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Hi Allan,
Your blog is just fantastic. I read most of the previous Q&A but I still have few more questions.
We are Canadian citizens and moved to the US in Sept 2016 and sold our house before moving. We have filed Canadian taxes for both 2016 and 2017 since I got some money from my previous employer last year. We don't have any primary ties but have a bunch of secondary ties like bank accounts, credit cards, GICs, trading accounts, RRSPs and TFSA.
Now, we're thinking to stay here 3 more years and so want to declare non-residency. We would like to keep our RRSPs and TFSA trading account(current value of less than $25,000). We're not sure what to do with GICs and other trading accounts. Can we keep them for now, since we don't need them for another 2-3 years? What are the obligations of keeping them and selling them later from outside? How do the tax rules work? What is the best way in my situation?
Please let me know...thank you in advance...
Hi,
Now that you have officially decided to stay in the US, you should file a departure return with the CRA for the 2018 tax year. Departure tax does not apply to TFSA, RRSP, Cash or GICs.
I suggest that you close down your TFSA, because TFSAs are taxable in the US and have additional reporting requirements with the IRS. You can keep your GICs and RRSPs. If you have non-registered trading accounts, then you have two options: (a) sell the investments and close down the accounts. Capital gains tax will be payable on profits made, or (b) keep the investments and pay departure tax.