BIRD TALK

Dear Bird Talk,

We have a rental property in Arizona and file a U.S. tax return each year. In Canada, we have registered (TFSA & RRSP) and non-registered investments in securities, which include U.S.-based companies. We pay withholding tax on our dividends earned. Do we need to add this income and tax paid to our U.S. tax filing? I am concerned about doing so, because we declare our U.S. income on our Canadian tax filing, so then we will be paying Canadian tax on RRSP income and then paying tax on it again when it is withdrawn from the RRSP. On the other hand, I don’t want to improperly file our U.S. returns and risk, in a worst-case scenario, being denied entry to the U.S.

Jeffrey Maw
Parkland County, AB

Ed.: If the registered and non-registered accounts are held in Canadian financial institutions, then the proceeds from dividends earned or the gains realized from the sale of the investments do not need to be reported to the IRS.