Tax planning involves working together to help you arrange your affairs so as to minimize taxes wherever possible, and arrive at the optimal alternative for you. For example, you may be considering a move overseas and wonder how your income tax bill would differ if you moved in the current year versus in the following year. Or you may be wondering whether you should set up an offshore corporation or a trust for business or investment purposes. You may want to know what is the most efficient asset holding structure for you, taking into account the income taxes imposed by all countries that would have the right to tax your activities. These are all issues that can be addressed by working with a professional tax accountant.

It is important to undertake tax planning early to ensure that you set up your affairs in the most tax-efficient manner. While sometimes “after-the-fact” tax planning can correct initial tax planning that was done poorly, or not at all, other times it is too late and cannot be of much help. As a tax accountant specializing in international tax consulting, I have seen situations with both Canadian and U.S. tax planning clients in which they engaged my services later than they should have and, as a result, ended up paying more taxes than they would have otherwise.

Services that I provide include:

• Federal and state income tax returns
• FinCEN Form 114 Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR)
• Form 8938 Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets
• Form 5471 Information Return of U.S. Persons With Respect To Certain Foreign Corporations
• Form 3520-A Annual Information Return of Foreign Trust With a U.S. Owner
• Form 3520 Annual Return To Report Transactions With Foreign Trusts and Receipt of Certain Foreign Gifts
• Form 8891 U.S. Information Return for Beneficiaries of Certain Canadian Registered Retirement Plans
• Review of tax residency rules with client
• Review of departure tax rules with client
• Preparation of tax projections to estimate the amount of the departure tax
• Preparation of tax calculations to compare tax under resident versus non-resident status
• Review of the non-resident tax withholding rules with client
• Preparation of projected tax on Canadian-source income after expatriation
• Analysis of the optimal method of paying Canadian income tax as a non-resident (via tax withholding or alternative filing of income tax return)
• Preparation and filing of tax returns and other forms with the CRA as applicable, including:
  • Final income tax return as a resident (a part-year return)
  • First income tax return as a non-resident (a part-year return)
  • Form NR73 Determination of Residency Status, leaving Canada
  • Form T1161 List of Properties by an Emigrant of Canada
  • Form T1244 Election, Under Subsection 220(4.5) of the Income Tax Act, to Defer the Payment of Tax on Income Relating to the Deemed Disposition of Property
  • Form T2061 Election by an Emigrant to Report Deemed Dispositions of Property and Any Resulting Capital Gain or Loss