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 5, 2026
Found a mistake, a missed exclusion, or an unreported account after filing? Expats fix returns with Form 1040-X — within a time limit for refunds, with special rules for claiming the foreign earned income exclusion late, and separately for FBAR corrections.
Read more →October 5, 2026
Living abroad means every bank account you have is a foreign account. Which accounts count toward the FBAR's $10,000 threshold, the expat situations that get missed — pensions, joint accounts with a non-U.S. spouse, employer accounts — and how penalties really work.
Read more →October 5, 2026
A rental abroad is reported on Schedule E like any U.S. rental — in dollars, with thirty-year depreciation under the alternative system, foreign tax credited on Form 1116, and the account that collects the rent on the FBAR.
Read more →October 5, 2026
Form 8938 has different, higher reporting thresholds for taxpayers living abroad — and a broader list of assets than the FBAR. The exact thresholds, what counts as a specified foreign financial asset, how it differs from the FBAR, and the penalty for leaving it out.
Read more →October 5, 2026
Americans abroad get an automatic extension to June 15, can extend to October 15, and sometimes to December 15 — but interest still runs from April 15, and the FBAR has its own calendar. Every expat deadline in one place.
Read more →October 1, 2026
The first-year FBAR and Form 8938 for Canadians who become U.S. residents explained: which accounts count from the residency start date, the US$10,000 FBAR threshold, the Form 8938 thresholds for U.S. residents, RRSPs and TFSAs, and the dual-status year's special rules.
Read more →October 1, 2026
Form 8938 explained: the FATCA statement of specified foreign financial assets, the higher thresholds for people living abroad, how it differs from the FBAR, what counts (accounts, foreign stocks, interests in foreign entities), and the US$10,000 penalty.
Read more →October 1, 2026
Green card holder tax obligations explained: a lawful permanent resident is a U.S. tax resident on worldwide income from the first day of residency until the status formally ends — even while living in Canada — plus FBAR and Form 8938, and the risk of using the treaty tie-breaker.
Read more →October 1, 2026
TN status taxes explained for Canadians: TN workers usually become U.S. tax residents under the substantial presence test, taxed on worldwide income from their residency start date — plus the dual-status first year, the Canadian departure, FBAR on Canadian accounts, and state tax where you work.
Read more →October 1, 2026
What a U.S. citizen living in Canada files every year: the U.S. return on worldwide income, the foreign tax credit, the FBAR and Form 8938, the forms triggered by Canadian accounts and companies (8621, 5471, 3520), the June 15 automatic extension, and the Canadian return alongside.
Read more →October 1, 2026
The FBAR explained: who files FinCEN Form 114, the US$10,000 aggregate threshold, which Canadian accounts count (RRSPs, TFSAs, joint and signature-authority accounts), the April 15 deadline with the automatic extension, and the penalties.
Read more →September 21, 2026
The FBAR is free to file yourself and inexpensive to add to a prepared return; it becomes costly only when it is late, when it is one of many, or when the accounts behind it need reconstruction. The penalty for not filing dwarfs every version of the fee. Here is what the form costs in each situation, what drives the preparer's charge, and how the catch-up and penalty math works.
Read more →September 17, 2026
Two forms report the same Canadian accounts to two different agencies under two different rulebooks — the FBAR to FinCEN at US$10,000, Form 8938 to the IRS at US$200,000 for a single filer abroad. Filing one does not satisfy the other, and the asset definitions diverge in ways that catch RRSP holders, fund investors, and people with signature authority. Here is the side-by-side, and the annual routine that files both correctly.
Read more →September 14, 2026
A US citizen married to a Canadian can elect to treat the nonresident spouse as a US resident and file jointly — better brackets and credits, at the price of the Canadian spouse's worldwide income, FBAR, and PFIC exposure entering the US system, indefinitely, until the election is ended and cannot be made again. Here is the full trade, priced.
Read more →September 13, 2026
Crypto in a streamlined submission means reconstructing every disposition for the covered years as a taxable event, establishing basis from exchange records, deciding whether exchange holdings are reportable on Form 8938 (and, so far, not on the FBAR), and including staking and airdrop income. Here is the mechanics and the judgment calls.
Read more →September 13, 2026
Which FBAR penalty applies depends on three questions: was the income reported, was the conduct willful, and has the IRS made contact. Here is the decision tree from those questions to the procedure (delinquent FBAR, streamlined, VDP, or examination) and to the penalty amount (none, per-report non-willful, or willful at 50%).
Read more →September 13, 2026
A married streamlined submission has rules for both spouses: both must meet the track's residency test, both sign the certification, and the returns are joint or separate depending on whether the other spouse is a US person. Here is how couples file, what changes when one spouse is Canadian only, and the FBAR rules for joint accounts.
Read more →September 7, 2026
Canadian returns are due April 30, US returns April 15. Extensions, FBAR, and form-specific deadlines all differ, and several cross-border forms have deadlines that do not match either country's main return. Here is the full calendar.
Read more →September 7, 2026
The Delinquent International Information Return Submission Procedures are for taxpayers who reported all their income but missed a Form 5471, 3520, 8938, 8621, or similar. Here is what the procedure requires since the IRS's 2020 change, what it does and does not promise, and how it fits with the delinquent FBAR and streamlined routes.
Read more →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.
Read more →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.
Read more →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.
Read more →September 7, 2026
How the IRS and CRA penalize late filing and late payment, and, more importantly for cross-border filers, the penalties on information returns (FBAR, Forms 3520, 5471, 8938, T1135) that apply even when no tax is owed and can exceed the tax by multiples.
Read more →September 7, 2026
Joint accounts between spouses, or with a parent or child, create reporting obligations on both sides. The US person reports the full balance on the FBAR; Canada attributes income to whoever funded the account; and at death, the US estate rules on joint property can include the full value in the wrong estate.
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.
