Filing Canadian taxes while working in US on TN Visa

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KOakley

New Member
Hello and help!
I am a Canadian working in the US as registered nurse since 2007 on a TN visa. I have been living in the US since that time. I have filed taxes in the US. I have filed Canadian taxes as well but claimed 0 income. I was under the impression that if I claimed the wages in the US that covered it. Now I am getting conflicting answers regarding this. The whole thing about TN is that it is supposed to be temporary, that you intend to go home to Canada at some point. So I have a registered address in Canada. It is not owned by me. It is my mothers home. I have had some ppl tell me that if you tell Revenue canada you are leaving you don't have to claim US wages. Well, if I do that, aren't I going against what a TN visa is? That you are intending to go back to Canada at some point? That is the address registered on my passport. My passport is going to expire in march of 2011. I still have a year and a half left on my TN. So what I'm worried about is renewing passport. The renewal form for the passport asks specifically where you worked. I worry that if I filed my taxes in Canada wrong that they will refuse to reissue my passport. Bottom line is...do I have to claim US wages if I am on a TN ? Any advice would be beneficial. I do not want to hire someone to redo my taxes and pay a fortune if there is no need and I am fine.
 
You were not require to pay taxes in canada, but you were not filing correctly. I answer these tax questions forums.serbinski.com. The only problem you need to fix is the return for the year you left (as long as you haven't been claiming GST and CCTB in the meantime).

But, to your question. The issuing of a passport has nothing to do with taxes.

And, while TN is temporary, the fact that you legally live and work in US -- even if that would only be for a year or two -- makes you a US tax resident and a Cdn non-resident for tax purposes.
 
KOakley said:
Hello and help!
I am a Canadian working in the US as registered nurse since 2007 on a TN visa. I have been living in the US since that time. I have filed taxes in the US. I have filed Canadian taxes as well but claimed 0 income. I was under the impression that if I claimed the wages in the US that covered it. Now I am getting conflicting answers regarding this. The whole thing about TN is that it is supposed to be temporary, that you intend to go home to Canada at some point. So I have a registered address in Canada. It is not owned by me. It is my mothers home. I have had some ppl tell me that if you tell Revenue canada you are leaving you don't have to claim US wages. Well, if I do that, aren't I going against what a TN visa is? That you are intending to go back to Canada at some point? That is the address registered on my passport. My passport is going to expire in march of 2011. I still have a year and a half left on my TN. So what I'm worried about is renewing passport. The renewal form for the passport asks specifically where you worked. I worry that if I filed my taxes in Canada wrong that they will refuse to reissue my passport. Bottom line is...do I have to claim US wages if I am on a TN ? Any advice would be beneficial. I do not want to hire someone to redo my taxes and pay a fortune if there is no need and I am fine.
Click to expand...

You need to file your income in Canada when you are working as TN in the US, unless you claimed yourself as a nonresident in Canada. From my experience, you don't really need to pay income tax to Canada since you are required to pay the difference between US and Canada and had paid plenty to the US, but you still need to file the forms though. Hope it helps!
 
flower,
One does not 'claim themselves non-resident'; residency is a matter of fact, and is defined by CRA regs and, more importantly, by the US/Canada tax treaty.

And, in fact, if one were to remain resident while working in US, the would almost certainly owe still more tax to canada. You do realize that canada has a higher tax rate than US.
 
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