Escaping Canada to go to USA

[poxpower]

I currently make a lot of money and live in Quebec, aka tax capital of the universe. Half of my money vanishes every year in a puff of smoke. I want to get out of Canada.

How do I move to the US? I looking into it and it seems very impossible for me without a green card marriage.

Situation:
1- 35 and not going back to school
2- Self-employed / semi-retired. No one can hire me as an excuse... I think
3- Single! But not interested in marriage in general because if it goes bad, that's even worse than Quebec taxes.

Is there any alley I might be missing so I can escape this taxation hellscape? I know a lot of people in the USA in general and would love to live there ( Colorado specifically ). This would save me tens of thousands of dollars per year.

[ixtap]

An investor visa requires just under $1000k approved investments. Not sure what it takes to be approved, but Kushner has touted this route to his investors.

[Sibley]

Are you positive that moving to the US would be an improvement? Yeah, you're paying a lot in taxes, but you're also getting services in return (health care) that you would have to pay for yourself in the US. It may not be much of a savings once you factor all that in. And that's aside from all the Covid mess.

Would moving to a different part of Canada be helpful in lowering your taxes? Are there strategies you could use to reduce your taxes?

[poxpower]

Yes moving to the USA would save me tens of thousands per year. Also sport-wise, colorado better than anything in Canada.

For Canada, moving only has marginal benefits ( a few thousands bucks ).

Moving to the USA would be night and day. I am making 6+ figures atm, could be even 7. I am getting completely 100% screwed by living in Canada.

[Paul der Krake]

There are a couple of options, tied to your business acumen:
https://www.fundera.com/blog/entrepreneur-visas

Expect to spend 5 digits on lawyer fees to get this done.

If your business is large enough, or can be made large enough, you could also pursue the TN visa route. You'd need a real board of directors, doesn't work for one-man shops.

[ctuser1]

Look at the investor visa (EB-5 category of green cards). You just need $1M liquid. You don't have to outright own that money, even loans or investments from others that you are managing should work (based on what I heard, not an expert).

Do you have a business already? Maybe you can move than to the US and hire people here. You need to show 10 jobs created.

I don't think  all the jobs have to be directly employed by you directly. You can show other support jobs created by your business. An immigration lawyer may be able to help you more on that.

There are many shady operators in this space (e.g. Kushner). I'd avoid them if possible and work through a reputable lawyer. He will be much less likely to screw you over because his reputation would be important to him.

My employer's legal/immigration department bills $15k-$25k to the line of business for each immigrant worker for Employment Based GC processing. Immigrants themselves need to spend $5k+ on their own on top of this for various related things that are their responsibility. So that is likely an upper limit of costs for this entire process (fees, lawyers etc). It should probably be lower for you since internal accounting in a Megacorp adds on internal costs that won't be there for you.

<edited to add>
Paul Der Krake's link above points out more options.
I was only aware of EB-5, likely because that is more widely known.

[Goldielocks]

In your situation, I would look at moving to a low tax region for high incomes (Alberta), and renting a modest / low cost (all in) apartment.   Make this your permanent residence (6months+ a year) and tax base.   Then go live in the USA the remaining 6 months. 

I assume if you are earning this much, you have the ability to create a corporation or other shell structure to smooth out taxes paid over a lifetime.  (Earn $1million next year, pay it out and pay taxes over 20 years).

The other way is a TN visa -- can you get a TN visa?  You need a company letter "hiring" you to attach the TN to, but the hire can simply be contract work, not a direct employee.  With a TN, you can reside in the USA, and be non-resident in Canada, it does need renewal every 3 years.

(And I am not sure the status of TN now with NAFTA revised)

[poxpower]

I have no yet looked into being a corporation, my situation is that I am partner with someone in the USA and we split revenues from a game. I get paid in USD from USD platforms and have worked with people in the USA for 15 years at this point. I did inquire about being a corporation to my accountant but she said it wasn't worth it, my suspicion is maybe she doesn't know that much about it.

If I understand the process here, I can basically hold my cash in the corporation and pay myself out a salary as needed over time to avoid the higher tax brackets?

Thank you everyone for your answers so far.

[Paul der Krake]

There are a million different options for how to structure your business. If I were you, I'd try to consult a US-based accountant who specializes in small business, have them pretend you're a Colorado resident, and walk you through the options.

Once you've identified potential structures, identify (possibly with an immigration lawyer) ways that you can leverage those structures to immigrate.

There's a chance you may initially need to choose a fiscally suboptimal structure just to get the immigration benefits you seek. It's really hard to tell without seeing current sttements, income projections, your exact involvement in the business, etc. Specifics are going to matter enormously here. Expect to pay for all this specialized advice.

[poxpower]

Any tips on how to find good specialized lawyers/ accountants for this type of thing?

[ctuser1]

OP, if you can block something between $1M for 5 years, I will seriously recommend EB5 as the most well known option. All the Chinese millionaires are immigrating using that. I know it works and is not super complicated. It may even be possible to do it with only $500k invested if that investment is certified to be helping a distressed area.

If you can swing this, then you will only need an immigration lawyer (and not a very specialized CPA + immigration lawyer). 

For immigration lawyers, google gives me this tool to search for a lawyer : https://www.ailalawyer.com/
AILA the biggest such immigration lawyer's association in US (again, info given to me by Google).

I don't know how to tell who is good and who is not. I would recommend that you find a few of them and talk to them how they would tackle your case, and select based on them. Most lawyers should offer a free initial consult (it's common here in US in the other fields, so it should be common in immigration law as well).

If you go corporation -> sponsor yourself, then I suspect the total cost for the CPA + immigration lawyer will likely be much more than the EB5 approach. You need to balance that cost against the opportunity cost of blocking 1M on a suboptimal investment that the lawyer directs you to :-(.

It's a bloody friggin' racket!! The bloody US government should really wise up and roll out red carpets for people who wants to invest in the country.

[poxpower]

Yeah I'd have to see what kinds of investments these are. If I at least can't lose my money it's worth thinking about. Losing 5% a year on my money with bad investments instead of 20% to taxes is still good.

edit: seems in 2019 they increased the investment requirement from 1 mil to 1.8 mil and the targetted invesment from 500k to 900k. Whew that's kind of a big increase. Guess there were just too many millionaire job creators in the USA.

[rothwem]

So, stupid question, have you talked to an accountant in Canada about trying to keep more of your money? There’s lots of rich people in Canada, and if it were as bad as you say for everyone (paying $500,000/year in taxes on a $1m income), nobody would bother to actually live there I don’t think.

It seems like there’s got to be a better way to  do your tax strategy than what you’re doing now.

[poxpower]

I an actively looking for a new accountant yes. My current one never offered me any insight into this kind of matter nor did she tell me it was possible to "spread out" revenues over different years. When I asked her about incorporating she also said it wouldn't be worth it. My income at the time wasn't what it will be this year however, so I will urgently look to switch and answer all tax questions in detail.

But I also want to get out of Canada in general for various other reasons, taxes currently being the main one however.

[jim555]

Is it true Canadian food prices are VERY expensive?  Like $25 steaks?

[Goldielocks]

Is it true Canadian food prices are VERY expensive?  Like $25 steaks?

That's the (low end, typical) restaurant price.

[jim555]

Is it true Canadian food prices are VERY expensive?  Like $25 steaks?

That's the (low end, typical) restaurant price.

Like a supermarket price would be?

[LostGirl]

I an actively looking for a new accountant yes. My current one never offered me any insight into this kind of matter nor did she tell me it was possible to "spread out" revenues over different years. When I asked her about incorporating she also said it wouldn't be worth it. My income at the time wasn't what it will be this year however, so I will urgently look to switch and answer all tax questions in detail.

But I also want to get out of Canada in general for various other reasons, taxes currently being the main one however.

I don't have insight on how to move here legally but would encourage you to be diligent about finding a way to shelter some income. It sounds like you need a better accountant. 

In terms of moving to the US, just make sure it is a well rounded decision. You will be paying for healthcare out of pocket, which I'm sure you realize and living expense in CO are much higher that QC. Plus it's July so you are going to be on the hook for this years taxes, so far, for the time you lived in QC.

[Paul der Krake]

OP is looking to save tens (plural!), if not hundreds of thousands of dollars on taxes alone. The full cost of healthcare for a 35 year old in the US is 5-10k/year tops. It's a rounding error. So are steak prices.

[poxpower]

Colorado is not that bad compared to montreal. Food is fairly cheap in the USA, same for stuff on Amazon. But yes if you have a small income, Canada is best, because you can mooch off other people. However in the period where you are trying to accumulate money, Canada royally screws you.

[jim555]

OP is looking to save tens (plural!), if not hundreds of thousands of dollars on taxes alone. The full cost of healthcare for a 35 year old in the US is 5-10k/year tops. It's a rounding error. So are steak prices.

If you are employed healthcare is taken care of and reasonable.  If you are retired you have ACA, Medicare, Medicaid, so reasonable.  Pay an exorbitant amount for basic food can really add up.  Paying $6.50 a gallon can really add up.  Paying soul crushing taxes, adds up.  Canada is no bargain by any measure.

[ctuser1]

I'm curious. Any ideas why food is more expensive in Canada?

During my trips, my impression was that we tend to spend a lot less (when converted to USD) eating out in Canada than we would in equivalent places in the US. In fact, I budget less for eating out when doing Canada trips than if I was doing a trip within US.

[Metalcat]

First things first, you need MUCH better financial advice.

I work with a lot of very wealthy, very high income Canadians and none of them feel tempted to move to the US.

If you are being taxed the way you say you are, at the income you are saying you have, you are doing something very very wrong.

Get better advice, and a lot more of it.

[RetiredAt63]

Quebec taxes are high, but Montreal is not considered a HCOL city.  You could move to Eastern Ontario, low COL and not horrible commute, I did Hawkesbury area to St. Laurent for years.  Or go off island to Laval or a bit further north and be closer to Tremblant.

You definitely need better financial/tax management.

[centwise]

I'm curious. Any ideas why food is more expensive in Canada?

During my trips, my impression was that we tend to spend a lot less (when converted to USD) eating out in Canada than we would in equivalent places in the US. In fact, I budget less for eating out when doing Canada trips than if I was doing a trip within US.

Grocery prices are highly variable from town to town and region to region, just like in the US. I think on average, grocery prices are somewhat higher in Canada because we have a shorter growing season and the transportation costs can be higher due to low population density and extreme weather. But it's not a huge difference; it is not true that all groceries are "much more expensive" in Canada.

If someone heard something about "$25 steaks" that would be an extreme aberration. My guess: a short term beef shortage during a temporary shut-down of meatpacking plants following a Covid outbreak. Meat prices continue to be relatively high right now because meat-packing plants are operating below capacity (due to Covid safety measures).

For restaurants: My impression is that menu prices are somewhat higher in Canada, so the savings you perceive is due to the exchange rate.

[ChpBstrd]

If you can figure out how to swap places with me, I’d love to miss the whole thing about suffocating to death in my car from Covid 19 while hoping that a hospital bed might come open and the hospital can charge my bereaved family a half million for a one week stay. Throw in a respectable down parka and you’ve got yourself a deal.

[brooklynmoney]

If you can figure out how to swap places with me, I’d love to miss the whole thing about suffocating to death in my car from Covid 19 while hoping that a hospital bed might come open and the hospital can charge my bereaved family a half million for a one week stay. Throw in a respectable down parka and you’ve got yourself a deal.

Um yes this. Also if you haven’t had to deal with our crazy health care system you really can’t imagine what it’s like. Talk about the potential to have to spend serious $$. And that’s if you can get insurance. The Supreme Court will decide whether the ACA lives or dies. If it dies G-d help us all.

[Goldielocks]

Is it true Canadian food prices are VERY expensive?  Like $25 steaks?

That's the (low end, typical) restaurant price.

Like a supermarket price would be?

Hmm,  $15 (on sale, cheap cut) to $35+/kg.   The nicest cuts would be more.

[Goldielocks]

I'm curious. Any ideas why food is more expensive in Canada?

During my trips, my impression was that we tend to spend a lot less (when converted to USD) eating out in Canada than we would in equivalent places in the US. In fact, I budget less for eating out when doing Canada trips than if I was doing a trip within US.

All servers are paid minimum wage, possibly with a minor downward adjustment for liquor servers.  That's close to $13/hr here.  The kitchen staff starts are $17/hr.   Plus tips.  Compared to the state of Georgia, you can see that a of the cost of meals is labour.

That's the main reason.   The markup on booze is actually higher in the US, so although the alcohol seems a touch bit more, it not unreasonably more.

The other reason is CAD$ versus US$ plays some mind tricks.

Finally, if the base rate is higher, then adding your standard tip and taxes (5%-17%) will add ontop of a bigger base price.

It's hard to find more expensive meals than Hawaii, though. 

[poxpower]

Groceries are cheaper here (colorado), especially meat. Alcohol cheaper in US than Quebec ( state monopoly here ). But over a year you aren't talking about huge sums of money if you're frugal already.

But eating out / activities isn't much cheaper, at least in Colorado.

For anyone interested, I used a quick tax calculator, if you earn 400k usd in a year you'd save about 35k usd in taxes moving to colorado from quebec. About 12k usd moving from quebec to BC. Zurich same as Colorado ( one of my friends there was bragging about his low rates hmmm lol ).

All-in-all moving probably wouldn't yield as much long-term benefit as whatever accounting tricks I can get into ( in talks with accountants soon ). Although I don't know the details of the US tax code so I don't know what I could do if I lived here and if it would be better, on top of lower taxes.

Canadian healthcare is a complete disaster, for different reasons than the US system. They are both a disaster.

[Metalcat]

^QC healthcare is its own special kind of nightmare, that is very true. QC is a special kind of complicated in so many odd and frustrating ways sometimes.

Good luck with getting better financial advice, and make sure to shop around quite a bit until you find a team that can work  well together. However, personal opinion here, I'm not a fan of having legal, accounting, and investing advice all from a one stop shop firm, IMO there's too much conflict of interest and I like my professionals to hold each other accountable. Some people prefer one firm, it's really a personal preference.