john09_2013

Hello,

I have a weird question i moved to the US as new immigrant G.C from Canada in 2015 and its time to do my taxes in US for first time, my question is:
i dont have a W2 form since i didnt work in USA in 2015 although i worked in Canada , how do i apply to IRS?
do i just consider the income i made in Canada as US income, do the currency equivalent and file to IRS based on that?
i havent filed taxes with the canadian TAX agency yet since i am not sure if i will or not

Thanks,

Pulaski

When did you enter the US on your green card?

Did you earn anything in the US in 2015?

For someone who immigrated during the year, the usual advice is a "dual status" return, taxing your US income, but not your foreign income before you immigrated.

john09_2013

Hello Pulaski,

I came to the US as green card holder in 2015, i didnt work in the US in 2015 but i worked few months in Canada...
i can apply somehow in canada as non resident, but i wanna see if i can apply in canada normally as resident to get refund there,
And, apply in USA as resident as well and in income section use the equivalent of canadian income amount in USD
i don't know if that makes sense, and i am not sure what is dual status means

Pulaski

Dual status means you only pay tax on what you earned after becoming a US resident (for tax purposes). It is more complex, amd you miss out on the standard deduction, but will likely pay less tax overall.

What you earned before entering the US as a permanent resident isn't taxable in the US.

If you entered the US as a permanent resident, then returned to Canada and worked, what you earned in Canada after you became a US resident is taxable in the US, with a tax credit for taxes you paid in Canada.

john09_2013

Hello Pulaski,

I see, so since i worked in Canada in first few months of 2015 then moved to US in 2015, i wont pay taxes in US but will in Canada, now what shall i do for IRS since i never worked anywhere in the world or the US after i become a green card holder? and i don't have a W2? don't i at least report the amount of money i made in Canada to the IRS even though i made it before i become a US immigrant? or shall i write 0 for 2015 as income?

Rete

Did you enter the US as a spouse of a USC? This makes a difference on filing an IRS tax return if your USC spouse had earned income during the 2015 tax year.

My Canadian/US husband didn't have any US income the first year he was here in the US but because I, as a USC, worked we filed joint. He did, however, have Canadian income for part of that year before he entered the US. His Canadian income was reported on form 1116 and he got a tax credit for the Canadian taxes that were withheld from his earned income.

He does not file Canadian income taxes even though he gets a pension and old age benefits from Canada now because Canada does not require a non-resident to file taxes in Canada.

Do you meet the criteria for physical non-residency in Canada since this is your first year here in the US? Just as you have to pass the physical residency test for IRS, Canada should have the same.

If you have no earned US income for 2015, then you don't have to file in the US, only in Canada. That is our take on it.

We take the easy way out and have a CPA do our taxes.

Pulaski

Surely he has to file for 2015 if he was resident in Canada in 2015 and had earnings in Canada in 2015.

john09_2013

Hello Rete,

I arrived to the US as a family immigrant sponsored by parent, i am single....I thought that i always have to file with IRS regardless whether i make money or live in the US since i am a green card holder, to be honest i wasn't even thinking about it until i needed to prove financial income for Obamacare purposes and since i didnt work in US i need to file something with IRS to justify Tax credits i am getting with obamacare 2016

Rete

No, my husband doesn't have to file in Canada. As the spouse of a US citizen, he has always reported his income from Canada (the first year earned income from part of the year earned in Canada plus his military pension; subsequent years US income and Canadian military pension) on our US tax return. Has not filed a Canadian return in 17 years.

The OP can either file his Canadian income on a US return if he has a spouse who has US earned income and he meets the physical presence test for IRS. If he doesn't then he needs to file in Canada which is what I believe I said.

john09_2013

Man, This stuff is confusing, i guess that is the reason even the accountant i went to didnt know

Pulaski

Did he live or work in Canada in 2015?

Please go back and reread my previous post #7, or are you seriously telling me that a Canadian gets a free pass on their tax bill so long as they leave the country before the end of the year?

john09_2013

if you work in Canada you have to pay taxes, but the last year before moving out you can somehow apply to become non resident, but you still have to pay taxes for what u worked...I just don't know how to reconcile that with IRS filing, i guess i will just use my canadian income as income with IRS even if i get taxed twice!

nun

The money you earned in Canada before you entered the US and became a US resident is not US taxable and you should not enter it on your 1040. If you didn't work in the US then you should not have a W2....so not having one is right for you. You might well not need to file US tax if your income is below the threshold. Do you have any investments of other sources of income. How are you living......are family members supporting you? You might have such a low income that you don't qualify for the ACA. Where do you get health insurance. If your income was truly zero you will qualify for Medicaid and should apply for that through your state.

nun

No, No, No. Your Canadian earnings are not liable to US tax if you earned them while you were not a US tax resident. You should pay tax on them in Canada and you are then done......no tax to pay on them in the US. Do not include them on your 1040.

nun

If your husband is a joint US/Canadian citizen then he will always have had to declare Canadian earnings on his annual US return and take a foreign tax credit or just exclude them using the FEIE. If he was an NRA before he came to the US and he then filed jointly with a US citizen he will have had to choose to be treated as aUS resident for the whole year and again used FTC for the Canadian tax on his Canadian earnings.

There are many circumstances where Canada requires non-residents to file Canadian taxes.........Canadian source income is one obvious one as are income payments from an RRSP and RRIP which will have Canadian withholding tax imposed. Canadian social security pensions are indeed free of Canadian tax when paid to a US resident, but are fully US taxable.

As the OP is single and not a US citizen his Canadian earnings prior to coming to the US are not liable to US tax.