Spouse in Canada - Where to start for Tax Information?

rgillespie · ‎January 8, 2022

Hi, my wife and I live in the USA with our teenage kids and have used TurboTax for years. We are all dual citizens with Canada as well. We are looking at having my wife move to Canada next school year with one of our kids. We have always filed married filing jointly in the USA. My wife may or may not look for a job when she is in Canada, I am the primary income earner in our family and will be staying in the USA.

I am not sure where to start to try to figure this out. We have not lived in Canada for 25 years and I do not know what next years tax situation will look like with me living in the USA with one child, and her living in Canada with the other. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

rjs · ‎January 8, 2022

My suggestion is that you find a tax professional who specializes in U.S.-Canada cross-border taxes.

You can file your U.S. tax return as married filing jointly even if you are not living together.

TurboTax has products for Canadian taxes, and there is a separate support community for Canadian TurboTax. But with your very unusual situation I think you will be better off with one-on-one personal help from a professional with experience in this area.

TurboTax Canada

TurboTax Support Community for Canada

rgillespie · ‎January 9, 2022

Good morning,

Thanks for the quick response @rjs . Any suggestions for cross-border tax resources for British Columbia / Washington State? I know I can google to look for a tax professional but thought I would ask to see if anyone has had a good experience with any specific provider. Thanks again!

rjs · ‎January 9, 2022

We can't recommend specific tax professionals here. Ask for recommendations from people you know who file both U.S. and Canadian tax returns.

You can search for an Enrolled Agent at the link below on the National Association of Enrolled Agents web site. They are U.S. tax experts, but if you search in Seattle, or smaller places closer to the border, I'm sure you will be able to find people who also handle Canadian taxes. You have to ask them, or check online information about specific people.

https://taxexperts.naea.org/