Our Location today is Tecumseh, Ontario, Canada.
I had a smile on my face when getting out of bed this morning
as sunlight was reflecting along the outer edges of the bedroom drapery. Not wanting
to wake Kathy I went to the other room to start opening the curtains. That was
when I lost the smile from my face because everything outside was very white.
After prepping things for breakfast I’d only been on the computers a mere few
minutes when I heard Kathy starting to stir in the bedroom. By the time we’d
finished breakfast the company landscaper was coming around plowing drivable
paths through the parking lot making it possible for those in the 9 to 5 workforce easier access to the roads.
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| More of that white stuff. |
By the time we completed our morning reading and other chores
Kathy immediately started working on her sewing. By the time we had our late
lunch she had modified a few pair of jeans into comfortable and decorative pairs
of Capris.
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| To think this was clear by supper last night. |
The other day I mentioned that we wanted to make changes to
the appearance and structure of our blog. The reasoning behind this is that we
are transitioning from Snowbirds/part-time
RVers to Fulltimers and we felt
the blog should also be reflective of this. The last time that I even delved
into its appearance was when it was first created in the fall of 2011. Changing
the template and redistributing the widgets was very easy but I’d forgotten how
to adjust the sidebar widths. I stumbled around attempting to edit the HTML making the existing widgets fit
when I finally hit the right search button that presented sliding adjustments
in plain view. After resetting some sizing the only issue we are still having
is the Header Picture being off center.
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| A different look at our new trailer site. |
Kathy had started making the new light darkening curtains for
the trailer this afternoon when she suddenly realized in her haste she’d inadvertently hemmed the material
putting the top hem on the wrong edge of the first panel. By the time we had it
pulled all apart we were both too tired to cook supper so we got Chinese food from
next door and ate supper while watching the 6 o’clock News.
There is another apartment showing tomorrow afternoon but we’ll
still continue transitioning ourselves towards the Fulltime Lifestyle as best as we can. Hope you enjoy the changes to our blog. Thanks for
following along and feel free to leave a comment. Be Safe and Enjoy!
It’s about time.
Krackers
Witty words of wisdom
If
a job is worth doing, then get someone in to do it properly.
Blog looks nice. To center your header photo in Blogger...
ReplyDelete--Template, Customized
--Advanced
--Scroll down to Add CSS
--then in the white box find the line that reads
margin-left:110px; (your number will be different than mine.
--just change that number...make it higher to move the photo to the right.
--When done, be sure to click on Apply to Blog in upper right-hand corner.
Good luck
As a fellow full time RV wannabe from Ontario, could I ask how you will allot your time. Canadians are only allowed 4 months a year in the US otherwise the IRA will be after you. The weather isn't warm enough or dry enough anywhere in Canada for ALL of the remaining 8 months. We have to be in Ontario for 6 months of the year to retain OHIP too. It's hard to be a full timer when you're Canadian!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your help.
Hazel
Your new layout looks nice, Rick. Can I assume once you start your full timing the counter on the left keeps going for the time you head for the US border and then for the return to Canada time? As to the above comment: Hazel we Canadians are 181 days allowed to stay in the USA per 12 months period.
ReplyDeleteThis is what I found:
ReplyDeleteTo follow the formula set out by the IRS, called the "substantial presence test," here is how to do the calculation.
The test determines whether you have been in the U.S. long enough to be considered a U.S. resident for tax purposes. The IRS determines this by using an unusual formula that calculates the total number of 'days' you have spent in the U.S. over a three-year span, and that number must add up to 183 or more.
They calculate the sum as follows:
Each day in the U.S. in the current calendar year counts as one day;
Each day in the U.S. in the prior year counts as one-third of a day;
Each day in the U.S. in the year before that counts as one-sixth of a day.
If the sum of those three numbers totals 183 or more, the IRS may insist you file a U.S. tax return.
When the IRS explains the test on their website, they give an example of someone staying 120 days each year for three years, which would total 180 (by adding 120; 120 divided by 3; plus 120 divided by 6) and mean they are not considered a resident.
Here's another example. If a snowbird spent 180 days in the U.S. in both 2014 and 2013, they should limit their U.S. time to 92 days in 2015 to avoid being classified as a U.S. resident by the IRS.
For serious snowbirds, the best strategy for maintaining non-resident status is filing out that IRS form, the "Closer Connection Exception Statement for Aliens," better known to snowbirds as Form 8840.
Snowbirds establish their closer connection to Canada through things like having a permanent home, personal belongings, affiliations, family, business, driver's licence and having voted in Canada.
The form needs to be filed with the IRS every year snowbirds spend time in the U.S.
Rick and Cathy, is this what you will do? Fill out the form every year?
Very confusing!