BirdTalk Dear Bird Talk, Loved the drop-dead gorgeous woman on the cover of the spring edition, but cannot understand how you would let her ride on a bike like that with bare feet. This is very dangerous. Can you please confirm that she made it through the photo shoot without losing any of her toes? P.S. Always enjoy your magazine. Ron Doering Ottawa, ON Ed.: And we always enjoy your letters, too. To reassure everyone, I would like to state that no toes or any other injuries were incurred in the manufacture of our cover. Dear Bird Talk, In addition to where we winter, we also have a U.S. rental property and have been filing 8840 and 1040-NR each year. The CPA charges $300 to file just the two 8840s. As it is fairly easy to complete, I would like to file themmyself, but does it have to be filed at the same time as the accountant files the 1040-NR, or can I send it in separately? I don’t think that the accountant will allowme to send her the 8840s I completed. Ester Leeson Port Rowan, ON Ed.: $300 is ridiculous – save your money and file them yourselves. The Form 8840 can be filed anytime up to June 15. Dear Bird Talk, Do I need to fill out the 8840 if I filed a U.S. income tax return? Randy James Winnipeg, MB Ed.: If you file a U.S. income tax return every year, it is not necessary to file the Form 8840. It is totally voluntary, in any event. I would personally file it though, as I think of it as a form of insurance to keep the government away. Dear Bird Talk, Question #28 − Did you have any income from U.S. sources? I own a Canadian small business (corporation) and it was paid by a U.S. company for my consulting in 2019. Should I answer ‘Yes’? Or did the small business have the revenue from a U.S. source, but my income was frommy Canadian small business (corporation)? Frank Entwistle Owen Sound, ON Ed.: You can truthfully say that you had no income from a U.S. source. It was income to your company. This is a very fine line and I would make sure that you had serious legal and accounting advice on “taking a job away from an American citizen.” This designation could get you barred from the U.S., so caution is warranted; or a green card, of course. Dear Bird Talk, Having just returned from six months in the U.S., I undertook to, once again, fill in Form 8840. This year, I note that the I.R.S. is seeking, in question #13, whether or not I filed tax returns for 2019, and that I had to provide verification. First of all, later in the form on Question #27, I stated that ALLMY INCOME came from Canadian sources. Second, I could find nowhere on the CRA website, under “My Account,” a section where I could copy a statement showing that my taxes had been paid in full for 2019. All I could find are the Notices of Assessment saying that I still owed taxes for 2016, 17, 18, & 2019. I think it is time that we, as Canadians wishing to SPEND and not EARNmoney in the states should not have to prove that we paid our Canadian taxes. This is going too far. Leigh Spicer Edmonton, AB Ed.: Just answer “Yes” to the question. They do ask for verification to be submitted and you could simply send the most recent statement (assessment) from the CRA as that verification. Or, you could send the first two pages of your tax return, as well. They will follow up if they want or need more, but I think that the chances of that happening are close to zero. When I first saw this cover, I immediately thought of my joyful childhood days, 60-odd years ago. We were as poor as church mice, but a few of our friends did have old bicycles and that is exactly how we rode them. Someone was sitting on the handlebars and often, someone else was sitting on the seat while you drove standing up. We had no thought of safety, were usually barefoot and, if we saw someone with a helmet on their head, we would probably think that it was an alien. Wonderful, carefree days without a worry in the world. But now, back to reality − our picture depicts dangerous behaviour, although we had no idea that it was dangerous way back then; the last thing that we want to do at CSANews is to promote dangerous behaviour. I was not really thinking when I chose this picture – I was remembering. We had more than a hundred e-mails to Bird Talk and many, many telephone calls chiding our choice of covers and we thank you for taking the time to bring it to our attention. I don’t want to get into any more trouble, but the phrase “poor as a church mouse” is more than 300 years old and was followed by, “…or an honest lawyer.” I laughed, but will definitely be in trouble with my lawyer friends. We also got many, many calls and e-mails thanking us for keeping our Medipac insurance in place and in full effect during the hectic March, April and May 2020 months of COVID-19. Again, we thank you for your strong support and complimentary comments. 10 | www.snowbirds.org
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