How to fill Form 8833

I was working in the US Jan - Aug 2008, and then came back to Canada
to work up to now (Mar 2009). For 2008 tax I would be considered as
a resident of the US because I stayed for more than 183 days in the US.
I would also be considered as a resident of Canada because of my
ties (permanent home, etc.) with Canada. I would like to be a
non-resident of the US and resident of Canada, so I need to file Forms
1040NR and 8833 (treaty benefit). But I don't know how to fill some
items in Form 8833 after researching hours on internet. Specifically,

-- First of all, do I need to fill 8833 at all? I saw message saying that
8833 was necessary only for income more than $100,000.

My income in the US was in 2 forms: (1) Form W-2, Wage, less than
$100,000. (2) Form 1099-G, State Income Tax Refunds, about $200.

In Form 8833:

Tick the box, The taxpayer is a dual-resident taxpayer ... Regulation
section 301.7701(b)-7.

Line 1. Specific treaty position relied on:
a. Treaty country ... Canada
b. Article(s) ... ??? (meaning I don't know how to fill)
Line 2. List the Internal Revenue Code provision(s) overruled or
modified by the treaty-based return posiotion
???
Line 3. I can fill it.
Line 4. The provisions(s) of the limitation on benefits articles (if any)
in the treaty that the taxpayer relies on to prevent application of
that article
???
Line 5. Explain my positon. I think I can explain, except the article
numbers as asked about in the other Lines.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Best regards,

Mr. Woo

Phone the IRS is the answer to this question, the number is in the back of publication 519. If your income is less than $100,000 then you probably don't have to file it, but get it from the horse's mouth.

Thank you very much for your suggestions, Steve.
Yes, I phoned IRS International Section at (215)516-2000. It took
totally about 60 minutes: waiting and talking 30 minutes, respectively.
Note that it’s not an 800 phone, so I paid myself.

At the beginning I explained my situation clearly (similar to my
description in my post). But the officer still gave me a residency test.
Of course, the result was that I was a US resident (Jan – Aug 2008).
He insisted that I must fill tax return as a resident (using Form 1040);
Form 8833 didn’t apply to my case. After I explained again and again,
finally he realized that I was claiming treaty benefits after my reading
the title of Form 8833 “Treaty-Based Return Position Disclosure under
…...”. Then I repeated my request for help to fill some items in Form
8833. But he simply asked me to read documents, and to do research
by myself.

After that I phoned Canadian International Tax Office at 1-800-267-
5177. (Note it’s an 800 phone.) This time I got through right away
(no waiting). But the officer said that he couldn’t help with US tax
issues.

So, it’s impossible to get anything from the house’s mouth, at least
so far for me. Perhaps someone else can try again.

MrWoo

Wish I could say I'm surprised but unfortunately I've had a similar experience in the past. You have to keep going from agent to agent until you get someone who has a clue. It does take hours.

Publication 901 is the one to look at if you want to try and figure it out yourself, although personally I've never found it particularly helpful. Plus the tax treaty changed at the start of 2008 so I don't think any of the IRS publications are up-to-date.

So unfortunately, unless you can find an accountant who is familiar with how to file them, talking to the IRS is the only option.

I would say that to the agent - the tax treaty is new and none of the publications are up-to-date so you cannot determine how to fill the form in. They should at least be able to tell you if you need to file it or not based on your income and what source it comes from.

-- Wed Mar 25, 2009 11:44 am --

The answer to 1b is IV by the way, I remember that much.