Citizen Abroad Tax Advisors

We LOVE loving what we do! Let us show you how amazing it is to work with cross-border tax professionals who enjoy their work and do it well! #crossbordertax #uscitizenabroad #expattax

"Around 3 PM on Tuesday, July 17th, 2007, while the rest of the world continued as normal, we walked with Maddy in our surreal world along with our family and friends through the park, to Rogers House. We settled in quickly thanks to the caring staff so all we had to do was focus on our little girl. We reassured her it was okay to let go of this world" The lives of the Otto family in Ottawa changed that day in 2007 as they said goodbye to their tiny little superhero. But Jea...nnine and Dean Otto (below), though grieving and likely destroyed, picked themselves up and commenced the task of preserving an incredible legacy for their "forever young" daughter Maddy by supporting Roger's House with the Annual Maddy's Gala- an endeavour that has raised over $705,000 for the institution since 2008. Citizen Abroad is proud, for the fifth year in a row, to be a small part of the Gala night supporting an amazing couple and a fabulous group of local Ottawa women who make up the gala committee. Support Roger Neilson House through the Gala, donate or attend - it is a fabulous and inspirational evening celebrating a young life over too early and a family determined to remember her. www.maddysgala.com

Citizen Abroad Tax Advisors is pleased to be involved with the rebroadcast of Leadercast Women 2018 on January 11, 2019!

Our team from Ottawa are heading to the GoGlobal Expo in Montreal this weekend and couldn't be more excited! Not only can you meet our #Expattax Team members to talk about #workingabroad but you can also grab a quick photo in our amazing photobooth supplied by Montreal Photo booth. Take the opportunity to grab one of the #expoexclusive discount cards for one of our #CanadianExpattax webinars in November!! Check out Go Global Expo - Work, Study, Volunteer Abroad for more information!

We are hiring US - Canadian Tax Professionals! Continuous growth means continually meeting and adding new, interesting and super smart cross-border tax people to our team. We would love to chat with you about working with us in either a tax or admin role! https://citizen-abroad.com/careers/

Celebrating the first year anniversary of the extremely talented and brilliant Alicia Lucchesi joining the firm as a partner! It has been a year of progress, growth and a whole lot of laughs! #holdontoyourhats #thereismoretocome

Zoe Feng is back on the team! Clients will appreciate Zoe's assistance on their crossborder tax files and her personal style of service as she works directly with you to assist you in meeting your cross border compliance needs.

Celebrating Persian New Year with a new team member! Nowruz Pirooz! Love the diversity of the staff here at Citizen Abroad!

Our partner Laura McLeman, CPA, CA, CPA shares her thoughts with regards to US citizens who are delinquent on their tax filing obligations. If Not Now, When?

Happy #IWD2018 to our amazing partners! Alicia Lucchesi and Laura Schmidt McLeman who are currently Struggling with the Juggling! (of all the work stuff...all the work stuff people!!!)

Maddy's Gala raised over $100,000 for Roger Neilson House last night at the 11th Annu Event! We were pleased to be a small part of the fundraising effort. Partner Laura Schmidt McLeman enjoyed the evening hosted by the incredible Otto family and organized by the amazing volunteer committee of phenomenal Ottawa women. Once again an amazing evening! Shout out to the #OttawaSenators and new to town Gaborek and Duchene for stepping up and donating huge $$$$ to the cause! And of course to THE Mr. and Mrs. Smith for making the night the success it was for donating your time and attention to the cause over the past 5 years as well!

It is the YEAR OF THE DOG!!! Happy Chinese New Year to our team, our clients and our colleagues. We hope the Year of the Dog brings you much happiness and wealth (family, friends and of course money can be counted in there too!). One of our favourite not for profit operations in the Ottawa area is Ottawa Dog Rescue a fully volunteer run organization rescuing dogs from shelters and owner surrenders and placing the beautiful creatures in foster homes. It is a cause that rests n...ear and dear to our hearts as either dog owners, foster dog mamas or just because we recognize how incredibly hard the women of ODR work and the burdens they bear helping these animals find forever homes. You do great work ladies and we are so happy to provide some (small) support of your efforts! If you would like to donate to the cause, please use the link below! http://otowndogrescue.com/

This Valentine's Day we think you* should look for a NEW PARTNER. Come work alongside Alicia Lucchesi or Laura Schmidt McLeman, CA, CPA (IL) in either of our Surrey/Vancouver, Calgary or Ottawa offices! We are looking for fun, smart, and roll up your sleeves type tax specialist CPAs (or "almost" CPAs) to join our growing tax practice where energy, tax knowledge (Cdn or US or BOTH), "Can Do" attitude and hustle are rewarded with laughter, generous vacation time and AMAZING CL...IENT interactions. Do the same and often MORE INTERESTING cross-border work that you are already doing in your current tax position but experience way LESS STRESS and "way more AWESOME" doing it at Citizen Abroad Tax Advisors. Contact either Laura or Alicia directly through our website at citizen-abroad.com to discover why we are amazing women to work with!!!....something that should be obvious to you by now.... *if YOU are happily involved with your current Tax Partner - please feel free to share our post with your many unhappily involved tax specialist friends. **FOR CLARITY - in no way is the above posting for a position at our firm an offer of ANY kind for unwanted Facebook style romantic solicitation. You will be reported to the Facebook Police.

We are so excited to be welcoming Beverly Lawton as our Chief "Git er done" Officer! She will be working out of our BC office with partner, Alicia Lucchesi!. Bev is not one to wring her hands at anything, so we are excited to have her on"broad" and working to help our firm run smoothly for staff, partners and clients alike!!!

Only 3 more sleeps until Leadercast Women Ottawa!!! We are so proud to have our founder, Laura McLeman, part of a strong group of Ottawa Women Leaders, involved and attending. Citizen Abroad Tax Advisors is sponsoring the Local Keynote !

An amazing event to be sure! Citizen Abroad Tax Advisors is so pleased to be involved with the group of Ottawa Women who are coordinating this event on October 5, 2017. Check out the link to find out more!

We are excited to be sponsoring the Just Fore Dogs 2nd Annual Golf Tourney at Cedarhill Golf & Country Club....tonnes of fun! Buy a ticket or a foursome and support Ottawa Dog Rescue and Freedom Dog Rescue while having a fun round of golf!

A surprise personal delivery from the Maddy's Gala to the office. So honoured to play a small part in helping raise over $80,000 for Roger Neilson House. Proud of the committee of dedicated women (and Dean) who make this happen.

Come on Spring!! Warming up our tax season with Orchids and Violets on our desks!

On #IWD2017, we would love to put a HUGE shout out to an organization Citizen Abroad proudly supports - Ottawa Dog Rescue which was started and continues primarily because of an AMAZING ALL FEMALE LEADERSHIP TEAM. http://otowndogrescue.com/about-us/team/

#IWD2017 - Proud to be a woman led firm made up of clients and colleagues who believe that Girls Get It Done! Laura Schmidt McLeman

Today we were lucky to be visited by Phoebe, a current Foster dog with Ottawa Dog Rescue (ODR). A nice (and a bit of a chaotic) break from the long days of tax season! Citizen Abroad is proud that not only its founder Laura Schmidt McLeman has involved her family with ODR as a foster family, but we are pleased to be a sponsor of 2016 Rock and Rescue and a sponsor of this year's upcoming Just Fore Dogs 2nd Annual Golf Tournament in September 2017.

Once again, Citizen Abroad is proud to sponsor Maddy's Gala which is a brilliant event hosted by Jeannine and Dean Otto, who managed to work through tragedy and create awesomeness in memory of their fearless daughter Maddy. http://www.maddysgala.com/index.html

We were so pleased to be able to work with Treetop Country in July, 2016 to deliver English classes and a hand up to Thai children living in Wiang Pa Pao, Chiang Rai, Northern Thailand

Now is a great time for getting your US #delinquentreturns prepared and filed before another busy tax season rolls around! #streamlinedfilingprocedures https://www.irs.gov//streamlined-filing-compliance-procedu

Found our page because you are a US citizen living abroad who hasn't filed US tax returns? Check out some of our FAQs for US people abroad on our website and contact us today to discuss your filing obligations and disclosures! http://citizen-abroad.com/tax-faqs-for-u-s-citizens/

Canadian taxpayers should start accumulating proof of their home purchase and improvements on their principal residence as any PR sales will soon be reportable (and therefore likely subject to scrutiny) by CRA. http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/gncy/bdgt/2016/qa11-eng.html

We are pleased to be sponsoring Rock and Rescue Ottawa May 28th! Come out and have a blast and help support local dog rescue organizations http://rockandrescueottawa.com/

I would like to congratulate our beloved tax specialist, Nidhi Gupta, soon to be CPA, CA for a HARD FOUGHT but SUCCESSFUL win against the UFE exam!!! I am so very proud of Nidhi who joined us in January, 2014. Nidhi is a brilliant Indian CA who has been a wonderful asset to our group this year and now she has the Canadian designation to go with it!!! My heart couldn't soar any higher for you Nidhi, thank you for all that you do!!!

This will be year 2 of the new (and NOT improved in my opinion) Form T1135 - Foreign Income Verification Statement revised by CRA in 2013 and again revised for 2014. This form, for many clients, takes longer to prepare than the actual income tax return (for both the client and for Citizen Abroad!). On a recent webinar with CPA Canada who has been 'working' with CRA to perhaps improve the reported, it was noted that the form, as it is, is unlikely to change. Consensus was that, as CPAs bill on time, more time on the form will equal increased fees for clients... http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/nnrsdnts/cmmn/frgn/1135-eng.html

Several of our clients have received the phishing emails recently indicating they have refunds waiting for them, all they need to do is click on the link and input banking information!!! CRA will NOT email you. If you get a phonecall, tell them you will call the General Line and have it redirected. http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/nwsrm/lrts/2014/l140307-eng.html

I presented to a group of US Citizens living in Montreal this past week. They have been living and paying tax in Canada (and Quebec), and many were unaware of their US obligations to report RESPs, Foreign Banks, etc on their US filings. We discussed FATCA of course, and one individual sent me this article which I feel is very well written. http://isaacbrocksociety.ca//jim-jatras-in-the-toronto-st/

The agreement is signed. It seems more palatable as presented by the Canadian Government than it does when analyzed by private investment companies, but I would caution on the simplicity of the attached analysis - I feel this US legislation and various countries' acquiescence to it will come with a real cost to all taxpayers worldwide (Americans included). http://www.fin.gc.ca/n14/14-018-eng.asp

A voice for Americans living abroad with Congress - no representation but consult at the table with Congressmen and women. Good information for the American Citizen Abroad http://americansabroad.org/