The biggest cost of being a dual Canada/United States tax filer is the lost opportunity available to pure Canadians. Five major issues include: The requirement to pay both U.S. and Canada. In many cases “Foreign Tax Credit Rules” mitigate potential double taxation, but it is common for “dual filers” living in Canada to pay taxes to the U.S. The reporting requirements. While a “dual filer” living in Canada is required to report very little information to the Government of Canada, the U.S. requires a massive amount of information about Canadian assets to be reported to the IRS on an annual basis. There are severe penalties for the failure to report on these assets. The direct costs of U.S. tax compliance. S. tax returns (including satisfying the “reporting requirements”) can easily exceed 100 pages and can cost thousands of dollars to prepare. Of course, the costs are significantly less for those who have simple lives and few assets. U.S. tax returns need to be considered separately from Canadian tax returns and must take into account items that are “taxable or reportable events” in the U.S. but not Canada.