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 Dear Bird Talk, Confused; friends go out of country for just under six months each and every year. How is this possible with calculating back two years prior. Is there something I am not understanding, as a lot of people I know do five to six months every year. Herman Bulger Port Colborne, ON Ed.: Your friends are allowed to visit the U.S. for six months, every year, as indicated in the above answer. Your confusion is mixing up the U.S. tax man and the U.S. immigration man. If you regularly go for three months or longer, I recommend that you file a Form 8840 with the IRS (the tax man). This will tell the IRS that you have a closer connection to Canada and are taxed in Canada. Also, to avoid additional confusion, the IRS works on a calendar year for tax purposes. The Form 8840 is available from the CSA on their website at www.snowbirds.org. Dear Bird Talk, I have faithfully submittedmy IRS 8840 Form for quite a few years now. My question is, can I stay past the 182-day limit by filling out the form? Or am I not protected by the friendly country alliance after the 182 days is up? Alex Badiuk Victoria, BC Ed.: Congratulations on regularly completing the Form 8840 for the Internal Revenue Service known as the IRS (the tax man). This will very likely prevent you from being taxed in the United States on your worldwide income. If you stay in the U.S. for longer than the six-month period allowed in any calendar year, the IRS will consider you to be a resident, and tax you. They will tax you on what you earn in Canada AND anywhere else, for that matter. The rare exception is when you have received special permission to extend your stay beyond six months, in writing, and this is rarely granted. Now, to answer your question. Filling out the Form 8840 has nothing to do with your length of stay – it has to do with taxes. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency, which forms part of the Department of Homeland Security, monitors and enforces your length of stay. If you stay for longer than six months in any 12-month period, you are breaking the law in the U.S. and are violating the verbal visa which you received when entering the U.S. This is not a good idea!! Being barred from the U.S. for five to 10 years is a common punishment. Dear Bird Talk, We simply forgot to file our Form 8840 in June and filed in November – are there any likely consequences? Ross Ellison Alberta Ed.: I believe that, as long as you filed the form, you will be fine. This is not something which you should worry about. Dear Bird Talk, As a result of a recent medical trauma, I have discovered a disturbing aspect of the use of top-up insurance. In the event of a medical incident occurring late on the last day of primary insurance, it will probably not be covered by the primary insurer if treatment is not sought until the next day. On the other hand, Medipac insurance will not cover the incident based upon the fact that it occurred before midnight on the last day prior to the top-up period. In my case, the situation was resolved favourably as it was minor and actually occurred after midnight, but I would like to hear your comments on this issue. What would happen, for example, in the event of a major automobile accident that occurred at 11:30 p.m. Chris Hemstead Ottawa, ON Ed.: A great question! So let’s read the Medipac policy: “This policy covers Reasonable and Customary Charges incurred by You outside Your province or territory of principal residence; that result from a Medical Emergency occurring during the period of coverage (as explained below); and that You incur for Medically Necessary Medical Treatment. Your insurance begins at 12:01 a.m. on Your Effective Date of Insurance and ends on the earlier of: (a) 11:59 p.m. on the scheduled return date set out in Your Application for insurance; (b) the date You return to Canada for any medical reason. Once treatment ends You may apply to Medipac Assist to have Your policy reinstated.” This clearly states that the medical emergency must “occur” during your policy coverage period for expenses to qualify. So, in your example, the accident at 11:30 p.m. would be the responsibility of the primary insurer. If your primary insurer refuses coverage in this situation, Medipac would undoubtedly pay your claim and seek restitution from the offenders. This has actually happened to Medipac several times and is very unfair to policyholders; the insurers do always pay us back…eventually. Just as an aside.What happens at exactly 12:00 midnight? Since most policies are written in this manner, I would suggest that the bills be split evenly between the two insurers. CSANews | SPRING 2016 | 9
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MzMzNzMx