US/Canadian Dual Citizen pros and cons

[Rubes33]

Hey everyone,

I'm a US citizen living in Canada. I currently have Canadian Permanent Residence and will be eligible for citizenship next year.  Other than the FBAR and standard income tax forms for Canada and the U.S. that I fill out every year is there anything else that will be added with dual citizenship. I'm just looking for any additional information on the process.  Pros, cons, etc...
 

[salt cured]

To my knowledge, there isn’t much in the way of bureaucracy that Canadian citizenship adds as an American already living outside the US. If you return to the US, there is nothing to do assuming you’ve cut residential and financial ties. I’m a dual citizen living in the US currently (moved from Canada ~10 years ago) and have no reporting obligations to Canada but retain the right to move back anytime (and soon, to vote!). It’s nice!

[Mighty Eyebrows]

From the Canadian side (although none of this changes with you getting citizenship):

If you are ever in a position to control the accounts of a non-profit, or be a director or shareholder of a Canadian company, be sure to get legal advice. FBAR can reach through you into the accounts of other people. Likewise, having a small business be deemed to be controlled by a US person can be devastating.

Renouncing your US citizenship will remove the "contamination" from a corporate and banking point of view. It is particularly annoying that the Canadian banking system has been forced into reporting to the US on expat "US persons".

Don't let me sound too negative, though. Glad to have more mustachians in Canada!

[AMandM]

My father is  US citizen who spent almost all his working life in Canada as a permanent resident. He became a Canadian citizen after he retired, in fact not long before deciding to move to the US. His reason was so that he would have the option of moving back to Canada if he ever wanted to.

[Le Dérisoire]

Your problem is having the US citizenship while living and working in Canada. USA and Eritrea are the only 2 countries in the world that tax their citizens working and living abroad permanently. Most of the time, there are tax treaties that provide that you will not pay additional taxes to the US if you already pay your taxes in Canada. However, it is not always the case. If a Canadian tax exemption is not recognized in the treaty, you may end up having to pay a lot of taxes to the US even if you did not live or work there.

My mother had the dual US-Canada citizenship. She always worked and lived in Canada and always paid her Canadian taxes. A few years ago, she was told that she owed 500K$ to the US IRS due to her US citizenship. She managed to have it reduced significantly and she renounced her US citizenship afterwards, but it is certainly something to have in mind.