Have GC but live and work in Canada

Hi guys, not sure if anyone can help with this but here goes. I'm a Canadian citizen who's married to an American citizen. My wife has been living in Canada since 2003 and has her permanent residency as well. We have a 2 year old Canadian born son together. She did my Green Card paper work 3 years ago and I've had my GC now just over 2 years. We go back and forth to the US every year 2-3 times a year for vacation and the US thinks we are living in the US but we are not.

My wife has not filed any US taxes since she's been here from 2003 and I never filed US taxes either. She was working full time here in Canada from 2006 to Jul-2011. She took 2010 off for mat leave after my son was born. What I want to know is will we be in any kind of tax trouble with the IRS? We have not lived or even stayed in the US for more than 2-3 weeks which was mostly going on vacation through the year since 2003 after getting married. Should I be worried and surrender my GC or should I not worry about it and keep doing what I'm doing?

By the way, I got my GC because at the time I was thinking of looking for a good opportunity in the US but it never happened. And with the economy being the way it is now it's not even possible to find anything. I have a good paying job here in Canada and I don't think I would take the chance and give it up to go live there until things get better. Any help is appreciated.

Thank you,

Mike

You have 2 issues.

The taxation issue I deal with at forums.serbinski.com; you and your wife have to file US tax return and other forms EVERY YEAR or face tax penalties, and fines. This is because she is a citizen and you have a GC. you have to back-file at this point, then think about giving back your GC (although your wife wil lstill need to file). see serbinski.

We go back and forth to the US every year 2-3 times a year for vacation and the US thinks we are living in the US but we are not.

What you are doing is insufficient to keep your GC. When you say "US thinks we are living in US", is this becuase you have lied to the border officer (I hope not), or because they simply haven't asked. I'm quite sure, even at the airport the CBP offcier will ask the purpose of your entry into US.

Eventually, an officer will ask you "where you live", especially if you drive across, and your GC confiscation process will start.

Hi Agnelson,

Thank you for the quick reply. Does that mean I have to pay income tax in Canada and the US? We always fly to the US and they never ask where we are going. But I think I will cancel my GC and avoid all this headache. If I would have known this prior to doing my GC I would have never got it. Any idea how the tax part will work in my case? I make about $80K/year Canadian before taxes and pay my taxes in Canada. If I have to pay my US taxes how much would I have to pay? Any info is appreciated.

Thank you,

Mike

It is unlikley that you would owe any tax in US.

However, even if you cancel your GC, you need to back-file your returns, and your wife will always need to file anyways, so the headache is far from over.
Did you get the part about serbinski?

Hi Agnelson,

Thanks for the quick replies. If I cancel my GC do I still have to do my US taxes? I know now that my wife has to always do her taxes.

By "serbinski" you were referring to the forums.serbinski website

yes and yes. No more tax questions here please.