[Canadian student in USA - paying taxes w/ income from both countries]

15 minutes ago, TakeruK said:

Yes, you must convert the dollar amount. You have two options: For every paycheque, look up the conversion on that day and provide it. This is not a good idea unless you were paid a lump sum once or twice. The better way is to use the official averaged conversion rate and apply that rate. More information and links to these rates here: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/tpcs/ncm-tx/rtrn/cmpltng/rprtng-ncm/lns101-170/104/frgn-eng.html

Awesome! This was my main hindrance for filing a correct report for this year, solved. Thanks again! Hope your move goes successfully!

[Canadian student in USA - paying taxes w/ income from both countries]

33 minutes ago, TakeruK said:

Good luck!! I don't envy your situation, I'm currently planning for a move back to Canada and already the paperwork is piling up!

Man, who would think that a move back to your country of residence would be so hard! Ugh!

Actually I thought of one more thing, if you have any insight: on the Canadian tax forms, it asks about the amount of taxable income made for the year. In regards to making money in US dollars, is there some conversion that is needed? Or do we just use the amount of US dollars? This is just a shot in the dark hoping that you may have experience with this...

[Canadian student in USA - paying taxes w/ income from both countries]

35 minutes ago, TakeruK said:

Oh I thought you had to file a 8843 with every tax return as a F-1 or J-1 student. 

If you are unsure, you should go to H&R Block or some other qualified tax agent that will take financial responsibility for your returns in case of an audit (not sure if the tax service at Walmart covers this). I know that at H&R Block, they will guarantee that they do it right, and will pay for any costs you face due to an incorrect return. They are pricey though, however, H&R Block offers a free audit of past returns. I did this for the past returns and it turns out I missed claiming $30 of credit. You only pay if you want them to file an amended return on your behalf. I chose not to, since it's $100 to do that and I would only get $30 in credit. 

I don't have any good tax advice for you since you are in a more complex situation than I ever was! But I do have some advice on tax filing:

1. If you are seriously concerned about whether or not you need to file amended taxes, I would definitely pay a professional to do it. If I tried to do it myself, I would spend tens of hours and probably still do it wrong. So if you decide you need to do something about the past returns, I would recommend paying someone.

2. The best tax advice comes from professionals who will take financial responsibility for their advice. So people like me on the Internet can provide experiences that help you decide what to do, but we're not experts! Similarly, the international student office are not tax experts. My school's International office has a strict policy of not providing any tax advice because they are not qualified. Instead, they pay for tax lawyers to come to the school and give workshops. I think it's unfortunate that your international office told you what they did, because I think it might be wrong. 

Honestly, you've given me way more than I had to start with. Even with just confirming my 8843 suspicions!

I went to Jackson-Hewitt, they typically just setup in WalMart during tax season to take some of the traffic away from their offices, but I may try H&R block instead because the person I went to really didn't see to know what was happening in regards to my foreign status...they also filed it wrong (as I said) and I had to pay back a LARGE sum of money. So maybe it's time to change my scenery a bit.

Sincerely, thanks for getting me started in the right direction. This entire situation is super overwhelming, but this thread and discussion with you has been very helpful.

[Canadian student in USA - paying taxes w/ income from both countries]

7 hours ago, TakeruK said:

I don't think so? I'm not sure what you mean though.

I read something about a form 8843 (see here https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8843.pdf) about tax exempt individuals and how they basically need to prove that they are exempt. The first year I didn't file any taxes for the US, because I was told by the international student office that since I made no money here I didn't have to. The second year I did file taxes, but I went to a tax service offered at walmart, but there was at least one error (american opportunity grant given to me, which I was then audited for later and asked to give back because my school doesn't file the necessary forms for international students...) and I'm honestly not sure that I was filed as a non-resident alien. Also that second year I did not include my American income on my Canadian tax forms. 
Now with all this new information I'm not sure if I need to try and refile forms for previous years, or if I should just leave it and hope nothing ever comes up...

[Canadian student in USA - paying taxes w/ income from both countries]

6 hours ago, TakeruK said:

This is a complex situation that I don't have full knowledge of. But here are some thoughts that might be helpful:

- If you file as a resident alien in the US, you may not be able to file as a resident of Canada anymore. This means that you cannot claim the TL11 thing and your parents cannot claim your tuition benefits. If you are a non-resident of Canada without Canadian income, you just file a blank return essentially. (My Canadian spouse living in the US with me makes no Canadian income and they do not file in Canada).

- I have no idea what's better for you. I highly suggest a consultation with a tax agent at H&R block or something. 

- You won't go jail!

- I use a Mac with UFile online (not the software). I have always been able to print out the documents. There's an option to download the PDF paper return. Actually, when I file my Canadian taxes with UFile online, they automatically detect that I am not eligible to NETFILE and direct me to the PDF. So look for that. If UFile doesn't say that you can't file online, make sure the info is correct! i.e. ensure that you are using your US address, which indicates them them that you are filing from outside of the country

Thanks for your advice! The most reassuring part is that I won't go to jail...yay!

Also, I knew about none of this for my two previous years at school. The first year I made no american income, the second I made a little of both american and canadian, but luckily I was not married for either of those years. Should I file amended returns in order to cover my bases? 

[Canadian student in USA - paying taxes w/ income from both countries]

Hey everybody,

First time poster, this thread seems super relevant to the situation I'm in, I just wanted to bring it back to life in order to ensure that all of the same policies are still in place.

So here's the list:
1)Canadian studying in the US (I'm only in Undergrad, but I figure everything thats been talked about still applies)
2)The only income I had for the entire 2016 tax season was at my school, I received no money from Canada whatsoever. Was issued a w2.
3)I am however, married to an American. We still haven't decided whether or not we are going to stay in the states, so I don't necessarily want to file jointly which would allow me to file as a resident alien. Is this wise?
4)Also, my parents paid for my school and they are the ones who will reap the benefits of any claiming of tuition. I've gotten my school's official started on the tl11, so that should be taken care of soon, do I just need to fill out the bottom section of that and transfer the funds to my parents?

My next step was to call the CRA reps and contact IRS people, this just seemed to contain a wealth of knowledge so I figured I'd poke in here first before making any decisions. Especially now that I have this information and believe that my tax return, for both countries, was probably filed wrong last year...

What makes this situation even scarier is that the office for Foreign Student Relations at my school doesn't have any tax information at all, and I've just found out about the form 8843...I just really don't want to go to jail in either country!!!

Lastly, it was mentioned earlier the UFile is a good source for filing taxes and that foreign students cannot NETFILE, but need to print out documents. However, I own a Mac and UFile doesn't have a non-NETFILE option for mac...any other suggestions?

Thanks for any information you can provide!