The benefits of the income tax treaty are generally provided on the basis of residence for income tax purposes. That is, a person who is recognized as a resident of the United States who has income from Canada, will often pay less income tax to Canada on that income than if no treaty was in effect. Article IV provides definitions of residents of Canada and the United States, and provides specific criteria for applying the treaty in cases where a taxpayer is considered by both countries to be a resident.

In most instances, a treaty does not affect the right of a foreign country to tax its own residents (including those who are U.S. citizens) or of the United States to tax its residents or citizens (including U.S. citizens who are residents of the foreign country). This provision is known as the “saving clause.”

For example, an individual who is a U.S. citizen and a resident of Canada may have dividend income from a U.S. corporation. The treaty provides a maximum rate of 15% on dividends received by a resident of Canada from sources in the United States. Even though a resident of Canada, the individual is a U.S. citizen and the saving clause overrides the treaty article that limits the U.S. tax to 15%.

If you take the position that any U.S. tax is overruled or otherwise reduced by a U.S. treaty (a treaty-based position), you generally must disclose that position on Form 8833, Treaty-Based Return Position Disclosure Under Section 6114 or 7701(b), and attach it to your return.

A U.S. citizen or resident who is temporarily present in Canada during the tax year is exempt from Canadian income taxes on pay for services performed, or remittances received from the United States, if the citizen or resident qualifies under one of the treaty exemption provisions set out below.

Under Article XVIII, pensions and annuities from Canadian sources paid to U.S. residents are subject to tax by Canada, but the tax is limited to 15% of the gross amount (if a periodic pension payment) or of the taxable amount (if an annuity). Canadian pensions and annuities paid to U.S. residents may be taxed by the United States, but the amount of any pension included in income for U.S. tax purposes may not be more than the amount that would be included in income in Canada if the recipient were a Canadian resident.

The treaty provides beneficial treatment for certain items of Canadian source income that result from an investment of capital.

The treaty contains a credit provision (Article XXIV) for the elimination of double taxation. In general, the United States and Canada both allow a credit against their income tax for the income tax paid to the other country on income from sources in that other country. For detailed discussions of the U.S. income tax treatment of tax paid to foreign countries, see Publication 514, Foreign Tax Credit for Individuals.

See paragraphs (4) and (5) of Article XXIV for certain provisions that affect the computation of the credit allowed by the United States for Canadian income taxes paid by U.S. citizens residing in Canada.

Under Article XXVI, a U.S. citizen or resident may request assistance from the U.S. competent authority when the actions of Canada, the United States, or both, potentially result in double taxation or taxation contrary to the treaty. The U.S. competent authority may then consult with the Canadian competent authority to determine if the double taxation or denial of treaty benefits in question can be avoided.

It is important that your request for competent authority assistance be made as soon as you have been notified by either Canada or the United States of proposed adjustments that would result in denial of treaty benefits or in double taxation. This is so that implementation of any agreement reached by the competent authorities is not barred by administrative, legal, or procedural barriers. Revenue Procedure 2002-52 explains the information that you should include with your request for competent authority assistance.

The request should be addressed to:

In addition to a timely request for assistance, you should take the following measures:

You can get help with unresolved tax issues, order free publications and forms, ask tax questions, and get information from the IRS in several ways. By selecting the method that is best for you, you will have quick and easy access to tax help.

Evaluating the quality of our telephone services. To ensure that IRS representatives give accurate, courteous, and professional answers, we use several methods to evaluate the quality of our telephone services. One method is for a second IRS representative to sometimes listen in on or record telephone calls. Another is to ask some callers to complete a short survey at the end of the call.

Buy the CD-ROM from National Technical Information Service (NTIS) at www.irs.gov/cdorders for $25 (no handling fee) or call 1-877-233-6767 toll free to buy the CD-ROM for $25 (plus a $5 handling fee).

It is available in early April. You can get a free copy by calling 1-800-829-3676 or by visiting www.irs.gov/smallbiz.

International Issues

During the filing season, the IRS conducts an overseas taxpayer assistance program. To find out if IRS personnel will be in your area, you should contact the consular office at the nearest U.S. Embassy or consulate.

Mail. For answers to technical or account questions, you can write to:

Internal Revenue Service
International Section
P.O. Box 920
Bensalem, PA 19020-8518

Phone. You can call the IRS for help at (215) 516-2000.

Text of Treaty

You can get the text of the U.S.-Canada income tax treaty from:

Superintendent of Documents
U.S. Government Printing Office
P.O. Box 371954
Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954

The treaty can also be found on our web site at www.irs.gov.