Miami tax preparers and cross-border clients from Canada and Latin America

What to take away

Three client files and the Miami firms that take them

Miami has a deep bench of CPA firms with international tax practices. The list below names firms with a Miami-area office and public cross-border work. Availability changes, so ask who on the team handles Canadian or Latin American files.

Boutiques and solo preparers also matter. Look for a CPA or enrolled agent who files Form 1040-NR, Form 8833, FBAR and Form 8938 every year. Ask for the firm's written foreign document checklist before the first meeting.

Most cross-border work in Miami falls into three shapes. Each one needs a different intake sheet.

The seasonal resident splits the year between a Florida home and a home in Ontario, Quebec or Colombia. The question is residency days and which state, if any, gets a return.

The owner of a Florida LLC sells into another country. The question is foreign payroll, information returns and whether the entity itself has a filing.

The U.S. citizen or green card holder who moved abroad but kept a Miami address. The question is the foreign earned income exclusion and what still has to be reported.

Build the intake form around those three. Ask for foreign addresses, foreign account numbers and foreign employers at the first meeting, not at the second. Firms that do this can win more tax preparation clients by being the preparer who does not flinch at a Canadian T4.

Residency decides everything downstream

A client is a U.S. resident for tax purposes if they hold a green card or meet the substantial presence test. The test counts days in the United States over three years, weighting the two prior years.

Canadian snowbirds and Latin American business travelers often come close to the threshold without knowing it exists. Once the threshold is crossed, worldwide income goes on the U.S. return, including Canadian pension and investment income.

A treaty tie-breaker can change the answer for a dual resident. That is a position, and positions need support in the file.

Nonresident aliens file on U.S. source income only: wages, rents, dividends and some business profits. Many owe no tax after treaty benefits and still must file.

Dual filing without double tax

Two returns do not mean two taxes. Foreign tax credits and treaty provisions exist to prevent that, but they only work when claimed correctly on both sides.

A Canadian snowbird who spends four to six months in Florida and the rest of the year in Ontario may owe a return in both countries. Canada taxes residents on worldwide income. So does the United States.

Latin American clients split differently. Some are U.S. citizens or green card holders who moved home and kept a Florida address. Others are nonresident aliens holding U.S. rental property or a U.S. business interest.

The first meeting checklist:

Missing a foreign account or a foreign pension is where penalties start. The list is not optional.

Treaty positions and the forms that carry them

The United States has income tax treaties with Canada and with Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia and Chile, among others. Each treaty decides which country taxes a given type of income.

Treaty questions cluster in four places: pensions, social security benefits, dividends and interest, and self-employment income. A Canadian pension paid to a Florida resident may be taxed by Canada, by the United States, or by both. The answer sits in the treaty article and the client's residency status.

Mexico withholds on pension payments to former employees living in Miami. That raises the same question.

Form 8833 is required when a taxpayer takes a position that a treaty overrides or modifies U.S. tax law. Forgetting it turns a routine return into a penalty case.

The IRS keeps a dedicated international taxpayers page covering foreign income, foreign accounts and treaty positions.

A client moves from Colombia to Miami in March and stays the rest of the year. She draws a Colombian pension and holds a Colombian bank account. She is a U.S. resident, so she reports worldwide income.

The treaty may limit U.S. tax on the pension, but the pension still gets reported, and the account may require an FBAR.

The treaty position goes on the return and the foreign records stay in the file.

Disclosure forms that run on their own deadlines

Foreign account reporting is separate from the return. U.S. taxpayers with foreign accounts may need an FBAR, and some foreign financial assets go on Form 8938. Foreign corporations and foreign partnerships can trigger additional information returns, each with its own deadline.

Penalties for missing these forms are often larger than the tax itself.

Keep foreign returns, foreign account statements and treaty memos in the client file. If the IRS asks questions two years later, the file is the defense.

State returns matter too. Florida has no personal income tax, which simplifies one side. A client who spends time in New York, California or Illinois may owe tax there as well. Cross-border work rewards firms that treat the operations and workflow guide as a discipline, with a file standard for every foreign document.

Language access changes the deadline, not just the conversation

Many cross-border clients prefer to discuss tax matters in Spanish. Some prefer Portuguese, French or Chinese. That is a staffing decision, not a courtesy.

The IRS publishes full small business tax centers in several languages. The Spanish-language Centro de ayuda tributaria para trabajadores por cuenta propia y pequeños negocios covers self-employment tax, estimated payments and recordkeeping.

The Chinese-language 小型企業及自僱人士稅務中心 small business tax center does the same for Chinese-speaking clients.

Both pages do two jobs. They give the client a plain explanation in their own language, and they give the preparer a citable source when a client pushes back on a rule. Forms and publications also exist in Vietnamese, Korean, Russian and Haitian Creole, though not every form is translated.

Language access is a deadline issue. A client who does not read English may not open an IRS notice until it is late. Read the notice with the client in their language and explain the response date before it passes.

A firm that wants Spanish-speaking owners to find it also needs local SEO for tax preparation firms.

Sequencing two tax calendars

The U.S. individual return is generally due in mid-April. The IRS publishes the exact date and the extension rules on its when to file page.

Canada's individual return is generally due at the end of April, with a June date for self-employed filers. Mexico, Colombia and other Latin American countries use different dates and different extension rules. Confirm the current date with the relevant authority each year rather than carrying last year's calendar forward.

The hard part is order. A client may need figures from the foreign return to finish the U.S. return, or the reverse. Foreign tax credits, treaty positions and residency calculations all depend on numbers that may not be final until one country files first.

An extension gives more time to file, not more time to pay. A client who owes in both countries and extends both returns can face interest in both.

Payroll adds a layer. Employers with workers in both the United States and Mexico or Canada need to know which country's payroll rules apply. The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement carries labor provisions that touch cross-border employment questions. Refer those to a labor attorney rather than guess.

Cross-border work also concentrates in particular neighborhoods and industries, which is why markets worth entering often sit near international business ties.

Common questions

Do Canadian snowbirds always have to file a U.S. return?

No. It depends on days present, income source and residency status. The substantial presence test is the starting point, and a treaty tie-breaker can change the result. Document the day count before you decide.

Can a client file in both countries without paying tax twice?

Usually yes. Foreign tax credits and treaty provisions are built to prevent double tax, but they only work when claimed correctly on both returns. A credit claimed on one side and not the other leaves the client paying twice.

What happens if a client forgets to report a foreign bank account?

The penalty can be severe even when no tax was owed. Voluntary disclosure options exist and are easier before the IRS makes contact. Send these clients to a licensed attorney or CPA who handles disclosure.

When should a Miami preparer refer a cross-border client out?

Refer when the file includes a foreign corporation, a foreign trust or a contested treaty position. Those carry penalties a general practice should not absorb without experience. The IRS Office of Professional Responsibility and a licensed attorney are the right next calls.