Do I need to file my Taxes as Business or Individual?
Feb 7th 2004, 11:44 am
#1
Guest
Posts: n/a
Do I need to file my Taxes as Business or Individual?
Greetings,
I have a some questions about filing for my taxes for the financial year of
2003. I presently live in Windsor and joined my current job in Windsor,
Canada in December 2003 as a Software Consultant at an hourly rate. I get
paid every month by the consulting firm which hired and put me into the
project at their client site. I registered a business in my name in December
2003 and they write me a check in the name of my business every month as my
salary.
I received my first salary in January 2004 for the services performed by me
in the month of December 2003. Do I need to file my taxes in Canada for 2003
as a business or my salary received in January 2004 will be counted towards
my business income for fiscal year 2004. The reason I want to know about
this is because filing my taxes in 2003 as a business will cost my
considerably for the accountant's tax filing fees. If I just file as an
individual then the tax filing expenses are considerably less.
My other question concerns my filing taxes in the US as an individual. I had
worked in 2001 in the state of Michigan, USA and was laid off from my
previous job in October 2001. Please note that my job in Michigan was as a
full-time employee and not hourly worker. The state of Michigan paid me
unemployment compensation of about US $ 2000 in the year 2003 and State of
Michigan, Dept. of Labour sent me form 1099G for the year 2003 mentioning
that amount. Do I need to file my taxes in USA also as 1040 NR or some other
category? Do I have to include this amount of US $2000 in my Canadian tax
return for 2003 as income?
Your advise will be very much appreciated.
Regards,
MK
I have a some questions about filing for my taxes for the financial year of
2003. I presently live in Windsor and joined my current job in Windsor,
Canada in December 2003 as a Software Consultant at an hourly rate. I get
paid every month by the consulting firm which hired and put me into the
project at their client site. I registered a business in my name in December
2003 and they write me a check in the name of my business every month as my
salary.
I received my first salary in January 2004 for the services performed by me
in the month of December 2003. Do I need to file my taxes in Canada for 2003
as a business or my salary received in January 2004 will be counted towards
my business income for fiscal year 2004. The reason I want to know about
this is because filing my taxes in 2003 as a business will cost my
considerably for the accountant's tax filing fees. If I just file as an
individual then the tax filing expenses are considerably less.
My other question concerns my filing taxes in the US as an individual. I had
worked in 2001 in the state of Michigan, USA and was laid off from my
previous job in October 2001. Please note that my job in Michigan was as a
full-time employee and not hourly worker. The state of Michigan paid me
unemployment compensation of about US $ 2000 in the year 2003 and State of
Michigan, Dept. of Labour sent me form 1099G for the year 2003 mentioning
that amount. Do I need to file my taxes in USA also as 1040 NR or some other
category? Do I have to include this amount of US $2000 in my Canadian tax
return for 2003 as income?
Your advise will be very much appreciated.
Regards,
MK
Feb 7th 2004, 4:45 pm
#2
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Do I need to file my Taxes as Business or Individual?
The world rejoiced as "MK" <[email protected]> wrote:
> I have a some questions about filing for my taxes for the financial
> year of 2003. I presently live in Windsor and joined my current job
> in Windsor, Canada in December 2003 as a Software Consultant at an
> hourly rate. I get paid every month by the consulting firm which
> hired and put me into the project at their client site. I registered
> a business in my name in December 2003 and they write me a check in
> the name of my business every month as my salary.
> I received my first salary in January 2004 for the services
> performed by me in the month of December 2003. Do I need to file my
> taxes in Canada for 2003 as a business or my salary received in
> January 2004 will be counted towards my business income for fiscal
> year 2004. The reason I want to know about this is because filing my
> taxes in 2003 as a business will cost my considerably for the
> accountant's tax filing fees. If I just file as an individual then
> the tax filing expenses are considerably less.
If the check is for "your salary," then reality may be that you're
actually an employee of the consulting firm, and you'd receive a T4
from them.
Is your "business" a corporation? Or is it just you operating as a
'business.' That makes a _huge_ difference; what you have said thus
far doesn't point clearly to answers to that sort of thing.
It may be cheaper to file one way than another; if that's not the
_right_ way to file, you may save a little money but buy yourself a
lot of grief. More about that later...
> My other question concerns my filing taxes in the US as an
> individual. I had worked in 2001 in the state of Michigan, USA and
> was laid off from my previous job in October 2001. Please note that
> my job in Michigan was as a full-time employee and not hourly
> worker. The state of Michigan paid me unemployment compensation of
> about US $ 2000 in the year 2003 and State of Michigan, Dept. of
> Labour sent me form 1099G for the year 2003 mentioning that
> amount. Do I need to file my taxes in USA also as 1040 NR or some
> other category? Do I have to include this amount of US $2000 in my
> Canadian tax return for 2003 as income?
Take a close look a the quality of discussion on this newsgroup, and
ask yourself, "Would I take advice from these random people off the
Internet?"
Questions about residency can get pretty thorny, particularly since
the respective laws in Canada and the US are different.
Pointing at one of the easier bits, the US considers that all citizens
and residents must pay taxes on their world income. In contrast,
Canada assesses taxes on all residents on their world income. The
distinction there is that Canadians that are resident elsewhere aren't
assessed for taxes. But expatriate Americans are another story...
Listen to the typical nonsense you hear here, and you may get yourself
into some BAD trouble, costing you considerable grief and money.
If you are living in Windsor, it should be very easy to find tax
accountants there that are familiar with how to deal with cross-border
situations such as what you are in. Lots of people live in Windsor
and work in the Detroit area. Pay them a few hundred bucks and you
should get useful answers that will keep you out of trouble...
--
Life's a duck, and then you sigh.
> I have a some questions about filing for my taxes for the financial
> year of 2003. I presently live in Windsor and joined my current job
> in Windsor, Canada in December 2003 as a Software Consultant at an
> hourly rate. I get paid every month by the consulting firm which
> hired and put me into the project at their client site. I registered
> a business in my name in December 2003 and they write me a check in
> the name of my business every month as my salary.
> I received my first salary in January 2004 for the services
> performed by me in the month of December 2003. Do I need to file my
> taxes in Canada for 2003 as a business or my salary received in
> January 2004 will be counted towards my business income for fiscal
> year 2004. The reason I want to know about this is because filing my
> taxes in 2003 as a business will cost my considerably for the
> accountant's tax filing fees. If I just file as an individual then
> the tax filing expenses are considerably less.
If the check is for "your salary," then reality may be that you're
actually an employee of the consulting firm, and you'd receive a T4
from them.
Is your "business" a corporation? Or is it just you operating as a
'business.' That makes a _huge_ difference; what you have said thus
far doesn't point clearly to answers to that sort of thing.
It may be cheaper to file one way than another; if that's not the
_right_ way to file, you may save a little money but buy yourself a
lot of grief. More about that later...
> My other question concerns my filing taxes in the US as an
> individual. I had worked in 2001 in the state of Michigan, USA and
> was laid off from my previous job in October 2001. Please note that
> my job in Michigan was as a full-time employee and not hourly
> worker. The state of Michigan paid me unemployment compensation of
> about US $ 2000 in the year 2003 and State of Michigan, Dept. of
> Labour sent me form 1099G for the year 2003 mentioning that
> amount. Do I need to file my taxes in USA also as 1040 NR or some
> other category? Do I have to include this amount of US $2000 in my
> Canadian tax return for 2003 as income?
Take a close look a the quality of discussion on this newsgroup, and
ask yourself, "Would I take advice from these random people off the
Internet?"
Questions about residency can get pretty thorny, particularly since
the respective laws in Canada and the US are different.
Pointing at one of the easier bits, the US considers that all citizens
and residents must pay taxes on their world income. In contrast,
Canada assesses taxes on all residents on their world income. The
distinction there is that Canadians that are resident elsewhere aren't
assessed for taxes. But expatriate Americans are another story...
Listen to the typical nonsense you hear here, and you may get yourself
into some BAD trouble, costing you considerable grief and money.
If you are living in Windsor, it should be very easy to find tax
accountants there that are familiar with how to deal with cross-border
situations such as what you are in. Lots of people live in Windsor
and work in the Detroit area. Pay them a few hundred bucks and you
should get useful answers that will keep you out of trouble...
--
Life's a duck, and then you sigh.
