# Form 3520: Reporting Contributions



## bretthmeyer (Aug 1, 2013)

Good afternoon,

I've really appreciated the other information in this form Form 3520. I have a very specific question that hasn't been answered yet as far as I can tell: how exactly the report contributions to a foreign trust. The language on the form is opaque to me, and the instructions aren't helpful!

What I'm stuck on at the moment is how to understand how to report transfers to a Canadian TFSA. Let's suppose that I contribute $100 CAD to a TFSA that is in my name. Down in Line 13 of Form 3520 ...

(b) Description of transfer-- cash
(c) FMV of property transferred-- $101 USD (2011)
(d) U.S. adjusted basis ... ???
(e) Gain recognized at time of transfer-- the gain of the trust? $101 USD?
(g-h) Description of receipt-- I'm not receiving anything in return, right? so $0?

Any insight into what this means would be greatly appreciated.

And yes, upon recognizing what I inadvertently signed myself up for in terms of reporting, I wrote my advisor today and will be closing my TFSA as fast as I possibly can.

Cheers,
Brett


----------



## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

I'm no expert on TFSAs, but in general, cash has no "basis" and you can't recognize a gain on cash, either. So the answers to d and e are N/A or just leave them blank.
Cheers,
Bev


----------



## quincy (Oct 25, 2011)

This is how I filled mine in and haven't heard back for 18 months.
b. Cash
c. 101
d. 101
e. 0
f. 0 Total 0
g. blank
h. blank
i. 101 Total 101


----------

