A Canadian professional moves from Toronto to Seattle in August, keeps an RRSP and Canadian brokerage account, receives a bonus tied to work performed before and after the move, and keeps a Toronto condo. Each item can require a different residency, source, withholding, reporting, or cost-basis analysis.
1. What is your Canadian departure date?
Canadian tax residency is based on the full facts, including residential ties and potentially the Canada-U.S. treaty. A flight date, visa start date, or first U.S. workday can be evidence, but one date does not settle every case.
2. What belongs on the Canadian departure return?
The return may need the date of departure, Canadian and worldwide income for the relevant period, departure-related forms, and a review of property subject to deemed-disposition rules. Certain property is excluded or governed by special rules, so the asset list matters.
3. What is the U.S. arrival-year filing position?
A non-U.S. citizen can be resident, nonresident, or dual-status for U.S. income-tax purposes depending on the green-card test, substantial-presence test, residency starting-date rules, elections, and any applicable treaty position. The result affects income periods, deductions, filing mechanics, and foreign reporting.
4. What happens to income that crosses the move date?
Salary, bonuses, restricted stock, stock options, investment income, rental income, and business income may not all follow the payment date. Work location, earning period, vesting, ownership, and source rules can change the analysis.
5. What happens to accounts and property left in Canada?
RRSP, TFSA, RESP, taxable accounts, private-company interests, and real property should be reviewed separately. Keeping an account, making new contributions, receiving tax-favoured treatment, and completing U.S. information reporting are different questions.
For each account, confirm whether the institution will keep it open for a U.S. resident, whether contributions or trading should stop, how the account is treated for U.S. federal and state tax, and which move-date records should be preserved. Canadian ETFs and mutual funds may also need a separate U.S. classification review.
- RRSP and RRIF
- TFSA, RESP, and RDSP
- Taxable brokerage and private-company shares
- Employer pensions and stock plans
- Bank and foreign-currency accounts
- Canadian real property or rental property
6. Which foreign-account or asset reports may apply?
Once U.S. reporting begins, Canadian financial accounts or assets may be relevant to FBAR, Form 8938, or other information forms depending on ownership, classification, values, and filing status. These forms are separate from whether additional income tax is payable.
What to bring to a planning call
- Citizenship and immigration status for each family member
- Expected move, housing, and work dates
- Income by employer and work location
- Account and investment list with fair-market values
- Equity compensation grant, vest, and exercise records
- Canadian property, rental, or sale plans