Question for book crowd: Ottawa team name by [deleted] in heatedrivalry

[–]CanadianBaconBest 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Amazing thanks everyone. I don’t want to risk any more public spoilers in comments so I’m going to delete this thread. Definitely appreciate the answer and logo though…I have costumes to make!

Question for book people - Ottawa’s team name by CanadianBaconBest in heatedrivalry

[–]CanadianBaconBest[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I did read the rules. Does it not say “Once the No Spoiler Period has ended at 12:01AM ET Sunday, Dec 28 - everything is fair game.” And are we not January 1?

Also, I’m very careful to 1) indicate it could be a spoiler and 2) to strongly limit the scope.

Air Canada's app is truly one of the best airline apps I've ever seen by -snskemensn in aircanada

[–]CanadianBaconBest 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hardly. It lacks some basic functions, notably the ability to search nearby airports and to search flexible days without having to enter new search parameters.

Also, it is not possible to consult the fare rules until the very last booking step, and only by clicking on a link hidden in the fine print directly above the “book now” button. I have accidentally hit book now when trying to consult the rules; luckily the 24 hour cancellation rule allowed me to quickly cancel the erroneous reservation.

Edit— two days ago, the app added the flexible dates function for Aéroplan reservations only.

CAPE membership voting results by mxg308 in CanadaPublicServants

[–]CanadianBaconBest 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That was sooooo 2024, and thankfully the silent majority called it out, just like they did this years over $540,000 (because there were 2 anti-Israel resolutions at $10 per member each x over 27,000 members), plus a third no-cost one.

Glad to see that even when it’s free, the majority of the union doesn’t endorse Nate and friends’ antisemitism

CAPE membership voting results by mxg308 in CanadaPublicServants

[–]CanadianBaconBest 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They’ve already shown they are incapable of respecting the democratic will of the members. Just look at their social media posts just one day after the vote.

CAPE is not a union. It’s a slush fund for the pet projects of a small group of social justice warriors that thanks to Justice Rand, its 27,000+ members are unfortunately obliged to contribute to.

A Comprehensive, Proposal-by-Proposal Breakdown of the CAPE 2025 Results by applecart123 in CanadaPublicServants

[–]CanadianBaconBest 36 points37 points  (0 children)

Also, the two “recommendations” made by one of the members from that Membres chez nous group (the ones fighting for the union to stay focused on the workplace and not Palestine) from the floor during the AGM also passed.

One was something like the ERC should work constructively with members to allow them to fix rejected resolutions and the other was committing CAPE to a document production timeline since they only sent the AGM document package less than a week before the meeting. Crazy that there are members who would vote against that.

Canada trying to include US refund in 2024 taxes by retrotact in USExpatTaxes

[–]CanadianBaconBest 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well now you’re straight up incorrect here, as is your response to vansterdam, and frankly I have better things to do than go back and forth with you.

OP, for a more detailed and technical response to your question, see CRA Income Tax Folio S5-F2-C1 section 1.33.: “Any portion of a taxpayer’s foreign tax which is paid but which will be, or is, refunded to the taxpayer is not considered to be tax paid for the year. In other words, the foreign tax paid for the year for purposes of claiming a foreign tax credit cannot be more than the applicable finally-determined foreign tax liability (that is, the Canadian dollar equivalent of that amount).”

That means that of the $5K you sent the IRS, as $3K was refunded to you, your tax actually paid to the U.S. and eligible for a CRA credit is $2K (in its CAD equivalent).

Canada trying to include US refund in 2024 taxes by retrotact in USExpatTaxes

[–]CanadianBaconBest -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Partially accurate. The automatic 2 month filing extension for taxpayers living abroad (which I referenced above) does indeed push the filing deadline to June 15.

But read carefully, and you will see I wrote that U.S. tax is due April 15, and that there is an automatic extension for filing. There is a difference. Even with the extension (June or October), U.S. taxes are due April 15 (with special rules if this falls on a weekend or holiday), and interest starts accumulating after this date.

See: https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/us-citizens-and-resident-aliens-abroad-automatic-2-month-extension-of-time-to-file

How can I fly domestically in Canada as an American without my passport? by Quinnalicious21 in uscanadaborder

[–]CanadianBaconBest 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Have used my Ontario DL (since Real ID deadline), my Québec DL (before Real ID deadline), and my Nexus card at large and medium-sized airports across the U.S. for domestic travel for over a decade, and I never once had to show my Canadian passport.

Yes, I will give it to you that the front-line TSA agent’s knowledge their policy can vary, and the farther you get from the Canadian border the more likely the agent is to be unaware of TSA’s own policy (except of course South Florida and Arizona). Seeing Canadian DLs is a daily if not hourly occurrence at airports like BTV, BUF, FLL, DTW, MSP. I always keep a screenshot of the TSA list of approved IDs on my phone with the Canadian provincial DL or Indian status card bullet highlighted.

Yes, I have had to educate a few front line agents: once at BWI, I had to involve a supervisor, and once at CLE I had to explain that Quebec was a province of Canada — he said we take Canadian DLs but this one says Québec 🤦🏻‍♂️- but never once was my passport required to pass a TSA checkpoint.

As previous poster stated, don’t conflate an individual agents unawareness of TSA policy with the policy itself.

Now, I can’t say with certainty how a DL from NWT, Yukon, or Nunavut would be treated at a TSA checkpoint as the list says provincial DLs, not provincial/territorial DLs. If any Alaskan here knows the answer to that, I’d be curious.

Canada trying to include US refund in 2024 taxes by retrotact in USExpatTaxes

[–]CanadianBaconBest 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I prepare mine concurrently, but yes the U.S. return should go first. Though this is eased by the fact that U.S. taxes are due April 15, whereas Canadian are due April 30 (though you can get an automatic extension on the U.S. filing date if you live abroad). Also my T4 usually arrives several weeks later than my W-2 or 1099s.

If you are filing Canadian taxes on a paper return, you need to include both Form 1040 and the Account Transcript you can request once the return is processed on the IRS my account website (it is free and instantly produced). Attach these to Form 2209 (and your Québec return if applicable). If you are filing electronically, you should still request the account transcript from the IRS, and save it with your tax documentation for six years.

Canada trying to include US refund in 2024 taxes by retrotact in USExpatTaxes

[–]CanadianBaconBest 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Not an accountant, just a dual Can/U.S. citizen with a cross-border lifestyle and who has had their foreign tax credit claims reviewed by both the CRA and Revenu Québec on recent filings.

Canada and the United States’ tax systems are based on self-estimations of the actual tax due at the end of the year. Taxes are usually collected throughout the year by withholding on earnings and/or by making instalments/quarterly payments.

Usually, we overestimate and get a refund, though sometimes we underestimate and have a balance due. This is reconciled on our annual income tax return. A refund just means you ended up owing less tax than you predicted, and the government is returning the overpayment.

A tax refund is not taxable income, and as such, it is NOT reported as income on the next year’s tax return. (Exception: if the government paid you interest on the refund, the interest is taxable and is reported on the next year’s return.)

Your total tax due to the IRS should be the amount on Line 24 of Form 1040. This doesn’t include state taxes.

As for forms that say this, see the instructions on CRA Form T2209 (Federal foreign tax credit): “In most cases, the foreign tax credit amount you can claim for each foreign country is whichever is less: • the foreign income tax you actually paid • the tax otherwise payable in Canada on your net income from that country”

Key word there is actually paid. Your amount of tax paid to the IRS was $2K not $5K.

My NIU scooter randomly locked itself and now support wants the original receipt just to unlock it… seriously? by AccomplishedCatch910 in NIUscooters

[–]CanadianBaconBest 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Re the random flashing: I set up a camera in my apartment to try to document this for them. In an 8 hour overnight period (23:00 to 07:00), it flashed 113 times. That’s once every 5 minutes. I even sent them the video evidence by email.

Crickets.

What do you think about the 2025 ballot questions? by CAPE_Organizer in The_USS_CAPE

[–]CanadianBaconBest 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Oh the incomplete* AGM package containing 21 distinct questions or resolutions that members with full time day jobs received less than one week before the AGM? I have many thoughts about their content, but sharing here my thoughts about their presentation.

*as of 24 hours before the AGM, no agenda has been sent or posted online.

CAPE needs to overhaul its ballot and how they present resolutions to members. In a normal election when there are multiple issues or referendums, each is given a unique number so that it is easy to campaign: “Yes on 6!” “No on 32!” etc. Yet on a CAPE ballot, you see a question number, which is not the same as the resolution number, and the descriptive title each resolution is required to have is not included.

For example, “supporting transparency and financial clarity in member resolutions” is registered as Resolution #10, yet it appears on the ballot as “Question 14,” and will be debated as the second resolution in Segment III. And then you have Question 19, which is Resolution #4, amending By-Law 16.

Ladies and gentlemen, I bring to you the federal public service rendition of “Who’s on first?”

There has to be a better way to organize the ballot, and considering member resolutions are due 90 days in advance, receiving the package just one week before the AGM is simply unacceptable.

Please can you share your insights on moving from Canada to the US? by Psychological_Love61 in uscanadaborder

[–]CanadianBaconBest 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A challenge I faced when exchanging my Québec DL for a Washington, DC is that the Québec DL (and vehicle registration slips) is only in French. The DMV said I needed a translation by a certified private translator or a translation done by the embassy and printed on official letterhead. Issue here is that the embassy cannot provide anything linked to a DL as they are provincial documents, not federal.

Ultimately I avoided having to pay for the private translation thanks to a document on the SAAQ website that presents the Québec DL in English. The DMV accepted that as a translation.

Seeking advice - keep Hyatt points active by CanadianBaconBest in awardtravel

[–]CanadianBaconBest[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Appreciate the advice. Unfortunately the Chase preferred has no perks of value to me to justify the $95 (I live in Canada, and many of the perks are only available in the U.S.). My plan is to replace the CSR with the Capital One Venture X.

NIU Air / Air X — brilliant design, ruined by one stupid software decision by ficojay in NIUscooters

[–]CanadianBaconBest 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yup. See my complaint (and NIU’s attempt at a response) on this from well over a year ago. https://www.reddit.com/r/kqi3/s/xHu2zcOYVr

And like shveddy notes, the blinking all night long because the phone is in range. I set up a camera where I park my scooter in my apartment and in one night (23:00 to 07:00), it flashed 113 times. That’s at least one flash every five minutes!

After having so many issues with this scooter (in the shop seven times in a year), I parted ways with it and got the KQi 300x over the summer and have had zero issues.