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
U.S. stocks in a TFSA: the 15 percent treaty withholding on U.S. dividends, why the treaty exempts RRSPs but not TFSAs, no foreign tax credit inside the account, U.S.-listed versus Canadian-listed funds, where to hold U.S. dividend payers, and the U.S. citizen case.
Read more →October 1, 2026
Pre-immigration tax planning for Canadians moving to the U.S. explained: what to do before U.S. residency starts — realize gains or use the treaty basis election, close the TFSA, sort out Canadian mutual funds (PFICs), restructure a Canadian corporation, review trusts, and time income.
Read more →October 1, 2026
The TFSA for non-residents explained: you can keep it and Canada won't tax its income, but no new room accrues, contributions while non-resident cost 1 percent a month, and the United States doesn't recognize it — so most people moving to the U.S. close it before they go.
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 18, 2026
The TFSA and the Roth IRA are the same idea — after-tax contributions, tax-free growth, tax-free withdrawals — implemented by two countries that don't honor each other's version. A Canadian's TFSA is a taxable account to the IRS; an American's Roth IRA is protected in Canada only by a treaty election most people never file. Here is how each account is treated by the other country, the elections and traps, and what a mover should do with each.
Read more →September 18, 2026
The Registered Disability Savings Plan is Canada's most generous savings vehicle — government grants and bonds that can exceed the holder's own contributions — and it depends on Canadian residency in ways the RRSP and TFSA do not: grants and bonds stop when the beneficiary becomes a non-resident, contributions are barred, and the US sees an account it has no treaty provision for. Here is what happens to an RDSP when the family moves, and how to decide whether it stays open.
Read more →September 18, 2026
Both countries deny a capital loss when you sell and buy back too soon — the US wash sale rule and Canada's superficial loss rule — but the rules differ in scope (securities versus identical property), in who counts (a spouse and controlled corporation in the US; an expanded affiliated-person list including your own RRSP and TFSA in Canada), in what happens to the denied loss, and in whether crypto is covered. A cross-border investor harvesting losses runs both tests on every trade. Here is the side-by-side.
Read more →September 18, 2026
A US citizen with a tax-free savings account gets wildly different quotes for reporting it — because the work ranges from one line on Schedule B to a stack of PFIC forms, a foreign-trust position, and two information returns, depending on what the account holds and how the preparer treats it. Here is the actual work, item by item, why the range is real, and how to shrink it to the small version.
Read more →September 17, 2026
A Canadian's streamlined submission is mostly about registered accounts, and each one is treated differently: the RRSP defers under the treaty with no form now required, the TFSA is a taxable account with a possible trust-reporting question, and the RESP is a taxable account the IRS may see as a trust — with grants and growth taxed to the subscriber. Here is how each account appears on the returns, the FBARs, and the certification.
Read more →September 15, 2026
Real estate exposure through REITs swaps property-level tax problems for securities-level ones: US REIT distributions carry their own withholding quirks (return of capital, capital gain distributions, and rates that differ from ordinary dividends), Canadian REITs are presumptively PFICs for US persons, and the RRSP/TFSA/taxable location decision moves after-tax yield by whole percentage points. Here is the map.
Read more →September 14, 2026
Birth on US soil makes the child a US citizen automatically — snowbird winters, work postings, and border-hospital deliveries have created thousands of accidental Americans in Canadian families. The citizenship brings lifelong US filing obligations that lie dormant through childhood and activate with the child's first income, first TFSA, and first job. Here is the timeline, and the choices at each stage.
Read more →September 14, 2026
When one child files a 1040 and the other doesn't, identical bequests aren't equal: Canadian mutual funds, trust interests, and TFSA-style assets punish the American heir, while US-situs assets suit them fine. Asset-matched wills leave each child what their tax system treats kindly and equalize by value. Here is the matching logic and the drafting that implements it.
Read more →September 14, 2026
Canada offers arriving Americans a menu of registered accounts, and US tax law disqualifies most of the menu's advantages. The RRSP works cleanly under the treaty; the TFSA and FHSA are tax-free only to Canada; and the wrong investments inside any of them add PFIC filings. Here is the account-by-account verdict for a US citizen living in Canada.
Read more →September 14, 2026
The TFSA's magic is Canadian-only: the US taxes its income annually, contribution room freezes, non-resident contributions are penalized, and the account that was tax-free becomes a small foreign account with outsized paperwork. Here is what happens to a TFSA at the border, and why closing it pre-departure is the standard advice.
Read more →September 14, 2026
Every US dividend a Canadian earns arrives 15% lighter — the treaty rate collected at source — and Canada then taxes the full dividend with a credit for the withholding. But the rate, the credit, and even whether withholding applies at all depend on the account it sits in: taxable, RRSP, or TFSA give three different answers. Here is the map, account by account.
Read more →September 13, 2026
The IRS used to assess Form 3520 penalties automatically on late filings, up to 25% of a foreign gift or 35% of a foreign trust transaction, and taxpayers fought them afterward. In October 2024 the IRS announced it would review reasonable-cause statements before assessing the gift and bequest penalty. Here is what changed, what did not, and how to file a late Form 3520 now.
Read more →September 13, 2026
The cost of a streamlined submission is driven by the number of returns and the forms each year requires, not by the tax. Three returns with a TFSA, a corporation, and Canadian mutual funds cost several times three plain returns. Here is what drives the fee, what the tax and interest look like, and how the 5% domestic penalty compares. Fairlight's pricing is published; this explains the ranges.
Read more →September 13, 2026
A retired US person in Canada catching up through streamlined reports four kinds of Canadian retirement income differently: CPP and OAS (taxable only in Canada under the treaty), an employer pension (taxable in both with a credit), RRIF withdrawals (pension income with basis recovery), and any TFSA the retiree opened. Here is each, with the treaty positions and the forms.
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 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
A year-end checklist for people who file in both countries: the December 31 items that cannot be done in January (residency days, RRIF conversion, TFSA and RESP moves, loss harvesting, foreign tax credit sequencing, NR6 for next year), the ones that can, and the ones that differ by direction of the move.
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
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 →July 29, 2026
The two accounts every Canadian mover owns get opposite treatment in the U.S.: the treaty protects the RRSP's deferral, while the TFSA loses its shelter entirely. Whether to keep, freeze, or collapse each one, the withholding rates on eventual RRSP withdrawals, and the brokerage problem nobody warns you about.
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.
