Dakota44

Apologies...but this is sort of a long post.

I've been reading quite a bit here and thought I would post my
situation. It is somewhat interesting. First of all, I married a
Peruvian woman that I have known for two years. I had been friends,
almost like a brother, with her sister for 4 years and it was she who
introduced us. Last year she was visiting her brother in California,
with her two daughters. I flew them to Las Vegas and joined them there
for 4 days. The following month I flew to Lima for a two week visit with
her and her family. I returned again in January of 2006 and then again
in September.
Her daughters were both in the U.S. with relatives at that time,
Florida, and attending High School. She was lonely for her daughters,
quit her job and flew to Florida, on a valid visitors visa, to wait for
them to finish the school year and then return to Peru. I phoned her in
Florida on Thanksgiving and proposed. Because I had mentioned many times
how much I loved Peru and wanted to live there, she assumed that I would
return to Peru with them. I suggested that her daughters had a much
better future in the U.S. She discussed it with her daughters, because
for both of us it was important that they supported the decision. They
did, and have happily accepted me as a father. Now the interesting
part..............
I am an American Citizen, obviously, but have resided in Canada for 28
years. I flew to Florida in December, we were married and hired an
immigration lawyer (more about him later). There is a domicile
requirement for sponsoring a spouse. While in Florida I switched the
utility bills for the home they are living in (shared with a nephew, the
lease is in his name), opened a joint bank account and deposited
thousands of dollars, obtained a Florida drivers license and registered
to vote. The domicile requirement has a loophole...for lack of a better
word coming to mind. You do not need to be domiciled in the U.S. in
order to file for AOS, you only need to demonstrate an intent to
domicile prior to final adjustment of status. Now we get more
interesting.
It is my intention to move to Florida as soon as possible. Truth is, it
is killing me to be separated from them. However, it will take some
time. I have a continued employment obligation here for at least
another 9 months. Also I need to find a job in Florida prior to moving.
I anticipate the initial interview in April or thereabouts. At that
time I will return to Florida and submit some resumes. The IRS has an
interesting little piece of information. According to IRS regulations,
it is possible and legal to be domiciled in the U.S and have a "tax
home" in another country, your place of employment (this is directly
from an IRS rep in Philadelphia and from the IRS website). This results
in being able to eliminate all foreign taxed employment income from U.S.
taxes (although I would MUCH prefer to pay the low U.S. rate). So it
begs the question of whether the INS will take the same point of view as
regards employment overseas. My hope is that they will approve at the
initial interview with some expectation of my departure from Canada
prior to lifting the two year restriction.
As an side, I am concerned about the health insurance issue. DAMN it's
expensive. Not used to that in Canada, free health care and all. I'm
also 20 years older than my wife, she being 40 and me being 60 (but
trust me, nobody pegs me at more than 50). All in all, I am expecting
an interesting interview. And sweating bullets. Any opinions?

Oh yes. The lawyer. I had a few conversations with him on the phone,
and was impressed. Not to mention he was far more reasonable in what
he would charge for adding the two daughters to the equation. When we
arrived at his office, it was painfully obvious that the poor guy is in
late stages of Parkinsons. The whole process was difficult. I expected
a certain handling of the forms, it wasn't what I expected. We took
forms home and filled them out and returned them to him. I went in on
a Saturday to sign the typed forms. He hadn't done it and I sat there
for a few hours while he struggled to operate the keyboard on his
computer and prepare the forms. I ended up having to dictate all the
information that I had already hand written. Then it was me who had to
explain the domicile rule to him. He then looked it up and verified
it. He continually spelled one of my stepdaughters name wrong, got
names confused, etc. He would ask me for certain things and I would
say "You already have it". Then, when I returned to Canada, he
contacted me to say he had forgotten to have me sign the signature
pages for the girls and has to mail them to me so I can sign and send
them back. Call me stupid, but I couldn't bring myself to can him.
I'm just hoping for the best.

Workboresme

> Apologies...but this is sort of a long post.
>
> I've been reading quite a bit here and thought I would post my
> situation. It is somewhat interesting. First of all, I married a
> Peruvian woman that I have known for two years. I had been friends,
> almost like a brother, with her sister for 4 years and it was she who
> introduced us. Last year she was visiting her brother in California,
> with her two daughters. I flew them to Las Vegas and joined them
> there for 4 days. The following month I flew to Lima for a two week
> visit with her and her family. I returned again in January of 2006
> and then again in September.
> Her daughters were both in the U.S. with relatives at that time,
> Florida, and attending High School. She was lonely for her daughters,
> quit her job and flew to Florida, on a valid visitors visa, to wait
> for them to finish the school year and then return to Peru. I phoned
> her in Florida on Thanksgiving and proposed. Because I had mentioned
> many times how much I loved Peru and wanted to live there, she assumed
> that I would return to Peru with them. I suggested that her daughters
> had a much better future in the U.S. She discussed it with her
> daughters, because for both of us it was important that they supported
> the decision. They did, and have happily accepted me as a father. Now
> the interesting part..............
> I am an American Citizen, obviously, but have resided in Canada for 28
> years. I flew to Florida in December, we were married and hired an
> immigration lawyer (more about him later). There is a domicile
> requirement for sponsoring a spouse. While in Florida I switched the
> utility bills for the home they are living in (shared with a nephew,
> the lease is in his name), opened a joint bank account and deposited
> thousands of dollars, obtained a Florida drivers license and
> registered to vote. The domicile requirement has a loophole...for
> lack of a better word coming to mind. You do not need to be domiciled
> in the U.S. in order to file for AOS, you only need to demonstrate an
> intent to domicile prior to final adjustment of status. Now we get
> more interesting.
> It is my intention to move to Florida as soon as possible. Truth is,
> it is killing me to be separated from them. However, it will take
> some time. I have a continued employment obligation here for at least
> another 9 months. Also I need to find a job in Florida prior to
> moving. I anticipate the initial interview in April or thereabouts.
> At that time I will return to Florida and submit some resumes. The
> IRS has an interesting little piece of information. According to IRS
> regulations, it is possible and legal to be domiciled in the U.S and
> have a "tax home" in another country, your place of employment (this
> is directly from an IRS rep in Philadelphia and from the IRS website).
> This results in being able to eliminate all foreign taxed employment
> income from U.S. taxes (although I would MUCH prefer to pay the low
> U.S. rate). So it begs the question of whether the INS will take the
> same point of view as regards employment overseas. My hope is that
> they will approve at the initial interview with some expectation of my
> departure from Canada prior to lifting the two year restriction.
> As an side, I am concerned about the health insurance issue. DAMN
> it's expensive. Not used to that in Canada, free health care and all.
> I'm also 20 years older than my wife, she being 40 and me being 60
> (but trust me, nobody pegs me at more than 50). All in all, I am
> expecting an interesting interview. And sweating bullets. Any
> opinions?
>
> Oh yes. The lawyer. I had a few conversations with him on the phone,
> and was impressed. Not to mention he was far more reasonable in what
> he would charge for adding the two daughters to the equation. When we
> arrived at his office, it was painfully obvious that the poor guy is
> in late stages of Parkinsons. The whole process was difficult. I
> expected a certain handling of the forms, it wasn't what I expected.
> We took forms home and filled them out and returned them to him. I
> went in on a Saturday to sign the typed forms. He hadn't done it and
> I sat there for a few hours while he struggled to operate the keyboard
> on his computer and prepare the forms. I ended up having to dictate
> all the information that I had already hand written. Then it was me
> who had to explain the domicile rule to him. He then looked it up and
> verified it. He continually spelled one of my stepdaughters name
> wrong, got names confused, etc. He would ask me for certain things
> and I would say "You already have it". Then, when I returned to
> Canada, he contacted me to say he had forgotten to have me sign the
> signature pages for the girls and has to mail them to me so I can sign
> and send them back. Call me stupid, but I couldn't bring myself to
> can him. I'm just hoping for the best.

Too many words, I can't be arsed to read it.

Workboresme

> Apologies...but this is sort of a long post.
>
> I've been reading quite a bit here and thought I would post my
> situation. It is somewhat interesting. First of all, I married a
> Peruvian woman that I have known for two years. I had been friends,
> almost like a brother, with her sister for 4 years and it was she who
> introduced us. Last year she was visiting her brother in California,
> with her two daughters. I flew them to Las Vegas and joined them
> there for 4 days. The following month I flew to Lima for a two week
> visit with her and her family. I returned again in January of 2006
> and then again in September.
> Her daughters were both in the U.S. with relatives at that time,
> Florida, and attending High School. She was lonely for her daughters,
> quit her job and flew to Florida, on a valid visitors visa, to wait
> for them to finish the school year and then return to Peru. I phoned
> her in Florida on Thanksgiving and proposed. Because I had mentioned
> many times how much I loved Peru and wanted to live there, she assumed
> that I would return to Peru with them. I suggested that her daughters
> had a much better future in the U.S. She discussed it with her
> daughters, because for both of us it was important that they supported
> the decision. They did, and have happily accepted me as a father. Now
> the interesting part..............
> I am an American Citizen, obviously, but have resided in Canada for 28
> years. I flew to Florida in December, we were married and hired an
> immigration lawyer (more about him later). There is a domicile
> requirement for sponsoring a spouse. While in Florida I switched the
> utility bills for the home they are living in (shared with a nephew,
> the lease is in his name), opened a joint bank account and deposited
> thousands of dollars, obtained a Florida drivers license and
> registered to vote. The domicile requirement has a loophole...for
> lack of a better word coming to mind. You do not need to be domiciled
> in the U.S. in order to file for AOS, you only need to demonstrate an
> intent to domicile prior to final adjustment of status. Now we get
> more interesting.
> It is my intention to move to Florida as soon as possible. Truth is,
> it is killing me to be separated from them. However, it will take
> some time. I have a continued employment obligation here for at least
> another 9 months. Also I need to find a job in Florida prior to
> moving. I anticipate the initial interview in April or thereabouts.
> At that time I will return to Florida and submit some resumes. The
> IRS has an interesting little piece of information. According to IRS
> regulations, it is possible and legal to be domiciled in the U.S and
> have a "tax home" in another country, your place of employment (this
> is directly from an IRS rep in Philadelphia and from the IRS website).
> This results in being able to eliminate all foreign taxed employment
> income from U.S. taxes (although I would MUCH prefer to pay the low
> U.S. rate). So it begs the question of whether the INS will take the
> same point of view as regards employment overseas. My hope is that
> they will approve at the initial interview with some expectation of my
> departure from Canada prior to lifting the two year restriction.
> As an side, I am concerned about the health insurance issue. DAMN
> it's expensive. Not used to that in Canada, free health care and all.
> I'm also 20 years older than my wife, she being 40 and me being 60
> (but trust me, nobody pegs me at more than 50). All in all, I am
> expecting an interesting interview. And sweating bullets. Any
> opinions?
>
> Oh yes. The lawyer. I had a few conversations with him on the phone,
> and was impressed. Not to mention he was far more reasonable in what
> he would charge for adding the two daughters to the equation. When we
> arrived at his office, it was painfully obvious that the poor guy is
> in late stages of Parkinsons. The whole process was difficult. I
> expected a certain handling of the forms, it wasn't what I expected.
> We took forms home and filled them out and returned them to him. I
> went in on a Saturday to sign the typed forms. He hadn't done it and
> I sat there for a few hours while he struggled to operate the keyboard
> on his computer and prepare the forms. I ended up having to dictate
> all the information that I had already hand written. Then it was me
> who had to explain the domicile rule to him. He then looked it up and
> verified it. He continually spelled one of my stepdaughters name
> wrong, got names confused, etc. He would ask me for certain things
> and I would say "You already have it". Then, when I returned to
> Canada, he contacted me to say he had forgotten to have me sign the
> signature pages for the girls and has to mail them to me so I can sign
> and send them back. Call me stupid, but I couldn't bring myself to
> can him. I'm just hoping for the best.

Dunno about the rest of it, but that's when you get a different lawyer

Ian-Mstm

> Apologies...but this is sort of a long post.
>
> I've been reading quite a bit here and thought I would post my
> situation. It is somewhat interesting. First of all, I married a
> Peruvian woman that I have known for two years. I had been friends,
> almost like a brother, with her sister for 4 years and it was she who
> introduced us. Last year she was visiting her brother in California,
> with her two daughters. I flew them to Las Vegas and joined them
> there for 4 days. The following month I flew to Lima for a two week
> visit with her and her family. I returned again in January of 2006
> and then again in September.
> Her daughters were both in the U.S. with relatives at that time,
> Florida, and attending High School. She was lonely for her daughters,
> quit her job and flew to Florida, on a valid visitors visa, to wait
> for them to finish the school year and then return to Peru. I phoned
> her in Florida on Thanksgiving and proposed. Because I had mentioned
> many times how much I loved Peru and wanted to live there, she assumed
> that I would return to Peru with them. I suggested that her daughters
> had a much better future in the U.S. She discussed it with her
> daughters, because for both of us it was important that they supported
> the decision. They did, and have happily accepted me as a father. Now
> the interesting part..............
> I am an American Citizen, obviously, but have resided in Canada for 28
> years. I flew to Florida in December, we were married and hired an
> immigration lawyer (more about him later). There is a domicile
> requirement for sponsoring a spouse. While in Florida I switched the
> utility bills for the home they are living in (shared with a nephew,
> the lease is in his name), opened a joint bank account and deposited
> thousands of dollars, obtained a Florida drivers license and
> registered to vote. The domicile requirement has a loophole...for
> lack of a better word coming to mind. You do not need to be domiciled
> in the U.S. in order to file for AOS, you only need to demonstrate an
> intent to domicile prior to final adjustment of status. Now we get
> more interesting.
> It is my intention to move to Florida as soon as possible. Truth is,
> it is killing me to be separated from them. However, it will take
> some time. I have a continued employment obligation here for at least
> another 9 months. Also I need to find a job in Florida prior to
> moving. I anticipate the initial interview in April or thereabouts.
> At that time I will return to Florida and submit some resumes. The
> IRS has an interesting little piece of information. According to IRS
> regulations, it is possible and legal to be domiciled in the U.S and
> have a "tax home" in another country, your place of employment (this
> is directly from an IRS rep in Philadelphia and from the IRS website).
> This results in being able to eliminate all foreign taxed employment
> income from U.S. taxes (although I would MUCH prefer to pay the low
> U.S. rate). So it begs the question of whether the INS will take the
> same point of view as regards employment overseas. My hope is that
> they will approve at the initial interview with some expectation of my
> departure from Canada prior to lifting the two year restriction.
> As an side, I am concerned about the health insurance issue. DAMN
> it's expensive. Not used to that in Canada, free health care and all.
> I'm also 20 years older than my wife, she being 40 and me being 60
> (but trust me, nobody pegs me at more than 50). All in all, I am
> expecting an interesting interview. And sweating bullets. Any
> opinions?
>
> Oh yes. The lawyer. I had a few conversations with him on the phone,
> and was impressed. Not to mention he was far more reasonable in what
> he would charge for adding the two daughters to the equation. When we
> arrived at his office, it was painfully obvious that the poor guy is
> in late stages of Parkinsons. The whole process was difficult. I
> expected a certain handling of the forms, it wasn't what I expected.
> We took forms home and filled them out and returned them to him. I
> went in on a Saturday to sign the typed forms. He hadn't done it and
> I sat there for a few hours while he struggled to operate the keyboard
> on his computer and prepare the forms. I ended up having to dictate
> all the information that I had already hand written. Then it was me
> who had to explain the domicile rule to him. He then looked it up and
> verified it. He continually spelled one of my stepdaughters name
> wrong, got names confused, etc. He would ask me for certain things
> and I would say "You already have it". Then, when I returned to
> Canada, he contacted me to say he had forgotten to have me sign the
> signature pages for the girls and has to mail them to me so I can sign
> and send them back. Call me stupid, but I couldn't bring myself to
> can him. I'm just hoping for the best.

Actually, since this is the first time you mention it, it isn't obvious!
But I digress...



Unfortunately, USCIS (INS hasn't existed as an entity for many years
now) does not think like the IRS, so the definition of "resident" has
two completely different meanings!



Since you specifically asked for it, you're stupid. How on earth can you
continue to use an attorney who is, apparently, unable to help you in an
informed and timely manner? Money be damned! According to you "it is
killing me to be separated from them" and the more delays caused by your
attorney, the longer you're going to be separated from your family. Most
of us here consider immigration to be stressful enough without actively
working to make it harder on yourself. Okay, maybe you feel sorry for
the guy... well, suck it up. You are not helping your family by
continuing to use this man's services.

Bottom line - you, and you alone, are responsible for having the
paperwork completed correctly with all the i's dotted and t's crossed -
if things don't go well, it's not going to come back on your lawyer. Get
another attorney, if you still feel you want to use one to help you
sleep better at night.

Oh, while I'm thinking about, your age difference will not be an issue.

Ian

Dakota44

> Actually, since this is the first time you mention it, it isn't
> obvious! But I digress...
>
>
>
> Unfortunately, USCIS (INS hasn't existed as an entity for many years
> now) does not think like the IRS, so the definition of "resident" has
> two completely different meanings!
>
>
>
> Since you specifically asked for it, you're stupid. How on earth can
> you continue to use an attorney who is, apparently, unable to help you
> in an informed and timely manner? Money be damned! According to you
> "it is killing me to be separated from them" and the more delays
> caused by your attorney, the longer you're going to be separated from
> your family. Most of us here consider immigration to be stressful
> enough without actively working to make it harder on yourself. Okay,
> maybe you feel sorry for the guy... well, suck it up. You are not
> helping your family by continuing to use this man's services.
>
> Bottom line - you, and you alone, are responsible for having the
> paperwork completed correctly with all the i's dotted and t's crossed
> - if things don't go well, it's not going to come back on your lawyer.
> Get another attorney, if you still feel you want to use one to help
> you sleep better at night.
>
> Oh, while I'm thinking about, your age difference will not be
> an issue.
>
> Ian

Yes, you would be correct..it really wasn't obvious. I was forgetting
that persons other than American citizens can petition for family.

INS is still ingrained in the minds of many..in fact if you google INS,
you get the USCIS site. I agree that they won't necessarily take the
same view as the IRS, but I plan to discuss it if the need arises.

As for the lawyer...believe me, I have spent many hours researching and
reading the USCIS regulations etc. I am confident that all the paperwork
is done properly. Obviously I had to read and approve the forms I
signed and I had, as mentioned, done many hours of research and reading
prior to putting my name to the forms. I could have done it myself, but
because I am 2,000 miles away, I wanted at least a representative 'on
site' so to speak. Unfortunately, the limited time I had in Florida did
not allow for more Lawyer shopping. I did suggest to my wife that if
she was not satisfied, she had my agreement to find another lawyer.

Rete

> Yes, you would be correct..it really wasn't obvious. I was forgetting
> that persons other than American citizens can petition for family.
>
> INS is still ingrained in the minds of many..in fact if you google
> INS, you get the USCIS site. I agree that they won't necessarily
> take the same view as the IRS, but I plan to discuss it if the
> need arises.
>
> As for the lawyer...believe me, I have spent many hours researching
> and reading the USCIS regulations etc. I am confident that all the
> paperwork is done properly. Obviously I had to read and approve the
> forms I signed and I had, as mentioned, done many hours of research
> and reading prior to putting my name to the forms. I could have done
> it myself, but because I am 2,000 miles away, I wanted at least a
> representative 'on site' so to speak. Unfortunately, the limited time
> I had in Florida did not allow for more Lawyer shopping. I did
> suggest to my wife that if she was not satisfied, she had my agreement
> to find another lawyer.

It is hoped that you, as a USC, have been filing your 1040 federal tax
return annually for the last 28 years. If not, you might well want to
start filing past due 1040s now since you will have to complete an I-864
for the wife and her children. If you have no other dependents that
would mean you need to have the income available to support a family of
4 under the poverty guidelines. Will they consider your Canadian
income? Not sure that they will. You can always find a co/joint
financial sponsor for your wife and her children but note that the
sponsor must be either a USC or PR and must reside in the US.

Since you prefer living in Canada, why are you not petitioning for
them to become Canadian residents under the family unity act and/or
spousal visa.

Dakota44

> It is hoped that you, as a USC, have been filing your 1040 federal tax
> return annually for the last 28 years. If not, you might well want to
> start filing past due 1040s now since you will have to complete an I-
> 864 for the wife and her children. If you have no other dependents
> that would mean you need to have the income available to support a
> family of 4 under the poverty guidelines. Will they consider your
> Canadian income? Not sure that they will. You can always find a
> co/joint financial sponsor for your wife and her children but note
> that the sponsor must be either a USC or PR and must reside in the US.
>
> Since you prefer living in Canada, why are you not petitioning for
> them to become Canadian residents under the family unity act and/or
> spousal visa.

6 years of tax returns brings you into compliance..which I have done.
Already filed the I-864 with U.S. tax returns for the past three years.
When I moved here I had no clue that I was still required to file U.S.
tax returns. But, as was explained to me by the IRS, I am far from the
only one. It is a very common misunderstanding. In any event, all of
my income is free from U.S. tax as I fall below the maximum allowed
income for that catagory, so filing is a snap. I was actually taking a
much harder filing route (taking a deduction for foreign tax paid) until
an hourlong discussion with a very helpful IRS person in the Philly
office. Saved me a lot of work and time.
Yes, they will accept my Canadian income. And it is well above the 120%
of poverty line.
As for Canada, it is possible that I will file here as well, and offer
them the choice. Canada is fine, but the winter is damn cold and
brutal. Had enough of it. Not to mention the tax situation, higher
income tax, plus 8% provincial sales tax (none for Florida), 6% GST
(none in the U.S.) Ontario income tax (none in Florida) gas is about 50%
more expensive here (and we EXPORT oil..go figure) etc. The only real
hitch is the health care. What I save in taxes in the U.S. will mostly
be eaten up by health insurance cost.

Filing for Canada creates some issues as well. She has no visitors visa
for Canada (and likely would not qualifiy for one now because she is not
in Peru, not working, etc) , so not possible to get them here and file
'in country'. Filing out of country means through the Lima, Peru
office. This entails her eventually having to depart the U.S. and go to
Lima for interview (already verified this with Immigration Canada), and,
if succesful, going again to have her passport stamped. Not to mention
the difficulty in acquiring all of the items they want from Peru.

Rete

> 6 years of tax returns brings you into compliance..which I have done.
> Already filed the I-864 with U.S. tax returns for the past three
> years. When I moved here I had no clue that I was still required to
> file U.S. tax returns. But, as was explained to me by the IRS, I am
> far from the only one. It is a very common misunderstanding. In any
> event, all of my income is free from U.S. tax as I fall below the
> maximum allowed income for that catagory, so filing is a snap. I was
> actually taking a much harder filing route (taking a deduction for
> foreign tax paid) until an hourlong discussion with a very helpful IRS
> person in the Philly office. Saved me a lot of work and time.
> Yes, they will accept my Canadian income. And it is well above the
> 120% of poverty line.
> As for Canada, it is possible that I will file here as well, and offer
> them the choice. Canada is fine, but the winter is damn cold and
> brutal. Had enough of it. Not to mention the tax situation, higher
> income tax, plus 8% provincial sales tax (none for Florida), 6% GST
> (none in the U.S.) Ontario income tax (none in Florida) gas is about
> 50% more expensive here (and we EXPORT oil..go figure) etc. The only
> real hitch is the health care. What I save in taxes in the U.S. will
> mostly be eaten up by health insurance cost.
>
> Filing for Canada creates some issues as well. She has no visitors
> visa for Canada (and likely would not qualifiy for one now because she
> is not in Peru, not working, etc) , so not possible to get them here
> and file 'in country'. Filing out of country means through the Lima,
> Peru office. This entails her eventually having to depart the U.S.
> and go to Lima for interview (already verified this with Immigration
> Canada), and, if succesful, going again to have her passport stamped.
> Not to mention the difficulty in acquiring all of the items they want
> from Peru.

As my Canadian husband will tell you and others here will affirm it, the
tax structure in the US is far higher than what you are paying in Canada
and for what you get for the monies.

While Florida does not have a State Tax, as yet, they have a high sales
tax, higher property taxes, etc. Unless you are living on the road,
your fuel costs are negible. I only have to fill up once a month.

As for healthcare, you won't be saving much in living in Florida in the
way of taxes, etc. so your healthcare is going to cost you big time.
Especially since you are older (over 60) and haven't had a US healthcare
policy for 28 years. You are not eligible for social security even as a
USC until you have worked 40 quarters (10 years) and therefore not
eligible for senior healthcare (medicare?) either. This I know first
hand as my Canuck is 65 and although now a USC has only worked 30
quarters and is not eligible as per his visit to the social security
administration's office.

Returning to the US might be a welcome break from the cold and long
winters of Canada, but even as a USC you aren't going to be getting much
benefit from that status.

Dakota44

> As my Canadian husband will tell you and others here will affirm it,
> the tax structure in the US is far higher than what you are paying in
> Canada and for what you get for the monies.
>
> While Florida does not have a State Tax, as yet, they have a high
> sales tax, higher property taxes, etc. Unless you are living on
> the road, your fuel costs are negible. I only have to fill up once
> a month.
>
> As for healthcare, you won't be saving much in living in Florida in
> the way of taxes, etc. so your healthcare is going to cost you big
> time. Especially since you are older (over 60) and haven't had a US
> healthcare policy for 28 years. You are not eligible for social
> security even as a USC until you have worked 40 quarters (10 years)
> and therefore not eligible for senior healthcare (medicare?) either.
> This I know first hand as my Canuck is 65 and although now a USC has
> only worked 30 quarters and is not eligible as per his visit to the
> social security administration's office.
>
> Returning to the US might be a welcome break from the cold and long
> winters of Canada, but even as a USC you aren't going to be getting
> much benefit from that status.

I appreciate your response..but, a few corrections. I erred on the
Florida sales tax, but there is still the issue of 6% GST on
everything we buy in Canada, except food (unless it is restaurant or
prepared food in the supermarket..prepared food is taxable) As for
income tax, the manner in which deductions are taken makes a huge
difference. In Canada you have one deduction for yourself (a spousal
deduction can be taken, but only if her income does not exceed the
maximum deduction and she is not filing a return and taking a
deduction for herself..or you can take a deduction for head of
household) and NO, I repeat NO deductions for children. In Canada,
by the way, there is no such thing as a joint tax return. Taking
personal deductions does NOT reduce your taxable income. Instead, you
calculate your tax and then take a non-refundable tax credit equal to
15% of the deduction (the lowest tax rate). I would also point out
that in Canada YOU CANNOT DEDUCT MORTGAGE INTEREST OR ANY SALES
TAXES. That's a pretty big dent for homeowners. Let me give you a
comparison of tax returns.
Converting my Canadian income to U.S. dollars for 2005. $44,319.
I take a direct reduction of income for married filing jointly.
$10,000. I take a further reduction of taxable income in the
following way..$3,200 each for me, spouse and each of two children.
total for that $12,400. Total reduction of taxable income, $22,400.
Taxable income, $22,319. Total Federal tax from the tax table,
$2,619. There is no State income tax in Florida and, if they should
institute one, it is doubtful that it would be as punitive as
Ontario's where it is calculated at about 50% of your federal tax. In
fact, my Ontario tax was double what my U.S. Federal tax would be.
My tax in Canada (provincial and Federal) on the same income was, in
U.S. dollars, $8,950. I rest my case. As I pointed out, paying for
health care will eat that up, but still there is the issue of lower
cost of living and no GST, mortgage interest deduction (which I did
not calculate for this example) etc. It does not change the fact that
taxes are higher in Canada than in the U.S. by a long-shot. Also,
they have now instituted a health care surtax that I pay on my tax
return. Above certain income levels there is a formula to calculate
it and last year it cost me $650 over and above my income tax.
As for property tax, I just calculated the tax rate (based on
Sarasota's property tax site) a 12.5 mill rate and a $200,000 tax
value on the home. $2,500 tax including school taxes. The same
value house where I live, $3,900. So that's cheaper too. And I'm
sure that I've left out some other deductions in the U.S. that are
not allowed in Canada.
Any way you look at it, Canada is higher tax than the U.S. The only
other issues is Social Security contributions. They are at least
double the max for CPP in Canada, but the benefits are larger too (if
you have paid in long enough at max). But I would lose a little over
$1000 of my tax edge there.
I paid into Social Security for 20 years before moving here, so I am
covered just fine when it comes to elegibility. I am also in the
position of being able to collect from both Social Security and
Canada Pension.

Rete

> I appreciate your response..but, a few corrections. I erred on the
> Florida sales tax, but there is still the issue of 6% GST on
> everything we buy in Canada, except food (unless it is restaurant or
> prepared food in the supermarket..prepared food is taxable) As for
> income tax, the manner in which deductions are taken makes a huge
> difference. In Canada you have one deduction for yourself (a spousal
> deduction can be taken, but only if her income does not exceed the
> maximum deduction and she is not filing a return and taking a
> deduction for herself..or you can take a deduction for head of
> household) and NO, I repeat NO deductions for children. In Canada, by
> the way, there is no such thing as a joint tax return. Taking
> personal deductions does NOT reduce your taxable income. Instead, you
> calculate your tax and then take a non-refundable tax credit equal to
> 15% of the deduction (the lowest tax rate). I would also point out
> that in Canada YOU CANNOT DEDUCT MORTGAGE INTEREST OR ANY SALES TAXES.
> That's a pretty big dent for homeowners. Let me give you a comparison
> of tax returns.
> Converting my Canadian income to U.S. dollars for 2005. $44,319.
> I take a direct reduction of income for married filing jointly.
> $10,000. I take a further reduction of taxable income in the
> following way..$3,200 each for me, spouse and each of two children.
> total for that $12,400. Total reduction of taxable income, $22,400.
> Taxable income, $22,319. Total Federal tax from the tax table,
> $2,619. There is no State income tax in Florida and, if they should
> institute one, it is doubtful that it would be as punitive as
> Ontario's where it is calculated at about 50% of your federal tax. In
> fact, my Ontario tax was double what my U.S. Federal tax would be. My
> tax in Canada (provincial and Federal) on the same income was, in U.S.
> dollars, $8,950. I rest my case. As I pointed out, paying for health
> care will eat that up, but still there is the issue of lower cost of
> living and no GST, mortgage interest deduction (which I did not
> calculate for this example) etc. It does not change the fact that
> taxes are higher in Canada than in the U.S. by a long-shot. Also,
> they have now instituted a health care surtax that I pay on my tax
> return. Above certain income levels there is a formula to calculate
> it and last year it cost me $650 over and above my income tax.
> As for property tax, I just calculated the tax rate (based on
> Sarasota's property tax site) a 12.5 mill rate and a $200,000 tax
> value on the home. $2,500 tax including school taxes. The same value
> house where I live, $3,900. So that's cheaper too. And I'm sure that
> I've left out some other deductions in the U.S. that are not allowed
> in Canada.
> Any way you look at it, Canada is higher tax than the U.S. The only
> other issues is Social Security contributions. They are at least
> double the max for CPP in Canada, but the benefits are larger too (if
> you have paid in long enough at max). But I would lose a little over
> $1000 of my tax edge there.
> I paid into Social Security for 20 years before moving here, so I am
> covered just fine when it comes to elegibility. I am also in the
> position of being able to collect from both Social Security and Canada
> Pension.

Well I still beg to differ, as would my Canadian husband. He didn't
migrate to the US until age 57 and he has paid taxes all of his adult
life in Canada and has lived in every province in Canada and retired
from the RCAP after 36 years and lived in Ottawa. He will be the very
first to tell you (and this is where I have to agree with him and it
isn't often that I do), that the US tax structure is definitely higher
than the Canadian tax structure even with the government sex taxes
included. In fact he still pays taxes in Canada on his military pension
and now his old age pension and will until the day he dies (as will
you). And yes, I know all about the tax treaty because of the dual
income and property owned in Ottawa.

Enjoy your life in Florida. There is a cost to the sunshine as you well
know or will know sooner or later. Wish you and your wife and adopted
family a Merry Christmas.