# ITIN/SSN Double Taxation Issue



## BewilderedCanadian (Mar 30, 2016)

Hey guys. 

I don't know if any of you has experienced this, but I find it rather strange that agents of the IRS can willy nilly ignore bilateral tax treaties and assess tax, penalties, and interest on barely middle class Canadian-only income. 

I'm well below the foreign income threshold, so my US tax owing for all years filed (streamlined program) should be zero. Unfortunately, for years 2012 and 2013, I received tax bills for those years (the foreign tax credit was ignored). Here's the weirdest part: I was assigned an ITIN for those years by the IRS (I never applied for one) even though I already had and supplied my valid SSN for all tax years. Using an ITIN for a tax year negates the exemption. I double-checked my accountant's filings and there weren't any errors.

I called different IRS agents and one said that I needed to verify my identity with the Social Security Administration (already done), my account numbers would be merged, and my liability would disappear. I'm still getting the notices in the mail (does the merge process really take a year?) and another agent asked me to resubmit everything that I had already provided and was confirmed by the original agent. 

God I wish these oppressive ****tards would get their facts/processes straight! 

What would you recommend I do in this situation? 

I feel like I should avoid recomplicating things with these idiots and just ignore the past due notices and wait for the merge to sort itself out. They are so understaffed at the expat line that the message is that call volumes are so high to call back another time. Really? Jesus.

Anyways, sorry to lay my frustration on you folks. Perhaps advice on this thread might help a number of others who have run into the same situation.


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## iota2014 (Jul 30, 2015)

If you can show that you filed returns for those years using your valid SSN and correctly claiming the FEIE, you might want to consider presenting your case to the Canadian Competent Authority (presumably the CRA) under Article 26 of the treaty (Mutual Agreement Procedures).


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

And, on the other hand, mistakes do happen. Fairly often, as a matter of fact.

Another resource might be the US Taxpayer Advocate:



> If you have tried to resolve a tax problem, but it has not been resolved in a timely manner, or if an IRS action is causing you a significant hardship, you may contact the International Taxpayer Advocate as follows:
> 
> Phone: +1-787-522-8601
> Fax: +1-855-818-5697
> ...


Have heard good things about the advocate cutting through some fairly sticky messes.
Cheers,
Bev


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## iota2014 (Jul 30, 2015)

Bevdeforges said:


> And, on the other hand, mistakes do happen. Fairly often, as a matter of fact.



Yes. The (possible) benefit of using the Mutual Agreement Procedures, as I see it, is being able to deal with one's own tax authority, rather than having to keep trying to get an answer from the IRS.


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## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

BewilderedCanadian said:


> I don't know if any of you has experienced this, but I find it rather strange that agents of the IRS can willy nilly ignore bilateral tax treaties and assess tax, penalties, and interest on barely middle class Canadian-only income.


They can assess all the penalties they want, but if you're a Canadian citizen, they can't collect a cent. So if it's not too irritating, let them spend the next few decades figuring out that you don't owe anything.


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## maz57 (Apr 17, 2012)

Yup, what Nononymous said. They created the mess; let them fix it. Unless you have US assets, they have absolutely no leverage at all. You have done everything expected of you and more. Time to stop wasting your time and energy and get on with your Canadian life.


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