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Gondaliya CPA

Cross-Border Tax Filing Experts

Tax Accountant for US Citizens in Ontario and Across Canada

The United States taxes citizenship, not residence. You can live your whole adult life in Ontario, earn nothing American, own nothing American, and still owe a Form 1040 every year reporting worldwide income — with Form 1116 or Form 2555 to stop the same dollar being taxed twice. That part most people know. What catches them is the direction of the problem: it is your Canadian financial life that creates the American cost. Whether a TFSA or an RESP is a foreign trust engaging Form 3520 and Form 3520-A, and whether an ordinary Canadian mutual fund or ETF is a passive foreign investment company engaging Form 8621, are questions most people discover only when a notice arrives. Owning a Canadian corporation brings Form 5471 and the anti-deferral rules with it, so a CCPC that is completely ordinary here can be a serious problem there. We handle the Canadian side, coordinate with a US-licensed preparer on the American returns, and tell you which account is quietly costing you — with AFFORDABLE flat fees.

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AFFORDABLE Tax Accountant for US Citizens Living in Canada

Almost every American living in Canada arrives at the same realisation in the same order. First, that the filing obligation never ended — a US citizen reports worldwide income on a Form 1040 wherever they live, and relief for Canadian tax comes through Form 1116 or Form 2555 rather than through the obligation disappearing. Second, that reporting accounts is a separate job from paying tax, which is where FinCEN Form 114 and Form 8938 come in, and where Canadian institutions reporting under FATCA mean the information is already moving. And third, the one that actually costs money: the Canadian accounts a Canadian adviser would put you in without a second thought may be the worst thing you can own. A TFSA earns tax-free here. Whether it is a foreign trust for American purposes, engaging Form 3520 and Form 3520-A, is a live question. An ordinary Canadian mutual fund is unremarkable here, and may be a passive foreign investment company there, engaging Form 8621. At Gondaliya CPA, we map your whole financial picture against both systems before you make another contribution, providing AFFORDABLE flat-fee support that keeps you CRA-compliant and stops you paying more tax than you owe.

As a cross-border accountant for US citizens in Canada, we work with Americans married to Canadians, people who inherited citizenship without ever living in the United States, US citizens employed here, US citizens who own a Canadian corporation, and retirees drawing pensions from both countries. The Canadian side runs year-round: your T1 reporting worldwide income under ITA subsection 2(1), the foreign tax credit under ITA section 126 computed properly by country rather than estimated, and Form T1135 where the American accounts and property you still hold cost more than $100,000 — the filing this group forgets most, because those assets do not feel foreign.

One line we draw plainly. We advise on the Canadian side and coordinate with a preparer licensed in the United States on your American returns. We name the American forms so you know what exists and what to ask about, and we state no American threshold, exclusion or penalty figure anywhere on this page.

Gondaliya CPA team - accounting and tax services for US citizens living in Canada

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Accounting That Understands What a US Citizen in Canada Actually Faces

Your tax position is not two returns sitting side by side. It is one financial life being measured by two systems that disagree about what your accounts are, and the disagreements land on the ordinary Canadian products everyone around you uses without thinking. At Gondaliya CPA, we understand that reality and provide practical, cross-border solutions across Ontario.

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Citizenship, Not Residence

A US citizen files a Form 1040 reporting worldwide income wherever they live, with Form 1116 or Form 2555 for relief. Living here permanently does not end it.

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Reporting Is Not Taxing

FinCEN Form 114 and Form 8938 are information reporting with their own regimes, separate from whether any tax is owing. Canadian institutions already report under FATCA.

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Your Canadian Accounts

Whether a TFSA or RESP is a foreign trust engaging Form 3520, and whether a Canadian fund is a PFIC engaging Form 8621, are the questions nobody asked before you contributed.

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Your Canadian Corporation

A US person holding shares of a CCPC is generally inside the Form 5471 regime, and anti-deferral rules can reach undistributed corporate income in your hands.

Stay Compliant and Minimize Your Cross-Border Tax

For a US citizen living in Canada, staying onside with both tax authorities and paying the least legal tax overall are the same job. We keep every Canadian filing on schedule and the foreign tax credit computed properly, so relief is actually claimed rather than assumed.

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Where Our Advice Stops, and Why We Say So

We advise on the Canadian side and coordinate with a preparer licensed in the United States on your American returns. We name American forms so you know what exists and what to ask about, and we state no American figure of any kind — no threshold, no exclusion, no filing floor and no penalty — because those move and the current answer belongs to someone licensed to give it. Three questions we specifically raise and do not answer: whether a TFSA, RESP, FHSA or RDSP is a foreign trust; whether a Canadian mutual fund or ETF is a PFIC; and whether a Form 5471 obligation or income inclusion arises on your corporation. Giving up citizenship is not addressed here — that belongs with counsel. We give no immigration or citizenship advice, including about children born in Canada.

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CRA Obligations for US Citizens in Canada

Staying compliant with CRA means more than one return a year. We manage your T1 reporting worldwide income as a Canadian resident under ITA subsection 2(1), the foreign tax credit under ITA section 126 computed by country and by income type rather than estimated as a single figure, Form T1135 where specified foreign property costs more than $100,000 — which for this group usually means American accounts, brokerage holdings or a property that never felt foreign — Form T1134 where a foreign affiliate exists, rental and investment income from either country reported correctly, instalments where your Canadian withholding does not cover the year, and the six years of records ITA section 230 requires.

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What a Coordinated Year Looks Like

A properly run cross-border year has an order to it. The Canadian return and the American return have to be prepared in a sequence that lets each one claim the credit it is entitled to, which is why doing them in isolation with two unconnected preparers so often produces double tax nobody intended. We prepare the Canadian side, hand your US preparer the figures they need in the form they need them, review the foreign tax credit position on both sides against each other, and keep a running list of your registered plans and funds with the open American questions attached to each. That list is the single most useful document most of our cross-border clients own.

Accounting & Tax Experts for US Citizens Living in Canada

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Why Choose Our Accounting Services for US Citizens Living in Canada?

1
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Tax Planning — Before You Contribute

We map every registered plan and fund you hold against the open American questions before the next contribution, rather than explaining a Form 3520 or Form 8621 problem years after it started.

2
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Consulting — Credits That Line Up

We compute the ITA section 126 foreign tax credit by country and by income type and sequence it against your American filing, so relief is actually claimed on both sides.

3
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CRA Representation — Foreign Property

When CRA questions your Form T1135, your American-source income or a foreign tax credit claim, we prepare the response and pursue relief on Form RC4288 where a prior error caused penalties.

4
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Bookkeeping — Catching Up Quietly

Where years are unfiled on either side, we reconstruct them and bring the Canadian side forward on Form RC199 before CRA writes, coordinating the American route with your US preparer.

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Cross-Border Clients
Includes personal T1 filing for you and your family
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Cross-Border Tax and Accounting Services in Ontario

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Personal Tax Filing (T1) for US Citizens in Canada

Professional T1 preparation reporting worldwide income as a Canadian resident, with the ITA section 126 foreign tax credit computed by country and Form T1135 filed where required.

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Cross-Border Coordination for US Citizens in Canada

We prepare the Canadian side and work with a preparer licensed in the United States on your Form 1040, so the credit claims on both returns agree instead of contradicting.

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Foreign Property Reporting for US Citizens in Canada

Form T1135 where specified foreign property costs more than $100,000, which for Americans here usually means the accounts and property back home that never felt foreign.

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Registered Plan & Fund Review for US Citizens

Every TFSA, RESP, FHSA, RDSP, mutual fund and ETF you hold listed against the open American questions, before the next contribution rather than years after.

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Tax Planning for Americans in Canada

Smart planning on investment structure, the salary and dividend mix, pension timing and whether incorporating helps or hurts once Form 5471 is in the picture.

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Catch-Up Filing for US Citizens in Canada

File overdue T1 and T1135 years, rebuild the records behind them, and get back into CRA compliance while your American route is handled in parallel.

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CRA Audit Resolution for Cross-Border Individuals

Expert support on foreign property, foreign tax credit and foreign income audits, handled with confidence from the first letter.

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Incorporation Review for US Citizens in Canada

Before you incorporate, we model what a CCPC means on the Canadian side and flag the Form 5471 regime and anti-deferral rules that sit on the American side of the same company.

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Corporate Tax Filing (T2) for US-Owned CCPCs

T2 preparation with GIFI where a US citizen owns the company, the Small Business Deduction protected and the shareholder’s cross-border exposure kept visible.

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Catch-Up Bookkeeping for Cross-Border Households

Years of Canadian and American accounts, investment statements and rental records reconstructed and reconciled, so both returns finally rest on the same numbers.

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Payroll Services for US Citizens Running a Company

Canadian payroll run properly with PD7A remittances and T4 slips filed, so the salary you take from your own corporation is documented on both sides of the border.

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Voluntary Disclosure Program for Cross-Border Individuals

Come forward on unfiled T1 years, missed Form T1135 filings or unreported foreign income, cancelling penalties through a Voluntary Disclosures Program application.

Accounting & Tax Services Tailored for US Citizens Living in Canada

Real, practitioner-level CPA expertise for Americans married to Canadians, people who inherited citizenship without ever living in the United States, US citizens employed or self-employed here, US citizens who own a Canadian corporation, and retirees drawing pensions from both countries — built for one financial life measured by two systems.

  • We prepare your T1 reporting worldwide income as a Canadian resident under ITA subsection 2(1), because residency here is a question of fact on your residential ties rather than something your passport settles.
  • We compute your foreign tax credit under ITA section 126 by country and by income type, rather than claiming a single estimated figure that collapses the moment CRA asks how it was built.
  • We file Form T1135 where your specified foreign property costs more than $100,000, which for Americans here usually means accounts, brokerage holdings or property back home that never felt foreign.
  • We report your American-source pension, investment and rental income on the Canadian return correctly, and set instalments where Canadian withholding does not cover a year with income from both countries.
  • We keep the six years of records ITA section 230 requires, organised so your American preparer can work from the same figures instead of rebuilding your year from scratch.
  • We prepare the Canadian side and work alongside a preparer licensed in the United States on your Form 1040, because two unconnected preparers is how people end up paying tax twice on one dollar.
  • We sequence the two returns so each one can claim the relief it is entitled to, since the order in which they are prepared genuinely affects whether a credit is available or lost.
  • We hand your American preparer the Canadian figures in the form they need, with the income characterised and the tax paid identified, rather than sending a notice of assessment and hoping.
  • We note where Form 1116 or Form 2555 is the relief mechanism on the American side, and we state no exclusion amount, threshold or limitation figure for either of them anywhere.
  • We flag Form 8833 as the way a treaty-based position is disclosed on an American return, and we identify which treaty article is in play without asserting the outcome it produces for you.
  • We file Form T1135 for every year your specified foreign property cost more than $100,000, a filing this group misses constantly because American assets do not feel like foreign property.
  • We build the property list properly from statements rather than memory, covering bank and brokerage accounts, American real estate held for rent, and interests in foreign entities and trusts.
  • We file Form T1134 where you hold an interest in a foreign affiliate, and we identify when an ordinary-looking American holding company or LLC interest has pulled you into that regime.
  • We separate what is reportable from what is merely foreign, because over-reporting on the Canadian side creates its own questions and under-reporting carries a penalty regime of its own.
  • We rebuild missed Form T1135 years and bring them forward through a Voluntary Disclosures Program application on Form RC199, which when accepted cancels penalties in full on the Canadian side.
  • We list every registered plan you hold — TFSA, RESP, FHSA, RDSP, RRSP and RRIF — with the open American question attached to each one, so you can see the exposure before you contribute again.
  • We raise rather than answer whether a TFSA or RESP is a foreign trust for American purposes, engaging Form 3520 and Form 3520-A, because that conclusion is not ours to assert on a web page.
  • We flag that an ordinary Canadian mutual fund or ETF may be a passive foreign investment company engaging Form 8621, and that the elections within that regime exist and are technical.
  • We note that the RRSP is addressed by the treaty, including Article XVIII on pensions, and we identify the article without asserting what it produces for your particular plan.
  • We put the whole picture in one document your Canadian adviser and your American preparer can both read, which stops the next well-meant Canadian recommendation creating an American problem.
  • We plan your investment structure around the open American questions rather than around Canadian tax efficiency alone, because the most tax-efficient Canadian account can be the most expensive one you hold.
  • We set the salary and dividend mix where you own a corporation, paying enough T4 salary to build RRSP room while watching how each stream is treated on the other side of the border.
  • We model pension and withdrawal timing across both systems, since drawing from the wrong source in the wrong year can waste a foreign tax credit that would otherwise have been available.
  • We plan at least two years ahead so your shares can qualify for the $1.25M Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption under ITA 110.6, while flagging that the American treatment of the same sale differs.
  • We keep your Canadian active income under the $500,000 Small Business Deduction limit using ITA section 125, so the Canadian side stays near 12.2% rather than a top personal rate of 53.53%.
  • We reconstruct your unfiled Canadian years from employment records, investment statements, rental records and bank history, rebuilding the six years of records ITA section 230 requires in the order CRA will want to see them.
  • Late filing costs 5% of the balance owing plus 1% per month up to twelve months, so we file your oldest unfiled T1 first to stop the penalty compounding and limit the arrears interest CRA charges.
  • We file the Form T1135 years that were missed alongside the returns themselves, because the foreign property filing carries its own penalty regime whether or not tax was owing in that year.
  • We bring the Canadian side forward on Form RC199 before CRA contacts you, which when accepted under the general program cancels penalties in full and gives roughly 50% interest relief.
  • We name the American routes back into compliance — the Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures and the delinquent submission procedures — and assert no eligibility criterion or outcome under any of them.
  • When CRA questions your foreign tax credit, we produce the American tax actually paid, the income it was paid on and the by-country computation, because a credit without that support does not survive.
  • When CRA reviews your Form T1135, we produce the statements and cost amounts behind each property listed, which is far easier than reconstructing a decade of holdings under a deadline.
  • When CRA challenges whether you are resident here at all, we assemble the residential ties analysis against Income Tax Folio S5-F1-C1 and frame the treaty Article IV position without asserting its outcome.
  • When CRA opens a full review, we manage the correspondence and answer the income, credit and reporting queries inside the deadlines, so one year does not expand into the prior years.
  • We file the Notice of Objection within 90 days of a reassessment and pursue taxpayer relief on Form RC4288, cancelling penalties and interest where a prior preparer’s error caused them.
  • Before you incorporate, we model what a CCPC gives you on the Canadian side and flag that a US person holding its shares is generally inside the Form 5471 regime from the first year.
  • We explain that anti-deferral rules behind that regime can reach undistributed corporate income in the shareholder’s hands, which is exactly what a Canadian corporation is normally used to avoid.
  • We state no conclusion, inclusion amount or rate on the American side, and we send that part of the decision to a preparer licensed there before anything is incorporated rather than after.
  • Where incorporating still makes sense, we handle NUANS, articles and share structure, and complete the section 85 rollover on Form T2057 transferring your existing practice or business at elected amounts.
  • We open the corporation’s CRA Business Number, HST and payroll accounts within the first 30 days, and set the chart of accounts so the shareholder reporting both countries want is available.
  • We prepare the T2 with GIFI on Schedule 100 and Schedule 125 and claim capital cost allowance on Schedule 8, running the Canadian side of the company exactly as it should be run.
  • We protect the Small Business Deduction under ITA section 125 so active income stays near the 12.2% Ontario combined rate, and watch the associated-corporation rules where you control more than one company.
  • We keep the shareholder’s cross-border position visible in the year-end package, with the figures a Form 5471 preparer will ask for identified rather than left to be dug out later.
  • We present retained earnings and distributions clearly across years, because a company that accumulates cash in Canada can look very different to the other tax system looking at the same balance sheet.
  • We prepare CSRS 4200 compilation engagement statements across two fiscal years where a lender needs them, with the shareholder loan and distribution history shown explicitly rather than buried inside a single equity line.
  • We rebuild years of mixed Canadian and American records — employment slips, investment statements, rental records and bank history on both sides — so both returns finally rest on the same numbers.
  • We reconstruct the cost amounts of your foreign property year by year, which is what Form T1135 actually requires and what nobody keeps until the first time they are asked for it.
  • We separate investment income by source and by type across the backlog, because the foreign tax credit computation is only as good as the characterisation of the income underneath it.
  • We rebuild rental income and expense records for property in either country, including the capital cost allowance position, which is routinely missed on a cross-border file we inherit.
  • We produce a clean set of working papers your American preparer can use directly, which is usually what turns a multi-year catch-up from an open-ended project into a finite one.
  • We run your Canadian payroll properly, withholding income tax, CPP and EI and remitting on the PD7A by the 15th of the following month, because the late-remittance penalty reaches 10% on a graduated scale.
  • We file your T4 slips and T4 Summary by the last day of February and reconcile them to the PD7A remittances made, so the salary you take from your own company is documented.
  • We monitor Ontario payroll against the $1,000,000 Employer Health Tax exemption as you add staff, and file T4A slips on contractors tested against the Form RC4110 factors rather than on what the invoice happens to say.
  • We note that the social security coordination between the two countries exists and that certificates of coverage exist within it, and we assert no rate, threshold or outcome under either.
  • We state no American payroll or self-employment tax rate, wage base or filing deadline, because those belong to a preparer licensed in that country and they change more often than most people expect them to.
  • We bring you forward on unfiled T1 years, missed Form T1135 filings and unreported foreign income, which on a cross-border file are usually the same few years rather than a whole history.
  • We file your submission on Form RC199 with a full reconstruction from investment statements, employment records and bank history, so you are not left facing an arbitrary CRA assessment instead.
  • We confirm your disclosure is genuinely voluntary before CRA contacts you — the single condition that makes it valid — and secure roughly 50% interest relief on the older years.
  • We coordinate the timing with whatever route your American preparer is taking, because the two disclosures interact and doing one blind to the other can undermine the position on both sides.
  • We name the American procedures that exist for coming forward and state no eligibility criterion, lookback period, penalty figure or outcome for any of them, because that is not ours to assert.

US Citizen in Canada Tax Check

Six quick questions on your dual filing, your account reporting, your registered plans, your Canadian funds, your corporation and your foreign property filing. No fee shown.

1. Have you filed a US return for every year you have lived in Canada?

2. Has anyone reviewed whether your TFSA or RESP creates a US reporting obligation?

3. Do you know whether any Canadian fund you hold could be a PFIC?

4. If you own a Canadian corporation, has the Form 5471 position been looked at?

5. Have you filed Form T1135 for every year your foreign property passed $100,000?

6. Are your Canadian and American returns prepared in coordination with each other?

Free CPA Consultation for US Citizens Living in Canada

Case Studies: US Citizens in Canada

Toronto Household — Fifteen Years of Perfectly Good Canadian Advice

The problem: An American who moved to Toronto in her twenties had done everything a Canadian adviser would tell her to do. She maximised a TFSA every year, held Canadian mutual funds inside and outside it, and opened RESPs for two children. She had also filed a US return every year through an online service that asked her about American income and nothing else. Fifteen years in, none of her Canadian accounts had ever been assessed for what they might be under American rules, and nobody had told her the question existed.

What we did: We built a complete schedule of every plan and fund she held, with the open American question attached to each: whether the TFSA and RESPs are foreign trusts engaging Form 3520 and Form 3520-A, and whether each fund is a PFIC engaging Form 8621. We took no position on the answers and handed the schedule to a preparer licensed in the United States, then rebuilt her Canadian foreign tax credit position.

The result:

  • Every plan and fund documented with its open question identified
  • Three Form T1135 years rebuilt and filed on the Canadian side
  • Investment structure changed before further contributions were made

Mississauga Consultant — A CCPC That Worked Beautifully on One Side

The problem: A US citizen running an IT consulting practice in Mississauga incorporated on ordinary Canadian advice. It worked exactly as intended here: active income taxed near 12.2%, surplus retained in the company, salary and dividends split to manage the personal rate. Nobody had mentioned that a US person holding the shares is generally inside the Form 5471 regime, or that anti-deferral rules behind it can reach undistributed corporate income in the shareholder’s hands — which is precisely the deferral the structure was built to achieve.

What we did: We kept the Canadian side running correctly, prepared the year-end package with the figures a Form 5471 preparer would need identified rather than buried, and brought in a US-licensed preparer to reach the American conclusions. We asserted none of them ourselves and reviewed the distribution plan against both sides.

The result:

  • Canadian T2 and Small Business Deduction position unchanged and intact
  • Shareholder reporting package produced annually rather than reconstructed
  • Distribution timing reviewed against both systems before the next year

Ottawa Retiree — Two Preparers Who Never Spoke

The problem: An American who had worked thirty years in Canada was drawing a Canadian pension and a small American one. A Canadian accountant prepared the T1 and an American service prepared the Form 1040, and the two had never exchanged a figure. Each return claimed relief for tax paid in the other country on a basis the other return did not support, the foreign tax credit on the Canadian side was a single estimated number, and Form T1135 had never been filed although the American accounts were well over the cost threshold.

What we did: We rebuilt the Canadian foreign tax credit under ITA section 126 by country and by income type, filed the missing Form T1135 years through a Voluntary Disclosures Program application on Form RC199, and set a sequence so the two returns are now prepared in a defined order with figures exchanged.

The result:

  • Foreign tax credit recomputed on a basis that ties to the other return
  • Missed Form T1135 years filed and penalties cancelled on disclosure
  • Both returns now prepared in sequence rather than in isolation

Our Simple Process

How We Work With US Citizens Living in Canada

Know Exact Fees within 2 Minutes NOW

Our clear, efficient process ensures every step is transparent, building trust and long-term client relationships.

Here’s a simplified process approach:
Step 1

Kickoff (Document Request)

Collect prior T1 and US returns, any Form T1135 filed, statements for every Canadian and American account, registered plan and fund documents, corporation records, pension and rental records, and your residency history.

Step 2

First 30 Days (Mapping)

Build the schedule of every plan, fund and foreign property with its open American question attached, confirm the Canadian residency position, and identify every unfiled Canadian year or Form T1135.

Step 3

Coordination With Your US Preparer

Hand over the Canadian figures in the form they need, agree the sequence the two returns are prepared in, and review the relief claimed on each against the other.

Step 4

Annual Planning Review

Investment structure before further contributions, salary and dividend mix where you own a company, pension and withdrawal timing, and the foreign tax credit position for the coming year.

Step 5

Year-End Close & T1 Filing

T1 reporting worldwide income, foreign tax credit computed by country and income type, Form T1135 and Form T1134 where required, instalments set, and CRA correspondence handled.

Get Your Cross-Border Taxes Done Right Today

Transparent Pricing for US Citizens in Canada

Affordable Pricing for US Citizens Living in Canada

Know Exact Fees within 2 Minutes NOW

We believe in clear, upfront pricing so you know exactly what to expect. All fees include HST.

  • Tax Preparation (Corporation) — From $400
  • Tax Return Filing (Corporation) — From $400
  • Tax Compliance Audit — FREE CRA audit support for our clients
  • Tax Strategy — FREE for our clients
  • Accounting Base Plan — From $100 per month
  • Bookkeeping Management — Free for our Accounting clients
  • Financial Reporting — Free for our Accounting clients
  • Business Formation — Flat $35
  • Incorporation Process — Flat $35
  • Entity Setup Assistance — Flat $35
  • Full-Service Payroll — From $125 per month

Payment is by Interac e-Transfer to info@gondaliyacpa.ca only. Security question: Not Applicable, as auto-deposit is enabled.

Meet Your Lead Cross-Border Accountant

Meet your lead cross-border accountant. As your personal and cross-border tax adviser, you deal with the same two people every year.

Sharad Gondaliya CPA

Sharad Gondaliya, CPA

Principal

Bio

647-212-9559
sharad@gondaliyacpa.ca

Vandana Goel CPA

Vandana Goel, CPA

Accounting Specialist

Bio

647-250-0242
vandana@gondaliyacpa.ca

What Our Clients Say

1300+ five-star reviews from Americans in Canada, dual-citizen families and cross-border households across Ontario and Canada.

Serving US Citizens Across Ontario

Our CPA team provides specialized accounting and tax solutions for US citizens living throughout Ontario. We understand why the American filing obligation follows citizenship rather than residence, why the most tax-efficient Canadian account can be the most expensive one an American holds, which questions about a TFSA, an RESP or a Canadian fund have to be put to a preparer licensed in the United States, and why Form T1135 is the Canadian filing this group misses most.

Toronto (ON)

55 Queen St E Ste 1205, Toronto, ON M5C 1R6, Canada

+1 (647) 212-9559

9:00 AM – 8:30 PM (Mon – Sun)

Mississauga (ON)

2100 Camilla Rd #716, Mississauga, ON L5A 2J8

+1 (647) 212-9559

9:00 AM – 8:30 PM (Mon – Sun)

Brampton (ON)

4 Starhill Crescent, Brampton, ON L6R 2P9, Canada

+1 (647) 212-9559

9:00 AM – 8:30 PM (Mon – Sun)

Scarborough (ON)

24 Clementine Square, Scarborough, ON M1G 2V7, Canada

+1 (647) 212-9559

9:00 AM – 8:30 PM (Mon – Sun)

Vaughan (ON)

19 Cabinet Crescent, Woodbridge, ON L4L 6H9, Canada

+1 (647) 212-9559

9:00 AM – 8:30 PM (Mon – Sun)

Oshawa (ON)

210 Durham St, Oshawa, ON L1J 5R3, Canada

+1 (647) 212-9559

9:00 AM – 8:30 PM (Mon – Sun)

Ottawa (ON)

2090 Neepawa Ave a314, Ottawa, ON K2A 3L6, Canada

+1 (647) 212-9559

9:00 AM – 8:30 PM (Mon – Sun)

Etobicoke (ON)

60 Stevenson Rd #1601, Etobicoke, ON M9V 2B4, Canada

+1 (647) 212-9559

9:00 AM – 8:30 PM (Mon – Sun)

Hamilton (ON)

70 Starling Dr, Hamilton, ON L9A 0C5, Canada

+1 (647) 212-9559

9:00 AM – 8:30 PM (Mon – Sun)

Guelph (ON)

1155 Gordon St, Guelph, ON N1L 1S8, Canada

+1 (647) 212-9559

9:00 AM – 8:30 PM (Mon – Sun)

Windsor (ON)

4387 Guppy Ct, Windsor, ON N9G 2N8, Canada

+1 (647) 212-9559

9:00 AM – 8:30 PM (Mon – Sun)

North York (ON)

150 Graydon Hall Dr #912, North York, ON M3A 3B2, Canada

+1 (647) 212-9559

9:00 AM – 8:30 PM (Mon – Sun)

US Citizens in Canada — Accounting & Tax FAQs

Do I really have to file a US tax return if I live in Canada and earn nothing American?
Yes. The United States taxes its citizens on worldwide income regardless of where they live, which is the single fact that makes this whole area what it is. You file a Form 1040 reporting your worldwide income, and relief from paying tax twice on the same dollar comes through the foreign tax credit on Form 1116 or, for earned income, Form 2555 — not through the obligation lapsing because you have been away a long time. Account reporting is separate again, through FinCEN Form 114 and Form 8938. We state no filing threshold, exclusion amount or penalty figure for any of those forms on this page, because those numbers move and the current answer belongs to a preparer licensed in the United States. What we can tell you plainly is that the obligation does not expire, length of absence does not end it, and having no American income does not by itself mean there is nothing to file.
Is my TFSA a problem?
It is the question we are asked most, and we will not answer it on a web page, because the answer determines whether you have unfiled information returns and that is not a conclusion to take from a website. Here is what is real. A TFSA is tax-free in Canada. For American purposes, whether it is a foreign trust — which would engage Form 3520 and Form 3520-A — is a live question, and the income inside it is not automatically sheltered on that side of the border just because it is sheltered here. The practical consequence is the awkward one: the account a Canadian adviser would tell every client to maximise may be among the worst things an American in Canada can hold. What we do is list every plan you have with the open question attached to each, hand that to a preparer licensed in the United States for the conclusions, and make sure no further contribution happens while the question is open. The same approach applies to an RESP, an FHSA and an RDSP.
Are my Canadian mutual funds and ETFs a problem too?
Possibly, and for a completely different reason from the registered plans. The issue is whether a Canadian mutual fund, ETF or pooled fund is a passive foreign investment company for American purposes, which would engage Form 8621 and its own reporting and computation regime. There are elections available within that regime, they are technical, and they generally work better when made early than when discovered late. We name the regime and the form so you know the question exists. We do not tell you whether any fund you hold is or is not within it, we do not quote any rate or computation, and we do not advise on the elections, because all of that belongs to a preparer licensed in the United States. The useful thing we can do is practical: identify every pooled investment you hold, inside and outside your registered plans, so that the question is asked about all of them at once rather than one at a time as statements surface.
I want to incorporate my business. Does being American change that?
Substantially, and this is the one place where the standard Canadian answer can be actively wrong for you. On the Canadian side a CCPC is attractive for the usual reasons: roughly a 12.2% Ontario combined rate on the first $500,000 of active income under ITA section 125 against a top personal rate of 53.53%, with surplus retained in the company. The point of that structure is deferral. The complication is that a US person holding the shares is generally inside the Form 5471 regime, and the anti-deferral rules behind it can tax undistributed corporate income in the shareholder’s hands — which is the deferral the structure was built to create. We will not tell you whether an inclusion arises for you or in what amount; that is a US-licensed preparer’s conclusion. What we will do is model the Canadian side properly, get the American question answered by the right person before you incorporate rather than after, and tell you honestly that for some American clients the answer is to stay unincorporated.
What is Form T1135 and why do people like me keep missing it?
Form T1135 is a Canadian filing, required where your specified foreign property costs more than $100,000, and Americans living here miss it more reliably than almost any other group. The reason is psychological rather than technical: the property in question is usually an American bank account, a brokerage account, a house back home or an interest in an American entity, and none of that feels like foreign property to someone who grew up with it. To CRA it is foreign property, the test is on cost amount rather than market value, and the filing carries its own penalty regime whether or not any tax was owing. Where a foreign affiliate is involved, Form T1134 can apply as well. We build the property list from actual statements rather than memory, file for each year required, and where years were missed we bring them forward through a Voluntary Disclosures Program application on Form RC199, which when accepted under the general program cancels penalties in full.
How do I avoid being taxed twice on the same income?
Through credits claimed properly on both sides, and through preparing the two returns in a sequence rather than in isolation. On the Canadian side you are taxed on worldwide income as a resident under ITA subsection 2(1), and relief for tax paid to the United States comes through the foreign tax credit in ITA section 126, which is computed by country and by income type rather than as one estimated figure. On the American side relief comes through Form 1116 or Form 2555. The failure we see most often is not a rule problem at all: it is two preparers who have never exchanged a number, each claiming relief for tax paid in the other country on a basis the other return does not support. Both returns look fine individually and the combined result is more tax than was ever owed. We prepare the Canadian side, hand your American preparer the figures in the form they need, and review each return’s relief against the other before anything is filed.
Are my RRSP and my Canadian pension reportable?
The RRSP is the one piece of good news in this area, in the sense that it is specifically addressed by the Canada–United States Tax Convention rather than left to general principles, including Article XVIII on pensions. We identify the article that governs and we do not assert what it produces for your particular plan, because the mechanics and any election involved are a US-licensed preparer’s work and the detail matters. Canadian pensions, a RRIF, CPP and OAS each have their own treatment, and the fact that a payment is taxed in one country does not tell you how it is treated in the other. What we do on our side is make sure every plan and pension you hold appears on the schedule we build, with its character and its payments documented, so your American preparer is working from a complete picture. We state no rate, no inclusion percentage and no threshold for any pension or plan on this page.
I have not filed US returns in years. How bad is it and what do I do?
Common, and far better dealt with now than after a notice. Be aware there are two cleanups, not one, and they are handled by different people. On the Canadian side, we reconstruct and file your unfiled T1 years and any missed Form T1135 filings, and bring you forward through a Voluntary Disclosures Program application on Form RC199, which when accepted under the general program cancels penalties in full and gives roughly 50% interest relief. Late Canadian filing otherwise costs 5% of the balance owing plus 1% per month up to twelve months, so the oldest year goes first. On the American side, routes back into compliance exist — the Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures and the delinquent FBAR and international information return submission procedures are the ones people have usually heard of. We name them so you know they exist. We assert no eligibility criterion, lookback period, penalty figure or outcome for any of them, and we coordinate timing with your American preparer, because the two disclosures interact.
Can I just give up my US citizenship and stop all of this?
People ask, and it is the one question on this page we will not take a single step into. Renouncing citizenship has tax consequences under the expatriation rules, including Form 8854 and tests that can apply to someone who has held status for a long time, and it has consequences under immigration and nationality law that have nothing to do with tax at all. Both sets belong to specialists: the tax side to a preparer or counsel licensed in the United States, the status side to immigration counsel. We state no test, no threshold, no figure and no outcome. What we will say is the practical part. Renunciation is not a way to make unfiled years disappear, and it is not a decision to make from a position of not knowing what your compliance position actually is. Get the filings and the schedule of your accounts straight first, then take the question to the right people with real facts in front of them.
My Canadian bank asked me where I was born. Why?
Because Canadian financial institutions report certain account information under FATCA, the intergovernmental arrangement for exchanging financial account information, and identifying whether an account holder may be a US person is part of that. The practical point for you is simple and worth stating plainly: the information about your Canadian accounts is already capable of moving between the two systems, so a compliance position built on the assumption that nobody is looking is not a position at all. We do not state any reporting threshold, any particular institution’s obligations, or what any authority will do with the information, because that is not ours to assert. What we do is make sure your reporting on both sides is complete and consistent, so there is no gap between what you have filed and what is reported about you. If a bank has already asked and you have unfiled years, that is a reason to move sooner rather than a reason to worry quietly.
I was born in the United States but left as a baby. Does any of this apply to me?
Possibly, and this situation is common enough to have a nickname people use for it. Whether you hold US citizenship is a question of nationality law, not tax law, and we do not answer it — that belongs to immigration or nationality counsel, and it is worth getting a clear answer rather than assuming in either direction. What we can tell you is the shape of the consequence. If you are a US citizen, the filing obligation follows the citizenship regardless of where you have lived or how little connection you have, and the same questions about Canadian registered plans, Canadian funds and any corporation you own apply to you as to anyone else. We state no threshold, no penalty and no relief criterion. There are procedures that exist for people in exactly this position, including relief procedures for certain former citizens, and we name them without asserting eligibility. The first step is establishing your status with counsel, not filing anything.
Do I still have a state tax obligation from where I used to live?
Possibly, and it is worth asking rather than assuming, because American state tax is a separate system from American federal tax with its own rules about residence and sourcing. A person can have their federal position in good order and a state question still sitting open, usually tied to where they last lived, property they kept, or income still sourced there. We will not tell you which state, what creates an obligation, what any rate or threshold is, or whether a return is required, because we are not licensed to answer it and a guess from a Canadian accountant’s web page is worse than no answer. Put it to a preparer licensed in the United States, and raise it specifically — a federal-only review will not surface it. On our side, what matters is that any American tax you actually pay, state or federal, is identified and documented so it is available for the ITA section 126 foreign tax credit computation rather than lost in a general expense line.
What do you actually do, and what do you not do?
We are Ontario CPAs. We prepare and file your Canadian returns: the T1 reporting worldwide income, the ITA section 126 foreign tax credit computed by country and by income type, Form T1135 and Form T1134 where required, the T2 and payroll where you own a corporation, instalments, and CRA correspondence, objections and relief applications. We build and maintain the schedule of your registered plans, funds, corporation and foreign property with the open American question attached to each, which is the document that makes the rest of it manageable. We do not prepare American federal or state returns, we do not give American tax opinions, we do not tell you whether your TFSA is a foreign trust or your fund is a PFIC, and we state no American figure anywhere on this page. We work alongside a preparer licensed in the United States and we tell you clearly when a question you have asked us is theirs rather than ours, which is more often than most firms will admit.

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Cross-Border Tax for US Citizens Done Right.

Built for one financial life measured by two systems: the American filing obligation that follows citizenship rather than residence, your T1 reporting worldwide income under ITA subsection 2(1) with the foreign tax credit under ITA section 126 computed by country and income type instead of estimated, Form T1135 filed where specified foreign property costs more than $100,000, every TFSA, RESP, FHSA, RDSP, mutual fund and ETF listed with its open American question attached before you contribute again, the Form 5471 exposure on a Canadian corporation raised before you incorporate rather than after, and the two returns prepared in sequence with figures exchanged so relief is actually claimed on both sides. We advise on the Canadian side and coordinate with a US-licensed preparer. AFFORDABLE flat fees, no hourly billing. Licensed CPA Ontario. 1300+ five-star reviews. 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee.



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