TN Visa or B1 for self-employed occasional visits to US

[laine]

I am a owner/operator of a Canadian firm, living in Calgary but doing some remote software analysis and consulting work for clients in the US. I usually travel to the US once per month for meetings, planning and such. I've been going across as B1, since I'm getting paid from my Canadian corporation. Is it ok to continue like this? The US company reimburses my travel and I'd like to invoice for my time while there, so I'm wondering if I should be moving to the TN visa.

Thanks,
-laine

[Steven]

I'd avoid doing it if it's only a small amount of money, and offset the cost somewhere else. Under the 2008 tax treaty you have to pay tax proportionally based on where the work is performed, plus you've got the hassle of getting TN-1 so it's a lot of paperwork for minimal benefit.

Planning meetings and training are okay under B-1. If you bang "B-1" and "B-1 NAFTA entry" into a search engine you can find the regulations that explain what you can do in that status, which is quite broad for Canadian citizens.

You have to file an 8233 with your client and also a 1040NR and an 8833 with the IRS every year anyway to claim tax treaty status, but it will get annoying if you have to declare a tiny amount of money on the 1040NR, pay tax on it and then claim a tiny foreign tax credit in Canada when you file your T1.

You pay for the plane ticket in Canada so you can simply add that to your invoice as an expense no problem.

[laine]

Thanks Steve for the advice. If I carry on with B-1 status for occasional meetings, and the payments are paid corp to corp with no tax withheld to my Canadian company, would I still need to file anything in the US?