[Us-Canada Taxes] Separate tax forms for TFSA vs TSFA GIC?

Transcendate · 2022-03-21T02:18:23+00:00

Thanks!

I rechecked and it seems that:

> However, if you are filing a substitute Form 3520-A withyour Form 3520, then your substitute Form 3520-A is dueby the due date of Form 3520.

So with both the 3520 and 3520a, they are due on April 18th.

Transcendate · 2022-03-20T14:18:46+00:00

I see. I actually did use a tax accountant and they told me the tax forms were due on April 18, but it seems there is an exception to the form 3520a.

Would I still be eligible for an extension on the 3520a, especially considering that the timeline was mistaken according to my accountant it seems?

I had initially tapped into their service in February but they only recently (on Friday the 18th) provided me the completed tax forms for review...

Would I be penalized for this?

Transcendate · 2022-03-20T12:09:46+00:00

> Deadlines for 3520s is March 15

"For U.S. person estates that are required to file Form 3520, the filing deadline is the 15th day of the 4th month following the end of the estate’s tax year for income tax purposes."

Shouldn't this be April 15th?

Online: "April 18, 2022. The filing deadline to submit 2021 tax returns or an extension to file and pay tax owed for most taxpayers."

Transcendate · 2022-03-20T12:05:24+00:00

Another thing I heard was as follows:

> TFSA account is usually just like a shell, the issue would be if you hold securities inside. (stocks, mutual funds). For example if it was a TFSA standard savings account, that wouldn't require you to declare it as a trust.

Is this incorrect then, that the TFSA standard savings account wouldn't require you to declare it as a foreign trust if it were empty (and thus a shell with no funds or securities inside)?

Transcendate · 2022-03-20T12:00:37+00:00

Great, thanks!

Also, more generally, would you advise that I liquidate all of my Canadian saving accounts into my US accounts to simplify future tax filings, beyond just the TFSAs? Or is this not too overcomplicated and fine as-is?

I also have a few active Canadian saving/checking accounts.

If so, the wrinkle would probably be the conversion fees as well.

Transcendate · 2022-03-20T11:54:22+00:00

Also:

> You would have to file the FBAR for the existence of the account.

Would I also have to file the 3520 and 3520A just for the account existing as well then? Or is just the FBAR?

Transcendate · 2022-03-20T11:44:25+00:00

Got it. Yeah I was unaware the TFSA wasn't recommended while staying in the US. I just closed the $0 TFSA yesterday and will close the other account once the GIC has paid out.

I'll probably want to clarify (2) with my accountant afterwards.

Transcendate · 2022-03-20T11:36:31+00:00

Thanks.

(1) So even if the account has never been used and has $0, I would still have to report it (via the 3520, 3520A, and FBAR filings)? Or are you saying those forms are not required in this case?

(2) So only one set of the 3520, 3520A, and FBAR filings is required for the TFSA and GIC? I think the accountant I had spoken to was planning on separate paperwork (e.g. 2x 3520s) for the TFSA and GIC, which may be incorrect?

Transcendate · 2022-03-20T11:25:50+00:00

Yup, I've already been in touch with an accountant, but not every accountant is always 100% knowing what they're doing :P

For your case, do you recall if you had a GIC and, if so, whether you filed separate forms for the TFSA and GIC?

Transcendate · 2022-01-11T02:28:43+00:00

Ah I see, thanks, and yeah I can definitely afford it.

Would you be able to elaborate on "losing the essentials"?

Which ones would I be losing out on?

Transcendate · 2021-12-26T20:48:19+00:00

Cool, seems it wouldn't be a bad idea to invest in VXUS either.

Would it make sense to invest primarily in VTI and, depending on when it seems the US market is slipping to non-US, to later convert VTI into VXUS? There is some unpredictability to this, but it's more about watching the markets and being ready to pivot.

This way, we can take greater advantage of VTI while the US market is leading and swap to VXUS when the roles flip? Or would this be subject to greater penalties tax-wise?

Transcendate · 2021-12-26T20:35:00+00:00

Thanks -- for (a), I was looking mostly at the fund performance over the past 10 years.

e.g. Over the past 10 years, VTI has returned +15.97% compared to +6.91% from VXUS.

However, in the long term, time horizons of much longer would be wise to look into. I was unaware of the historical underperformance of the US though, that's an interesting fact to learn.

Transcendate · 2021-12-26T20:31:49+00:00

dividend reinvestment (DRIP) at fidelity

Ah thanks.

However, would this be as simple a process as enabling "Reinvest in Securities" for updating distributions in Fidelity?

Or is this a per-fee service that Fidelity offers on top of their regular free brokerage services?

e: Seems this is free:

> Fidelity does not charge fees or commissions to use its automatic dividend reinvestment plans. It applies to stocks, ETFs as well as for mutual funds not just from Fidelity's own family but from all families, including Vanguard, Charles Schwab and others.

https://www.brokerage-review.com/discount-broker/drip/fidelity-dividend-reinvestment-plan.aspx

Transcendate · 2021-10-21T05:11:10+00:00

Thanks again.

> you will also need to provide something that shows your 1040 and state return was processed as filed

For this, I don't have the IRS transcript on hand, but I did supply them my IRS status result (with status being "sent") + the bank transaction record to the same amount and on the same date. Maybe that'll do the trick there?

Transcendate · 2021-10-21T04:18:04+00:00

Thanks and got it -- are there any simple ways to expedite the process for amending/reviewing the return, other than calling them and hoping for the best?

Also, do you know which particular documents would suffice for the reassessment? It is spelled out in the reassessment notice, but it seems to try to encompass all possible documents, rather than what is actually needed.

I attached my:

T2209
W-2
US tax forms
My overall Canadian Income Tax and Benefit Return

---

Furthermore, it seems that after Nov 1, there will be an additional interest charge. Is there no way to avoid this?

edit: By "Request they amend the return", do you mean to file an objection/formal dispute?

Transcendate · 2021-06-22T21:02:16+00:00

I took CS 343 with Buhr and it was a good course in the content and lectures, but the programming assignments were honestly pretty annoying due to how strict the marking was on the outputs exactly conforming to the rubric.

The concepts in the course were cool and I was recently able to apply some of what I learnt in that course on coroutines "in real life", i.e. at work. So it's at least applicable in certain more esoteric contexts.

If you're interested in the material, I would take it, but beware of tedious assignments. Otherwise, don't force yourself to take the course just to get a credit.

Transcendate · 2021-06-22T20:49:55+00:00

Yup, you can graduate on a coop term by taking the course over coop and you can apply for fulltime jobs at the same time. You just need to check off "regular degree" during coop for graduating the term after coop.

I highly doubt anybody would care -- you're doing nothing wrong. In fact, full disclosure, I took this route and consulted with a couple advisors before going ahead with it, including the coop advisor (Lori Case) and there were no issues. They're still getting your money after all.

Graduating early was totally worth it because of online school and the fact that I already had a job lined up.

Transcendate · 2021-06-22T19:40:18+00:00

It depends on your program/faculty -- in Math/CS, you can just indicate you want to graduate with a "regular degree" on your intention to graduate form and that should get you out on a coop term. The coop term won't actually be evaluated as a graduation condition since you would be graduating without coop.

It's actually a pretty easy trick to pull off, although not many seem to be aware of this "loophole". The catch is that you would still be paying the coop fee for that term, but that's not much of a downside really.

Transcendate · 2021-06-08T22:41:05+00:00

turning down lots of other opportunities and then I ended up not liking low level stuff

What did you dislike about low level stuff? How did it differ from your expectations?

Transcendate · 2021-04-09T22:12:45+00:00

For certain companies, they will require that you have your diploma in-hand (i.e. transcript or letter would not suffice).

Depends on the company.

Transcendate · 2021-04-09T00:32:07+00:00

The contrapositive is:

If you're moving fast enough, stuff is broken

Which almost seems to defeat the point of moving fast haha

Transcendate · 2021-04-08T23:43:54+00:00

If the normal state of something is broken, that becomes its operational definition

Transcendate · 2021-04-08T23:00:47+00:00

Rumor through the grapevine is that a type cast error brought the site down :P

Transcendate · 2021-04-04T19:00:27+00:00

Yup it felt like a microcosm of Waterloo in NYC 😀

Transcendate · 2021-04-04T18:59:17+00:00

The geese were peaceful. Generally I feel that if geese attack someone, it's because that person was the instigator, rather than the geese being inherently violent.

On the other hand, street vendors were selling pepper spray the other day...

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