Canadian income earned and effect on US Social Security

[Dave111222]

Hello I have a question as follows:

- I am Canadian who has worked in the US for 15 years.  I will be retiring and am eligible for SS benefits. 

- I understand that as I am collecting SS I must complete a US tax return prior to submitting my Canadian tax return.

           Question:  What do I need to claim on the US tax return as income ?  

                                        - as the only "US sourced" income is my Social Security, is this all that I need to claim on

                                           my US tax return as income ?   I assume that I do not need to identify "Canadian                                                       sourced" income such as RRSP income, employment income ?  

I assume that "US sourced" income such as SS is taxed in the US and "Canadian sourced" income is taxed in Canada ???  Is this correct ?    Also, a related question, if my assumption is correct and I work full time back in Canada, will employment income earned in Canada affect my Social Security benefit amount ?  

[DaveF1006]

No. Under the US/Canadian treaty position, your Social Security income is not taxable in the US  but is taxable in Canada if you are a resident of Canada. RRSP income, employment income are also not taxable in the US.

In fact, Article 18 of the US/Canadian Tax Treat states "Pensions and annuities arising in a Contracting State and paid to a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State, but the amount of any pension included in income for the purposes of taxation in that other State shall not exceed the amount that would be included in the first-mentioned State if the recipient were a resident thereof". 

US/Canadian Tax Treaty