Tue May 26, 2009 10:48 am
Depends to some extent what the investments are, e.g. if you invested in municipal bonds you could have a problem. But the answer is generally no, you don't have to. If they're in an IRA, you have to declare the IRA to the CRA. Under the 2008 tax treaty though, IRAs are treated as RRSPs for Canadian tax purposes, but you must declare them.
The CRA still hasn't invented a form for this purpose, you have to call them.
You need to file W-8BEN with any institutions in the US that are holding the investments as well as your US bank, assuming you moved your tax home to the US and are now moving it back.
Bear in mind if your tax home was moved to the US, there is a fair amount of paperwork involved in moving it back to Canada, such as filing dual-status in the US and filing a pro-rated T1 in Canada next year.
IRS publication 519 explains how to file dual-status. There are various other bits of paperwork you may need to file such as 1040-C.
Steve.