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Disclaimer: Not an attorney Really, there is nothing about a TN that prevents you from working in Canada, because you don't need any authorization for you to w

Disclaimer: Not an attorney Really, there is nothing about a TN that prevents you from working in Canada, because you don't need any authorization for you to work in Canada (as a citizen). But what you are suggesting sounds wrong. Do you plan on paying US taxes but not live there? Do you plan on not paying Canadian taxes? If you are getting a TN to prevent your employer from having to follow appropriate processes for employing people in Canada it feels like you are putting yourself personally at risk for this employer. Again, I am not an attorney, but you should probably talk to one about options here because something just _feels_ incorrect about this set up. Edit: I accidently remoted a sentence: There are many organizations (PEOs) that try to solve this problem, such as https://remote.com/ https://remote.com/

sunir 6y ago
As a foreign resident, don't pay US taxes unless you're a US citizen. If you don't use a PEO for some absurd reason, you may need to file a 1120F if you're exporting > $100k USD directly and you will have to issue a W8BEN or else your income is subject to a 30% withholding tax at the source.
- nrmitchi 6y ago
  Pardon? If you are a resident in the US, you pay taxes (whether you are a citizen or not).
  - sunir 6y ago
    This person wants to live and work from within Canada. Hence they are outside the US and do not owe US taxes.
    - nrmitchi 6y ago
      Okay, yes, we're on the same page. If they're not in the US though (as a Canadian), they're not a resident, and therefore not a "foreign resident". The entire situation is weird because as we both mentioned elsewhere, the correct approach here is a PEO (or setting up the appropriate hiring organization in Canada), rather than claiming to live (or work) in the US in order to get a TN (either or which would subject them to US taxation), and then claim to not when it comes to taxes.
    - phonebanshee 6y ago
      They want to be an employee of a company in California, while living and working in Canada. This sounds like it's going to be complicated, and a blanket answer of "you don't pay US taxes" seems unlikely to be correct. They're also going to face issues like on day 1 when they walk into the office and they're going to have to go through the whole I-9 thing (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central) - waving hands and saying I'm going to live in Canada seems like it's not a solution.
      - dboreham 6y ago
        They can't be an employee of a US corporation (as in, a person who gets a W-2, etc). What they can do is either a) have the US employer set up a Canadian subsidiary that handles their payroll or b) set up their own Canadian legal entity (corporation, sole trader??) and execute a services contract between the two companies. Then they can pay themselves under Canadian rules out of that company, or do whatever plumbers do in Canada -- sole trader or whatnot. ianal, nor Canadian.

sunir 6y ago

As a foreign resident, don't pay US taxes unless you're a US citizen. If you don't use a PEO for some absurd reason, you may need to file a 1120F if you're exporting > $100k USD directly and you will have to issue a W8BEN or else your income is subject to a 30% withholding tax at the source.

nrmitchi 6y ago
Pardon? If you are a resident in the US, you pay taxes (whether you are a citizen or not).
- sunir 6y ago
  This person wants to live and work from within Canada. Hence they are outside the US and do not owe US taxes.
  - nrmitchi 6y ago
    Okay, yes, we're on the same page. If they're not in the US though (as a Canadian), they're not a resident, and therefore not a "foreign resident". The entire situation is weird because as we both mentioned elsewhere, the correct approach here is a PEO (or setting up the appropriate hiring organization in Canada), rather than claiming to live (or work) in the US in order to get a TN (either or which would subject them to US taxation), and then claim to not when it comes to taxes.
  - phonebanshee 6y ago
    They want to be an employee of a company in California, while living and working in Canada. This sounds like it's going to be complicated, and a blanket answer of "you don't pay US taxes" seems unlikely to be correct. They're also going to face issues like on day 1 when they walk into the office and they're going to have to go through the whole I-9 thing (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central) - waving hands and saying I'm going to live in Canada seems like it's not a solution.
    - dboreham 6y ago
      They can't be an employee of a US corporation (as in, a person who gets a W-2, etc). What they can do is either a) have the US employer set up a Canadian subsidiary that handles their payroll or b) set up their own Canadian legal entity (corporation, sole trader??) and execute a services contract between the two companies. Then they can pay themselves under Canadian rules out of that company, or do whatever plumbers do in Canada -- sole trader or whatnot. ianal, nor Canadian.