Does an US resident with RRSP rollover need to file any IRS form for the 2018 tax year?

[mm2txus]

I'm a US resident with RRSP account in Canada.  If I rollover my RRSP from one Canadian institution to another Canadian institution, then do I need to file any IRS form?  If the answer is yes, then what IRS form do I need to use?

[KarenJ · Accepted solution]

No, there is no reporting necessary to the IRS for an RRSP rollover.  In 2014 the IRS dropped Form 8891 that Canadians needed to file to get a tax deferral on their earnings.

Under this change, many Americans and Canadians with registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs) and registered retirement income funds (RRIFs) now automatically qualify for tax deferral similar to that available to participants in U.S. individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and 401(k) plans. In general, U.S. citizens and resident aliens qualify for this special treatment as long as they filed and continue to file U.S. returns for any year they held an interest in an RRSP or RRIF and include any distributions as income on their U.S. returns.

Please note that you may have a foreign bank account or foreign asset account reporting on the fbar or Form 8938.

https://www.irs.gov/businesses/comparison-of-form-8938-and-fbar-requirements

[mm2txus]

Thanks KarenJ for your answer.  So RRSP rollover does not count as distribution?

In Turbo Tax under Federal Taxes -> Wages & Income, when I check the "I received a distribution or a loan from a foreign trust" option in the "Tell Us About Any Foreign Trusts, Select any that applied to you for 2018:" page.  Turbo Tax displays "You May Need to File Form 3520"

[KarenJ]

Did you rollover your RRSP or did you receive a distribution?  A rollover is a transfer of funds from one retirement account to another.  It is not a distributions.  Canadian Retirement Plans: Transactions from an RRSP (Canadian Registered Retirement Plan) or an RRIF (Canadian Registered Retirement Income Fund) do not qualify as transfers which must be reported on Form 3520.  <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.taxesforexpats.com/expat-tax-advice/Form3520.html">https://www.taxesforexpats.com/expat-...>
You may need to file an FBAR and a Form 8938.  <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.irs.gov/businesses/comparison-of-form-8938-and-fbar-requirements">https://www.irs.gov/bu...>

[mm2txus]

I did the rollover.  Thanks again Karen.

[lzhou172_tt]

Hi KarenJ: I am in the similar situation. I am a US resident with RRSP in Canada. I did RRSP distribution in 2018 and need to pay tax besides the 25% non-resident tax withheld by Canada. How do I enter the income into my Federal and State (California) tax return in TurboTax?  For California tax, do I need to do any adjustment