US and Canada cross border accountant
You earn income, hold accounts or own property on both sides of the border. As your cross border accountant, we prepare the US and Canadian returns together so the numbers match.
Call 855-203-8957Who needs a cross border accountant
Canadians working in the US on a TN or H-1B visa. The IRS counts your US days from the day you arrive. We file a dual-status return, part nonresident and part resident, for that year and a resident return after it.
Snowbirds. We file Form 8840 so you stay a US nonresident.
Dual citizens in Canada. We prepare the US return and the T1 together.
Leaving Canada this year. We plan the departure filings before you move.
US citizens in Canada with years of unfiled US returns. We bring you current under the IRS streamlined procedures.
Canadians working in Massachusetts. We file the state return along with the federal one.
Cross border tax preparation in both countries
We handle cross border tax preparation for the filings each country requires.
US tax filings
Form 1040. US citizens and residents report worldwide income wherever they live.
Form 1040-NR. Canadians who are US nonresidents file it if they do business in the US or owe US tax beyond what the payer withheld.
FBAR, the US foreign bank account report. US persons, meaning citizens and residents, file one when their foreign accounts, Canadian ones included, total more than $10,000 at any point in the year.
Form 8938. US citizens living abroad file it with the return when foreign financial assets pass $200,000 at year end or $300,000 during the year, filing alone. Joint filers double both figures, and the abroad thresholds need a foreign tax home plus the bona fide residence or 330-day test.
Canadian tax filings
T1 return. We prepare the Canadian personal return, including the year your Canadian residency ends.
Form T1135. Canadian residents file it if their specified foreign property had a total cost over C$100,000 at any time in the year. The CRA counts US stocks in any brokerage account and US rental property, and leaves out holdings inside an RRSP, RRIF or TFSA. New residents skip it for their first year.
Departure filings. We report the CRA's deemed sale of certain property for the year your Canadian residency ends.
Using the US Canada tax treaty to reduce double tax
Under the US Canada tax treaty, each country credits tax you paid to the other on income earned there. Each country applies its own limits, and the IRS sets out the US limits in Publication 514. We apply the US Canada cross border tax rules on both returns and claim each credit where it belongs.
RRSPs and RRIFs. Under Rev. Proc. 2014-55, the IRS treats eligible US citizens and residents with these Canadian retirement plans as having elected treaty deferral. You pay no US tax on growth in the plan until you take money out.
Massachusetts and the treaty. Income exempt from federal tax under the treaty is exempt from Massachusetts tax too. On Form 1-NR/PY we report it as wages and deduct it on Schedule Y, with Form 1042-S attached.
Book the call with last year's returns from both countries. We tell you which credits you missed and what each country needs next year.
Form 8840 and the closer connection exception for snowbirds
A Canadian who meets the IRS day count, the substantial presence test, can use the closer connection exception and remain a US nonresident if all of these apply:
You were in the US for fewer than 183 days this year.
You kept your tax home, meaning your main place of work or, without one, where you regularly live, in Canada for the entire year.
You had a closer connection to Canada than to the US.
You do not hold a green card, have not taken steps toward one and have no application pending.
You claim it on Form 8840 by the Form 1040-NR due date, attaching it to your return or mailing it separately if you do not file one.
What departure tax Canada charges when residency ends
When your Canadian tax residency ends, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) treats certain property, such as shares, as sold at fair market value on that day. You report any gain as departure tax, even though you sold nothing.
What Canada asks for when your residency ends
Filings when you emigrate from Canada to the US
1
T1 return
Report world income for the part of the year you were a Canadian resident.
2
Form T1243
Report the deemed sale of property such as shares.
3
Form T1161
File it if the property the CRA counts was worth more than C$25,000 in total when you left.
Source: CRA guidance on dispositions of property for emigrants. Amounts in Canadian dollars.
Alexander Accountants, CPAs Harvard, MA
We calculate the deemed gain from your adjusted cost base, your tax cost in Canada, and the fair market value on the day your residency ends. Then we file Form T1243 and any other forms that apply with your T1.
If your Canadian residency ends this year, book a call before the move so we can plan both returns.
Canada US dual citizen taxes
A dual citizen living in Canada follows the same US filing rules as someone living in the US. We prepare your US return alongside your T1 and claim a US foreign tax credit for Canadian tax on the same income.
Catching up on unfiled US returns from Canada
If you live in Canada and have not filed US returns, we bring you current under the IRS Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures, open as of September 2026.
Three years of returns and six years of FBARs, with the tax and interest paid when we file.
You certify on Form 14653 that the failure was non-willful, such as a good-faith misunderstanding of the rules.
No offshore penalty applies to filers who meet the non-residency test; on a joint return, both spouses must meet it.
The IRS accepts original returns under the foreign procedures, so you qualify without prior filings.
What sets the fee for cross border work
We quote after a short call about your income in each country.
Canadian return. We base the quote on your T1.
Move year. We add departure filings if your Canadian residency ends that year.
Foreign property. We add Form T1135 when you meet its threshold.
US filings. We price the US return and any FBARs on top.
Business owners. We review a US LLC or S corporation before we quote if you have moved to Canada.
You get the quote in writing before we begin.
“20 years with the same company, no complaints. On time every year. Just first class.”
Talk to a Canada US tax accountant
A cross border tax accountant on our team keeps your US and Canadian filings in step each year. Tell us where you live, work and hold accounts, and we tell you what each country needs.
Our team keeps your details confidential.
Reviewed by Xintian Wang, CPA, Harvard, MA. Senior Tax Manager at Alexander Accountants, CPAs.