BirdTalk Featuring the letters & concerns of our members SEND YOUR LETTERS TO Bird Talk, c/o CSANews 180 Lesmill Road Toronto, Ontario M3B 2T5 or by e-mail: csawriteus@snowbirds.org Bird Talk Important Note: In our last issue, we discussed the potential benefits of vitamin D. My article stated that 1,200 to 2,000 mg per day would be appropriate. This is wrong, and it should have read 1,200 to 2,000 IU per day. In any event, different people have dramatically different needs and you should discuss this with your doctor first. Dear Bird Talk, I want to do a will for my property in the U.S. to leave it to my kids in Canada. Do I need a lawyer? Do I need to register it in the U.S.? Do I need to register it in Canada? Need help − I have no idea where to start. Karon Delta, BC Ed.: Firstly, if the title to your property is in your name and someone else’s as joint tenants, the property will go to the survivor of them, without a will. Thus, you could add one or more of your children to the title and pass it that way. You would need a lawyer. To do a will, there is no requirement to have a lawyer, nor is there any requirement for the will to be registered in either Canada or the U.S. The benefit of having help from a lawyer is actually accomplishing what you are trying to do. Otherwise, who knows! Dear Bird Talk, We sold a condo, in the U.S., this year – 2020. No tax was withheld. We have a slight gain in U.S. dollars. We have a larger gain in Canadian dollars, and intend to pay tax on that gain, in Canada. We have never filed taxes in the U.S, and do not have any U.S income. We do not have a U.S. tax number. Do you think we should file a U.S. tax return this year? Paul Bergman Kitchener, ON Ed.: U.S. tax law requires the filing of a tax return upon the sale of a U.S. property in your circumstances. FORM 1040NR should be filed in the year following the sale. At the time of filing, an application for a tax number is submitted and one will be assigned. Tax will be payable on any taxable gain. If you wish to comply with the law, a return should be filed. Dear Bird Talk, We have been told that, if we do not have a Florida state will and power of attorney, if one or both of us passes away the property would go to probate and be costly and time-consuming to resolve. Can you tell me if the property can be used by the survivor or heirs while probate is resolved? Can it be rented during that time to a third party? Carol Campbell Chatham-Kent, ON Ed.: If the title to the property is in joint names and one person passes away, the title to the property will go the survivor without the need for probate. The survivor would immediately become the owner upon the death and can act as such. If title is in one name and that person passes away, probate is necessary and the property is considered “estate property” until it is conveyed to its eventual owner. The executor of the estate is in charge and can rent the property or permit use by whomever, as part of the administration of the estate. Dear Bird Talk, I recently sold a lot in Port LaBelle for slightly more than US$8,000. Approximately $1,500 has been taken from the proceeds to be held by the government. Will I eventually receive that money? If not, why not? If yes, when. If so, what is the rationale? Dean Bodkin Sutton, ON Ed.: The funds held by the government are as a guarantee that the government gets their tax, not the tax itself. If the tax is less than the sum held, you are entitled to the difference. To get it, one has to file a U.S. tax return in the year following the sale. In the return, the calculation of the tax payable on the sale is made and a refund of the excess is requested. CSANews | WINTER 2020 | 11
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