Dual Citizenship questions

ameri_sask
New Member



Joined: 27 Jul 2007
Posts: 1
Location: Saskatchewan

Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 9:31 am

 

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I'll start by saying I'm really sorry if this has been answered elsewhere.

I was born in the United States and moved to Canada when I was 12 to live with my mother's family because of her health problems. Because my mom is Canadian I was given citizenship with ease (and because Child Services from the U.S. pushed things along).

I've been in Canada for the last 10 years and recently went to the States to work for the first time for the summer.

Does anyone know the answers to the following?:

How am I taxed? I haven't been filing to the U.S. for the past few years I've been working because I didn't know I needed to.I've only been doing Canadian income tax.

Can I live in the United States for good without losing my Canadian citizenship? Is it possible to just pay taxes to both countries so that I can stay in the U.S.?

Are there any benefits to having dual citizenship? The only one I figured out so far was the ability to work in both countries without a visa.

Anyway, any help at all would be appreciated. Again, I'm really sorry if you guys have answered these already but I look forward to your responses!

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hyockju
New Member


Yukon

Joined: 06 Jul 2007
Posts: 2
Location: Pasadena, CA

Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 2:04 pm

 

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Basically, citizenship is not relevant to tax. Canada allows dual (or more) citizenship, so you can keep US citizenship. I am not sure if US allows you to have Canadian citizenship, but they may not be bothered unles you made a crime.

Tax is different issue. If you have a plan to live in Canada in the future, it is better to pay tax to Canada. However, that is only the difference between the taxes of Canada and US. (e.g. 40% Canada and 30% US, then you need to pay only 10% to Canada after you pay 30% to US.)
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Yukon

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nelsona
CanuckAbroad Regular



Joined: 23 Jul 2007
Posts: 33

Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 5:46 am

 

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hyockju is not quite ciorrect about citizenship and tax.

US taxes its citizens no matter where they live, so ameri_sask should be filing a 1040 return every year with IRS. There are series of credits and exemptions for the foreign (Canadaina) income you earn which would 'probably' make you not taxable in US, but you still have to report.

Now that you have earned US income, it is doubley important that you now file in US (and canada), since IRS knows you exist.

On dual citizenship. You have it, you can't lose it. The benefit to you should be obvious: When you went to work in the US this summer, how many immigration forms did you fill out? How many hours did you spend at the lawyer? How many months did you have to wait for approval? How many times were yo urejected at the border?

None?

There is your advantage!

Enjoy

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Reba
Moderator


Canuck in NC

Joined: 16 Jul 2004
Posts: 1487
Location: North Carolina

Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 6:16 am

 

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Find yourself a tax accountant who is familiar with the tax treaty between Canada and the US. If you are a US citizen, you are required By Law to file a US tax return every year, whether or not you are earning income in the US, or even if you are not living in the US. (that, IMO, is one con of being a US citizen!) You may need to file back a few years to catch up with the IRS.

If your primary residence is now the US, you can file an exit tax return to Canada and no longer need to file tax returns there (unless you have money still there, like RRSPs or property or investments). If your primary residence is now the US, you are also no longer eligible for provincial healthcare, and are required by Canadian law to notify them that you have left the country.

Canada will always consider you a Canadian citizen, unless you renounce. Canada recognizes dual or even multiple citizenships, whenever you travel back to Canada you are required to enter the country as a Canadian, with your Canadian passport. It would be a good idea to keep this updated.

The US will always consider you a US citizen, unless you renounce. However, unlike Canada, the US does not "officially" recognize dual citizenships. At the moment, the US does not enforce their requirement that US citizens renounce any and all other alegiances, but the requirement is still there. When travelling within, or into the US, you have to use your US passport (making travel tricky really, because you'd have to carry both when going back and forth).
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