Retirement - benefits - USA/Canada

[Ditan33]

I am an American citizen living in Canada, receiving USA Social Security and Canadian Pension Plan.  When I file my taxes in the USA, where exactly do I list my USA Social Security  (SSA-1099) since I pay taxes on all my  income in Canada?  I do file a form 2555 for my Canadian Social Security and the foreign exemption of  $107,600 totally eliminates the taxes from that income, but I just can't figure out where to input the money from my USA Social Security to indicate that it's being claimed in Canada.  Would appreciate any help.   Thanks in advance.  

[ReneeM7122]

U.S. social security benefits paid to a resident of Canada are taxed in Canada as if they were benefits under the Canada Pension Plan, except that 15% of the amount of the benefit is exempt from Canadian tax.  IRS Pub 597  As a result of the US-Canada treaty, as long as you're reporting the income on your Canadian tax return, you don't have to report them on a US tax return.

Here is a TurboTax article that explains how to file your US social security benefits in Canada.

Here is another helpful TurboTax article with tax tips for filing overseas.

[Ditan33]

Thanks so much for the response Renee - I was under the impression that I had to file my taxes in the USA every year regardless of regular income or retirement income, or they could penalize me for not doing so or even stop me from crossing the border, which I typically do quite often.  Then again, I think that if my income is low enough, I don't have to report it at all.  Or maybe that changed as well.  Not sure.   It gets confusing.  Plan on reading the articles you provided me links for - thanks again.  

Diane