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Excerpt from CRA website (http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/scrty/frdprvntn/menu-eng.html)

Know how to recognize a scam

Examples of fraudulent communications:

telephone

letter

emails

text messages

online refund forms

There are many fraud types, including new ones invented daily.

Taxpayers should be vigilant when they receive, either by telephone, mail, text message or email, a fraudulent communication that ...

You Should Remember to Change From RRSP to RRIF

1)  Turning 71 this year? Make a final RRSP contribution so you can lower your tax rate and get one last refund before converting to a Registered Retirement Income Fund, mandatory when you hit 71.

2) Cut down the family's tax billby investing in the lower-earning spouse's name so interest and capital gains are taxed at their rate.

3) ...

Now, the State Department interim rule just raised the fee for renunciation of U.S. citizenship to $2,350 from $450. Critics note that it's more than twenty times the average level in other high-income countries.Aug 28, 2014

My intent on this subject is not to cut and paste dense text on tax law. For that there are a myriad of sites including the IRS to Google. This is to address the common concerns from every day clients who pass through my office. ...

MarketsNews & Commentary

Mutual funds: Beware, dual citizensMar 27, 2014 by Gordon Pape 

With all the concerns about the long arm of the IRS reaching into Canada to grab U.S. citizens residing here (including dual citizens) now comes another worry. It’s mutual funds and the message is simple – if you are an American, don’t buy any Canadian-based funds.

They’re conside...

The reporting of foreign bank and financial accounts (FBAR) has changed for 2014.. and not for the better.

If you have a financial interest in or signature authority over a foreign financial account, including a bank account, brokerage account, mutual fund, trust, or other type of foreign financial account, exceeding certain thresholds, the Bank Secrecy Act may require you to report the account yearly to the Internal Revenue Service by filing electronically a Financial Cr...

Retirement and RRSPs

Dual citizen? Don't ignore the tax rules when retirement planning

DAVID ISRAELSON

Special to The Globe and Mail

Published Sunday, Feb. 02 2014, 4:45 AM EST

Every year, when Anu Nijhawan looks at her investments and her retirement planning, she also looks over her shoulder,

“I’m a dual citizen of Canada and the United States, so I pe...

The Globe and Mail

February 5, 2014 Ottawa to give IRS information on Americans living in Canada By BARRIE MCKENNA

Officials say Canada secured significant concessions after long negotiations with the U.S. Ottawa will start routinely sharing vast amounts of financial data about Americans living in Canada with U.S. tax authorities.

Canada and the United States signed an agreement Wednesday that paves th...