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  1. #11
    EllasMum's Avatar
    EllasMum is offline Platinum level (1000+ posts)
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    Quote Originally Posted by mom2binsd View Post
    I thought that the US doesn't recognize dual citizenship...do you have proof of Canadian citizenship (like a Passport), then you should be fine I would think. I would think the law is more for folks who are currently working but recently moved from the US????
    Yep, the US does recognize dual citizenship. My sister and I had to specify, at some point (age? specific year? I forget!), whether we wanted to maintain dual citizenship, relinquish our US citizenship, or relinquish our Canadian citizenship. I'm not sure why - I think if you were born before a certain year (I want to say 1979...) you were allowed to keep dual citizenship. We both opted to keep the dual citizenship, and never gave it much thought after that. I do recognize that having citizenship (in ANY country) does come with obligations and responsibilities, but I guess at the time, I was too young to understand that, and my parents never thought to look into it any further. Hooray for the media, or I would likely never have known about the taxes.

    The law is pretty clear - if you are an American citizen, living abroad, you are required to file an American income tax return. It doesn't make any difference how long you lived in the USA - if you hold American citizenship, you have to file the return. There is an agreement in place, with Canada, anyway, to protect folks from having to pay double the taxes, but over a certain amount, that is exactly what ends up happening. For once, making less money is a good thing.
    ~~~
    Susan
    DD 08-2005
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    Cure FOP - www.ifopa.org
    ~~~

  2. #12
    EllasMum's Avatar
    EllasMum is offline Platinum level (1000+ posts)
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    Quote Originally Posted by egoldber View Post
    If your taxes are simple and you will not owe taxes, I would not use an accountant.

    Have you called the IRS help line? I have had to call them before for a relative who had not filed tax returns (who did not owe any taxes) and they were incredibly nice and helpful. Odd I know, since the IRS has a terrible rep. Definitely call before the spring when they are not as busy.
    My taxes should be pretty straightforward - they are when I file them in Canada, anyway. I should not have to pay anything as my income is well below the allowable. I have not got to the point of filing, yet... but thanks for the suggestion - I will keep the IRS help line close at hand, for sure! I do have an accountant friend who has no specific experience with the American tax system, but I may take her out to Starbucks and ask (beg!) her for assistance anyway.
    ~~~
    Susan
    DD 08-2005
    Impatiently awaiting adoption match!
    Cure FOP - www.ifopa.org
    ~~~

  3. #13
    lowrioh's Avatar
    lowrioh is offline Sapphire level (2000+ posts)
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    I also had a very good experience with the IRS help line. We had an issue where the automated system goofed up and claimed we owed $10K in back taxes 15 min on the phone with the help line and it was completely cleared up and they sent us a letter affirming that we didn't owe the back taxes.
    They were very, very helpful. I think that after all the bad press in the past that they have been very focused on increasing the quality of their customer service.
    ___________________________________
    Mother to DD-A July 2008
    and DD-B-November 2010

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