Form 8840

[portliz]

So far we are under the number of days required for this form.

We carry bills with our address when we cross to go south. Never been asked.

Should we be filling out this form anyway?

[Gruffy]

I guess I already know and can prove I have a "closer connection" to another counrty. I don't need the IRS to tell me that ....

Closer Connection to Two Foreign Countries

You can demonstrate that you have a closer connection to two foreign countries (but not more than two) if you meet all of the following conditions:

You maintained a tax home beginning on the first day of the year in one foreign country,
You changed your tax home during the year to a second foreign country,
You continued to maintain your tax home in the second foreign country for the rest of the year,
You had a closer connection to each foreign country than to the United States for the period during which you maintained a tax home in that foreign country, and
You are subject to tax as a resident under the tax laws of either foreign country for the entire year or subject to tax as a resident in both foreign countries for the period during which you maintained a tax home in each foreign country.

Establishing A Closer Connection

You will be considered to have a closer connection to a foreign country than the United States if you or the IRS establishes that you have maintained more significant contacts with the foreign country than with the United States. In determining whether you have maintained more significant contacts with the foreign country than with the United States, the facts and circumstances to be considered include, but are not limited to, the following:

[Fizz]

Why all this fuss over two simple, easy to fill pages.
Just do it.
Keep a copy, for reference.
Repeat every year.

If you will be a regular snowbird, why split hairs counting the days, why take a chance.
Five minutes to avoid a potential nightmare.
A no brainer.

[Little_Kopit]

When you drive up to the post where the border guard is, you have red light. You don't move forward until the light turns green. While your vehicle is paused your vehicle license plates are being scanned.

That's how they track you.

:C

[Fishinghat]

robatthelake wrote:
Not trying to hijack this thread,but!
I am wondering how it is possible for the various Border points to determine how Long a person has been in a particular country?
We present Our Passports when entering the USA on Our way South to Mexico, but never show them when exiting.
Mexico doesn't use any sort of Scanners so other than the nice person behind the immigration counter who stamps the passport with virtually invisible ink ,no one even knows that we have crossed the border.
Then 3 months later We re appear at a US Border Point and Our Passport gets Scanned.
Then of course We cross back into Canada a couple of weeks or so later and the mystery continues!
I have never had any sort of problems , but I can't understand how this works.

I'm under the impression the US Border Patrol uses a computer system that tracks entry and exits from our country, based on the questioning of a Foreign National entering the US from Mexico a few years ago. The lady was in front of me and when asked where she was born, kept answering she was a Canadian citizen. The agent then asked if she had recently entered the US previously. She kept answering she was a Canadian citizen. The agent then took her into custody for further questioning. (She had previously entered the US at a different port.) I don't know if her lying or refusing the answer the question was her downfall.

[robatthelake]

Not trying to hijack this thread,but!
I am wondering how it is possible for the various Border points to determine how Long a person has been in a particular country?
We present Our Passports when entering the USA on Our way South to Mexico, but never show them when exiting.
Mexico doesn't use any sort of Scanners so other than the nice person behind the immigration counter who stamps the passport with virtually invisible ink ,no one even knows that we have crossed the border.
Then 3 months later We re appear at a US Border Point and Our Passport gets Scanned.
Then of course We cross back into Canada a couple of weeks or so later and the mystery continues!
I have never had any sort of problems , but I can't understand how this works.

[portliz]

I used the formula and we are under the days - so for now we are OK. Correct?
\

[portliz]

So we should be filing this form.

[netjam]

I am still...is correct but the form has a formula that is used to tell if you are required to fill it out or not. Essentially if you routinely stay 4 months in the US you are required to fill it out if you want to not pay tax.

[I_am_still_wayn]

If you have been in the United States 183 days or more during a calendar year, you cannot file Form 8840.