Canadian Tax Return - Working on US pay roll - Staying in Montreal

I have moved to Montreal from US on September 2020, I am still on my US payroll being paid in USD. I have paid my taxed in US. I am trying to figure out a way to pay taxes in Canada. Both FED and Province Tax (Quebec).

I have stayed in Canada for 120 days in 2020. Do I still have to pay taxes in Canada?

Please advice if you have any recommendation for Tax service in Montreal?

Appreciate your help. Thanks in Advance.

I’m a Canadian/Quebec CPA with considerable international tax experience, (Although I don’t specialize in personal income tax), but I wouldn’t dream of doing my own personal return under these circumstances. There are far too many permutations and pitfalls involved … and there are differences depending on which province and state you reside in. Bite the bullet and give your personal return to a qualified international personal income tax professional. The potential cost of doing it wrong is significant. It can be difficult to evaluate just who is qualified to handle this matter because most tax services will claim to know all about the convoluted regulations governing cross border transactions … but they don’t. Go to one of the big four firms (Deloitte, KPMG, Ernst & Young, PWC), or at least to the next tier, BDO or Grant Thornton for example. All have offices in Montreal. It may cost you more, but you will save money in the end, and you’ll dodge the bullet of unintended consequences. It’s unwise attempt this yourself.

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Bite the bullet and give your personal return to a qualified international personal income tax professional. The potential cost of doing it wrong is significant. It can be difficult to evaluate just who is qualified to handle this matter because most tax services will claim to know all about the convoluted regulations governing cross border transactions … but they don’t. Go to one of the big four firms (Deloitte, KPMG, Ernst & Young, PWC), or at least to the next tier, BDO or Grant Thornton for example. All have offices in Montreal. It may cost you more, but you will save money in the end, and you’ll dodge the bullet of unintended consequences. It’s unwise attempt this yourself.

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Do you know any individual qualified expert doing both US and CA taxes?
instead of a big company like you mentioned…

Hi Srhere,

No, I don’t have a name I would feel comfortable recommending for combined US/CDN personal taxes, other than the majors I mentioned earlier. Sorry.
If you want additional info you can email me at dw@commercecare.com.

Hi,

I have reached out to a couple of TAX service here in Montreal. Of which two can understand atleast what situation I am in. The rest are not able to comprehend. I am working with both to see who can help me get this straight. You can check with them.

As I said I am still working with them, not have filed my taxes. So its not like they are the save heaven for tax filing I am recommending.

Accotax in montreal
H & R block.

Will update here if I get to know nay additional information.

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I shudder to think about anyone using H&R Block for this type of return. Most of their regular preparers do not even hold professional accounting qualifications. Ditto Accotax. PLEASE consider biting the bullet and giving your multi-national tax returns to one of the big four, or the next tier, of large multinational accounting firms. The difference in price doesn’t come closer to covering the cost and aggravation that will hound you for years if this is not done right. I’m a Canadian CPA with multinational experience. I’ve seen horror stories that are just sad. Be wise.

@panditji @am1
I and my spouse were working in US and Canada for 2020… Spouse was never in US physically in 2020 and got all salary in CAD… I got salary in USD…

Can you advise if we should:

  1. File as Married Jointly in US first, and then file both of us in CAN?
  2. File only spouse in CAN first, then file both of us as Joint in US and then file mine in CAN?
  3. File both of us in CAN, then file both of us in US?
  4. File separately married for only me in US, then file both of us CAN?

Not able to figure out which out of these 4 will have lowest taxes vs paying extra taxes just for wrong sequence of filing between US and CAN…

Thanks.

Your filing requirements will depend on each of your residency. I’m unable to offer personalized advice but if your goal is to minimize your tax burden then

  • Married Filing Jointly and reporting only US income to America and
  • Your spouse filing taxes in Canada
  • You not filing taxes in Canada

Now this would work if your residency criteria lines up and you are US citizens or GC holders.

Otherwise you may not be able to file jointly in the US if your spouse didn’t live with you in America and the partner with American income would need to file as Married filing Separately.

Given that tax day is due in a week atleast in Canada. You should talk to someone who is more qualified than I am or use a software program to file your taxes as soon as possible.

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