[Taxes] US Citizen in Canada

A

Amazon Jim

Veteran X
I have a job offer to work in Canada for a few months, how does the tax situation work? Taxes in Canada suck a lot but how do I get them back with my US tax form or what percentage can I get back - I will be working as an employee for a Canadian company.

eh

:wave:

Anyone with experience here?
 
You have to pay the taxes in Canada. You will be credited for it when you pay taxes in the US but you have to do it yourself. If you neglect to file the apropriate information you will be taxed double.
 
Uhhh are they actually going to withhold anything? That would be kinda dumb since you don't have a SIN. I'd link you to the booklet, but I already did my taxes this year (working from canada but us citizen too) but I didn't have canadian withholding since I play poker for a living and I don't remember the link on foreign country wages and shit.
 
If you work for an American company, they are going to report your wages to the IRS anyways. Even if you don't, I have heard that many of the developed nations still share this type of data with each other regarding expats living in their county.
 
You can tell your employer not to deduct income tax. As for the other taxes they are automatic but you can file to have them refunded.


Better yet though stay on your side of the border and stop stealing our jobs you filthy american.
 
Boomerman said:
You can tell your employer not to deduct income tax. As for the other taxes they are automatic but you can file to have them refunded.


Better yet though stay on your side of the border and stop stealing our jobs you filthy american.
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That's what I was thinking (about taxes).

There are so many positions available, I don't think there are enough lazy Canadians willing to work and take them. I already have a job (slumlord) and have so much downtime, I'm willing to do hard labor. Thought about getting my CDL as I would like driving around and getting paid for it. I grew up on farm and drove everything legally....and illegally. Cops just never cared if I pulled into the gas station with a semi and was 10 miles from the farm and I barely had my DL.

Small town ftw. :happy:
 
I've heard canadians are afraid of the dark. Please turn off the lights in your work / apartment and then tell us if it true
 
iTAmc.GIF
 
Bane Grievver said:
Where are they sending you, Jim?
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Job offer in Alberta, prefer something closer to border or in the US, but yeah, oil and whatnot. Pipefitter (uncertified lol), electrician, hydraulics, I don't weld, cdl shortly, roughneck (drilling). I can do a lot and have been offered several jobs over the past few months - I prefer something 3weeks on at 12hrs a day 1 off. All job offers so far have 2wks on 2 off and too far away. I was offered 21 on, 3 off, but I'm not sure of the company.

Rentals taking care of themselves (with help from my partners). Really wanting to work closer to home, but getting the contact numbers of the field managers sucks balls. It is a lot harder to go visit rigs in Ohio/Penn when the land is too hilly. Out west, you just drive at night and can see them from about 75 miles away or more.
 
I've worked as a US citizen in Russia for a few years. In my situation, I have to pay the Russian income tax first, then basically that is credited towards the tax amount that would be owed to the IRS. Check to see if Canada has a dual tax treaty with the US, since that is the legal formality that allows you to get credit for paying income taxes in another country. A lot of Western countries do, so I'd expect Canada to be on that list, especially with sharing such a broad border with the US. You may also be able to get credit for any social taxes you pay in Canada too, depending on how the treaties are set up for social taxes. You should be able to find that information on the US Social Security website, I think I saw it there once. Also you may be able to take the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, but that requires residency criteria to be met. Depending on what State you were living in, you may also still be on the hook for paying State Income taxes, too. There are some states that are very lenient about breaking residency, and others that are a bitch. It's not my personal situation, but I've heard California falls into that category, and a few other states.

Depending on your situation with the FEIE, state taxes, other stuff, you might not want to give your tax filing a whirl with TurboTax, although I have heard of some expats who do...

Also, there are lots of forums out there for expats living in a certain country, and naturally they have subforums on all the tax stuff, since everybody's dealing with their own situation of it and has questions & advice to share. Here's an example of one for expats in Canada: http://www.expatforum.com/expats/expat-tax/

Good Luck
 
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Do you plan to live in Canada while you work? If so, you'll likely qualify for the earned income exclusion if you plan to work and stay in Canada for at least 300 days out of a 365 day period.

If not, as people have said, you'll still get credit on your US tax return for any CDN income taxes.

In terms of state income taxes, you'll at least have a part-year residency return for the time you resided in Michigan and a non-resident return for any subsequent return that you don't have residency in the state for your Michigan sourced income, i.e., rentals. Your portfolio income(interest, dividends, etc.) will be sourced to the state your earned them in meaning and interest or dividend income will be taxed in state you maintained your residency in at the time they were paid.

You'll likely have a Canadian tax filing obligation as well.

Much of how you handle what 'position' to take on your taxes is dependent on number of factors but one of them is the situs of the employer. Are they a US company where you will be a US employee who will be on an international assignment? Or are they a Canadian company that will be treating you as a Canadian employee?
 
you need to be aware of how completely shitty the oil patch in alberta is. The only, and I mean literally the only plus side is the wage you'll earn.

also forget any stereotype about friendly canadians, in mac they are pretty much all assholes who have no problem operating big equipment around you while high on drugs
 
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