FinCen filing and residency

[kiri]

I live and work in Canada, but I believe I am still a VA domiciliary resident, after living and earning income there 2013-2016.  How do I file with TT US? As a non-resident? I am required to file there until I can terminate my VA residency. How should I answer TT questions like "what was your state of residence?" and "in which state did you make money?" 

And when I file a FinCen/FBAR for current years of only Canadian income, do I still need to file a regular income tax report through TurboTax, or only the FinCen 114 form itself through the FinCen website?

[pk]

@kiri , 

(a) are you a US person ( Citizen/GreenCard ) ?

(b) When did you move to Canada ?  Is this your  first year dealing with FBAR and FATCA regs ?

(c) Are you talking about 2024 calendar/tax year or you are preparing for 2025 ?

(d) If you are a US citizen, do you still vote in VA or what ?

Note that generally , when a taxpayer's tax home is foreign, only US persons come under FBAR and FATCA regs.

I will circle back once I hear from you --yes ?

[kiri]

(a) yes I'm a citizen (dual Can-Am citizenship)

(b) I moved to Canada in 2016

(c) Backfiling for 2021-2024 because I didn't realise I needed to keep filing after emigrating

(d) I cancelled my voter registration, maybe I'm not a resident anymore, but from what I read on the VA state website, a VA resident living abroad is still legally a resident until I've cancelled my domiciliary residency?

Thanks for the help

[pk]

@kiri , 

1.   To determine if you have to file a return for VA, please consider  viewing/ familiarizing your self with  the  tax code of VA -- specifically  section 58.1- 302  -- definitions  and   58.1-303 (B).   My reading suggests that absent your having a strong connection to Virginia ( financially or otherwise ),  there is no case for a requirement for you to file a VA tax return. See Here -->    Code of Virginia - Title 58.1. Taxation

2. Yes , you are correct that as a citizen of US. you are required  to file a yearly return and be taxed on world income.  Because  your tax home is foreign ( Canada), your active earnings  ( wages , self-employment, sole proprietor etc. ) are eligible for  "Foreign Earned Income Exclusion"  ( FEIE) using form 2555.  Any so unexcluded income, passive income etc. are also eligible for Foreign Tax Credit under  double taxation clause in the US-Canada Tax Treaty.  TurboTax is perfectly capable of helping you filing these forms.  { My personal pref. in such usage is  Windows Home & Business }.

3.  And yes , you also come under the FBAR  ( form 114, on-line filing only , at FinCen.gov ) and FATCA  ( form 8938 along with your return ) . Please see this  for requirements  & comparison thereof ---->  Comparison of Form 8938 and FBAR requirements | Internal Revenue Service

4. To prepare and file the missing earlier years ( return ) , you need to either  buy/download TurboTax software for those years or seek professional tax preparer help.  TurboTax On-line is for the current year and e-file service is just about stopped for the calendar year.

5. My strong suggestion would be to file the form 114 ASAP, explaining why you had not filed earlier ones --- you are more likely to be  meeting the requirements for this. Also the penalty for not filing when required to  ( willfully ignoring) is quite onerous.

Is there more I can do for you ?