Green card holder living in Canada — what part of this actually needs a professional?
Some of it, yes — and we will say so on the call if that is the honest answer. The parts that are worth paying for are the ones where a missed election, a missed deadline or an unverified threshold costs more than the fee: holding the card means filing as a US resident on worldwide income.
What if I have already filed and got it wrong?
That is a common starting point. We re-derive the position, identify whether an amendment or a disclosure route is the right vehicle, and tell you which one preserves the relief that is still available. The order matters more than the speed.
How long will it take?
It depends on the documents rather than on us. Once the pack is complete most filings turn around inside a fortnight; anything that needs a certificate from a tax authority runs on that authority's timetable, which we tell you at the start rather than at the end.
Do I still file US returns if my green card expired?
Almost certainly. The expiry date on the card is about the plastic, not about your status. For tax purposes you remain a lawful permanent resident, and therefore a US resident taxpayer on your worldwide income, until the status is formally given up or taken away through the proper channels. People who moved to Canada and simply let the card lapse are often filing nothing while still being treated as inside the system, and that is the position that has to be unwound before it is discovered. The first step is establishing what your status actually is, not what it feels like.
I live in Canada full time, can I file as a non-resident?
There is a treaty route, but it is not a free choice and it is not only a tax decision. Where both countries treat you as resident, the treaty has tie-breaker tests that can place you in Canada. That position is disclosed on the US return, and a person who holds a card and claims to be a resident of another country under the treaty may be treated as having abandoned the card for immigration purposes. This is why the tax answer and the immigration plan are settled together rather than one at a time.
Does claiming treaty residence put my green card at risk?
It can. The claim is a formal statement that you are, by treaty, a resident of the other country, and the immigration consequence of that statement is separate from its tax effect. For someone who intends to give the card up anyway, that may be acceptable or even useful. For someone hoping to keep it, or to count the years towards naturalisation, it usually is not. Before any such position is taken we ask what you want the card to do for you in five years time, because the answer changes which filing route makes sense.
What are the tax consequences of giving up my green card?
Abandonment is a formal act with a date, and that date ends the status for tax as well as for immigration. It brings a final year with the return split between residence and non-residence. Separately, people who have held the card for long enough are tested under the rules that apply to citizens who renounce, which can treat their assets as sold on the day before departure and tax the deemed gain. Whether those rules bite turns on how long the card was held, on income and net worth, and on whether past filings are complete.
Do I report my Canadian accounts and RRSP to the United States?
As a US resident taxpayer, yes. Foreign financial accounts are reported annually once the combined balances are large enough, and that report is separate from the income tax return, with its own filing route and its own deadline. Accounts you do not own but can sign on are included. A registered retirement plan is a particular case: the treaty allows the growth inside it to be deferred rather than taxed each year, but the position has to be taken properly and the account still appears in the account reporting. The FBAR is the one often missed entirely.
Can I stop filing once I move back to Canada for good?
Not by moving. The obligation follows the status, and the status ends only when the card is formally surrendered or removed. Until then, moving back simply means filing as a US resident from a Canadian address, with Canadian tax credited against the US liability rather than replacing it. If the intention is to be finished with the US system, the sensible order is to bring the filings up to date first, decide when to give the card up, and then make the exit on a date you chose rather than a date that happened to you.
How do I report foreign employment income with no W-2?
A foreign employer does not issue one, and none is required. You report the wages from your own records — payslips, the employment contract, and the foreign tax assessment or return, which is the document a reviewer finds most persuasive — converted to your own currency. Keep the foreign filing with the return, because it is also the proof of foreign tax paid that supports the credit or the exclusion you are claiming. See a US return from abroad.
Does the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion apply to self-employment tax?
No — it does not reduce self-employment tax at all. The exclusion removes income from income tax only, so a US self-employed person abroad can exclude the profit for income-tax purposes and still owe self-employment tax on it. What can relieve that is a totalization agreement with the country where you actually work, which assigns you to one social-security system instead of both. See totalization agreements.
