Do I have to file at home while living in Nigeria?
For most people the answer turns on whether the ties that made them resident have actually ended. For a US citizen or green-card holder it does not: the return is due in Nigeria exactly as it would be at home. Everything else on the file follows from which of those you are.
Is there a treaty between my country and Nigeria?
Treaty networks change with each protocol and each multilateral-instrument position, so we confirm the treaty in force for your specific year with the issuing authority rather than relying on a published summary. Where there is none, unilateral relief and domestic law do the work instead.
I own property in Nigeria. Where is the rent taxed?
Where the property is. That is close to universal, and it usually arrives as withholding on the gross rent rather than as a return on the profit — which is why the election onto a net basis, where Nigeria offers one, is normally the first thing to check. Your home country taxes the same rent and credits what was paid.
Do I have to report my Nigerian company shares in Canada?
Almost certainly, and the reporting is separate from whether the company has paid you anything. A Nigerian company in which a Canadian or US resident holds an interest is a foreign corporation for home reporting purposes, and the home country asks about the holding itself — ownership, value, and in some cases the company's own results — not only about dividends received. People are caught out because they reason from income: no distribution, nothing to report. The obligation runs on ownership. Establish what you hold, in what form, and from what date, then deal with the information return on its own terms.
Does a family business in Nigeria count as mine for reporting?
It depends on what you actually hold, which in family arrangements is often less clear than anyone assumes. Shares registered in your name, shares held for you by a relative, a share of profits without any shareholding, and a directorship with no equity are four different positions with four different reporting answers. The first piece of work is usually documentary rather than analytical: finding the incorporation records, the share register and whatever written agreements exist. Where nothing is written down, the family's own understanding needs to be recorded before it can be reported, because the report has to describe something.
How do I convert naira income for my Canadian return?
Income is reported in the home currency, converted by reference to the rate for the relevant time — generally the rate on the day a transaction occurred, or an average rate for the period where that is appropriate to the type of income. The method matters most where the naira has moved sharply during the year, because an average and a transaction-date conversion can produce visibly different results on the same underlying receipts. Pick a defensible basis, document the source of the rates, and apply it consistently year to year rather than choosing afresh each time.
I pay tax in Nigeria — will I be taxed twice?
Not usually twice on the same income, but relief has to be claimed and it has limits. The home country generally allows a credit for foreign tax paid on income it also taxes, capped by the home tax on that same income. Two practical problems arise. Evidence: the credit needs proof of tax actually paid, which means assessments and receipts rather than a payslip. And matching: the two countries may treat the same receipt as arising in different years or in different categories, so the credit does not always line up neatly with the income. Both are manageable if the paperwork is collected as you go.
What about rental income from a property in Nigeria?
Rental income arising in Nigeria is reportable at home if you are resident there, whether or not the rent ever leaves the country. The home return wants gross rents and the expenses actually incurred, computed under home rules rather than local ones, which can mean the deductible figure differs from what the Nigerian position shows. Where the property was inherited or built out over years, the other thing to establish early is cost. You will need it eventually on a sale, and reconstructing it long afterwards is far harder than recording it now.
Do I need to report a Nigerian bank account if it is small?
Reporting thresholds exist, but they are not the place to start, because several different obligations can attach to the same account and they do not share a threshold or a definition. Accounts held for a family business, accounts you can sign on but do not own, and accounts holding proceeds you have not yet reported all raise questions of their own. Begin by listing every account you hold or control, with balances through the year, and then apply the tests to that list. An account left off because it felt too small to matter is a common cause of an amended disclosure later.
How does a foreign tax credit carryover work?
Credit you could not use because of the limitation does not disappear. It carries back one year and then forward, within its own category and tracked year by year, and is applied after the current year's credit — oldest first. Two things kill it in practice: no Form 1116 in the year the excess arose, so nothing was ever computed; and no foreign income in that category later, so there is no limitation to absorb it. See Form 1116.
What is the difference between FBAR and Form 8938?
They overlap but are not the same report. The FBAR goes to FinCEN and covers foreign financial *accounts*; Form 8938 goes to the IRS with the return and covers a wider class of specified foreign financial *assets*, with thresholds that vary by filing status and whether you live abroad. Many people must file both for the same accounts, and satisfying one does nothing for the other. See filing both.
