-year deemed proceeds, generating a refund. Here is the election, its limits, and the sequence.
Read more →September 18, 2026
Departure tax treats emigration as a sale — you paid Canadian tax on gains you never realized. If you come back still owning that property, the Income Tax Act lets you elect to undo the deemed disposition: the property is treated as never having been sold on departure, the tax you paid is refunded, and the original cost base is restored. Here is how the unwind works, which property qualifies, the interaction with any security you posted, and why the old departure file is the key.
Read more →September 18, 2026
A business owner moving to the US with a sale in view faces a timing decision worth six or seven figures: sell as a Canadian resident and use the lifetime capital gains exemption, or sell after the move and face departure tax on the shares, US tax on the gain, and a year or more inside the CFC regime. The clean answer is usually 'before' — unless the buyer, the deal structure, or the exemption's qualification tests say otherwise. Here is the analysis.
Read more →September 14, 2026
A Canadian taxable account can technically follow you to the US — but most Canadian brokerages restrict US-resident clients, every Canadian mutual fund and ETF in the account becomes a PFIC on your 1040, and the departure tax has already reset your Canadian side. Here is the account triage that should happen before the flight.
Read more →September 14, 2026
Canada lets emigrants postpone the departure tax until the property actually sells — interest-free, for as long as it takes — by electing on Form T1244 and posting security above a modest threshold. For private company shares and illiquid assets the deferral is the difference between a paper tax and a cash crisis. Here is the election end to end, and the pay-versus-defer decision.
Read more →September 14, 2026
Canada's departure tax is a deemed sale: leave, and most of your property is treated as sold at fair market value the day you go, with the accrued gains taxed on your final return. But the biggest asset classes — your home, your RRSP, your pension — are exempt, so many movers owe far less than they fear. Here is what is in, what is out, and how the bill is computed.
Read more →September 14, 2026
The RRSP survives a move to the US better than any other Canadian account: no departure tax, continued deferral in both countries, and a choice worth real money — leave it growing, convert to a RRIF for 15% treaty withholding on periodic payments, or collapse it at 25%. Here is how each path is taxed and how the US measures its share.
Read more →September 14, 2026
Equity compensation ignores the departure tax and follows its own rule: the benefit is divided between the countries by where the work was performed between grant and vest, whenever exercise or vesting happens. Move mid-vest and every award becomes a two-country event with withholding in both. Here is the sourcing math for options and RSUs, and the moves worth making before the date.
Read more →September 14, 2026
Canadian tax residency ends when significant residential ties end — usually the day you leave with your home, spouse, and dependants moved or moving. But ties left behind (a house kept available, a spouse staying, provincial health cards that linger) can hold residency open, and the departure date you claim drives the departure tax, the final return, and everything after. Here is how the date is actually determined.
Read more →September 13, 2026
Naming the responsible sibling in Seattle as trustee of the family trust feels natural and can be a structural mistake: Canada locates a trust where its central management and control happens, and the US applies its own court and control tests. One US trustee can trigger a Canadian departure tax for the trust, US filings, or both. Here is how the two residence tests work and how to appoint safely.
Read more →September 7, 2026
Florida drops the state income tax, but the federal return and Canada's departure tax stay. Here is what a cross-border accountant in South Florida actually covers, from the snowbird who became a resident to the Brickell finance professional who moved for the job.
Read more →September 5, 2026
Alberta has no provincial sales tax and Texas has no state income tax, but the cross-border tax picture is not as simple as 'no tax to no tax.' Departure tax, the RRSP and TFSA, and federal obligations all apply.
Read more →September 5, 2026
Manitoba's top rate hits at roughly $100,000, one of the steepest provincial bites at middle incomes. Here is what Richardson, Cargill, StandardAero, and Great-West Lifeco movers need to know about the departure tax, Manitoba Health, and the US side.
Read more →September 5, 2026
North Dakota's recent reforms cut its income tax to two low brackets with the first tier at zero, close enough to no tax for most working families. Here is what that means for Manitoba and Saskatchewan movers, plus the RRSP, departure tax, and filing mechanics.
Read more →September 5, 2026
What happens to your Canadian taxes when you move to the US: departure tax, RRSP and TFSA decisions, US entry filings, and the ongoing Canadian obligations that do not end when you leave. A working checklist in sequence.
Read more →September 5, 2026
New Brunswick has one of the highest top provincial tax rates in the country at 19.5%, plus 15% HST. Here is the departure tax, the Medicare wind-down, and the cross-border tax picture for a move south.
Read more →September 5, 2026
Saskatchewan's top provincial rate is 14.5%, its major employers already rotate staff through Texas and North Dakota, and farm property gets special treatment on departure. Here is the full cross-border picture.
Read more →September 4, 2026
Alberta already has Canada's lowest top combined rate, so the departure tax on an Alberta exit is the lightest in the country. Florida adds no state income tax on the other side. Here is the full picture.
Read more →September 4, 2026
British Columbia's combined top rate is about 53.5%. Florida's is zero. The BC-to-Florida move is usually a retiree file, and the three things that decide it are the departure date, the BC home, and the RRSP withdrawal plan.
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.
