Canadian with Green Card - Working on Contract.... in Canada

[rahul]

I am a Canadian with a Green Card living in Washington state. When the economy slowed, I found a nice contract opportunity in Canada. Since I'm a Canadian citizen, there are no visa issues to deal with. I'm not sure how to best transfer cheques in Canadian funds to my US business account. Do i set up a Canadian account and wire the funds? Do I set up a Canadian US Funds account and use the money from Canada? Do I just get the cheque mailed to me and deposit it locally in the United states into a regular account? If anyone has optimized this kind of fund-flow thing - or has any ideas for me, please let me know. Thanks.

[agnelson]

Set up a Cdn account in canada. Use a forex transfer service (like customhouse) to occasionally trnsfer US dollars to your US bank.

Depositing a C$ cheque in your US bank would be the least favourable process.

[Steven]

Since I'm a Canadian citizen, there are no visa issues to deal with.

Well there are, because you'll lose your LPR status if you spend too long in Canada, plus you've got the tax issue to deal with - US LPRs must be resident in the US for tax purposes, but the CRA will consider you resident in Canada, so that is a problem. The usual solution is to obtain US citizenship if you qualify for it.

I'm not sure how to best transfer cheques in Canadian funds to my US business account. Do i set up a Canadian account and wire the funds? Do I set up a Canadian US Funds account and use the money from Canada? Do I just get the cheque mailed to me and deposit it locally in the United states into a regular account? If anyone has optimized this kind of fund-flow thing - or has any ideas for me, please let me know. Thanks.

Depends on the frequency, if you're only doing it occasionally you can use something like www.xe.com - in certain limited situations it may make more sense to have a Canadian dollar account with the US bank, but generally not as a private individual because you can simply use a bank account in each country.

[agnelson]

"if you spend too long in Canada, plus you've got the tax issue to deal with - US LPRs must be resident in the US for tax purposes, but the CRA will consider you resident in Canada, so that is a problem."

If he continues to live in US, he will be US tax resident regardless of the number of days spent in canada. The Cdn source income may or may not be taxed in canada, based on the time he spends there and the fixed base particulars, but the rest of his income will not be reportable.