Back in the days when I knew virtually nothing about US tax and information reporting, I timidly called a chartered accountant in Victoria and asked if his firm prepared US tax returns.
After a brief pause, he responded “Ahh… yep, I’ve done a couple” I was not reassured.
If you are living outside of, or migrating to or from, the United States, and you take only one piece of advice from me, never, ever hire an accountant who is inexperienced at US taxes, and specifically, at cross-border US taxes, to do your US tax returns. Accountants, both inside and outside the United States, simply do NOT have time to pore over all the instructions and uncover every nuance … or they may charge you an arm and a leg to take that time. The US tax system are highly complex, as are all countries’ tax returns, when a cross-border issue exists!
Even accountants inside the United States will NOT be versed in the nuances of filing US tax returns for Canadian residents. The requirements on cross-border tax returns can be obscure and very detailed. Much of the accountant training for cross-border taxation is full of errors; all cross-border accountants, chartered or not, most largely train themselves and know where and how to do the solid research needed.
One of my early clients contacted me after her Canadian accountant had “figured out” how to do five back years of her US taxes as a favor to her, and the IRS responded with several rather hefty bills! The list of errors and omissions was quite long.
Read the full story on my Testimonials page…
At US Tax Victoria, I love answering client questions to empower them with all their options. US Tax Victoria specializes in cross-border US and Canadian taxes, and helping US citizens steer clear of IRS and CRA difficulties is a favorite aspect of my work!