Spring is upon us, and I thought it would be a good time to briefly check in on the latest updates from the Trump presidency that could potentially affect Canadians planning to move to the US or Americans planning to move to Canada.
This blog is the second of a series that will update my cross-border clients on key Trump-related issues most relevant to them.
These key issues are:
1) Health Care
In an embarrassing setback for President Trump and US House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, the newly proposed Republican health care bill that they intended as a replacement for the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), failed to launch due to a lack of sufficient votes. The collapse of the proposed health care plan known as the American Health Care Act despite the Republican majority in Congress revealed deep division within their party. Though there is still long term uncertainty about the ultimate future of Obamacare, Ryan confirmed that it will remain the law in the US for the foreseeable future.
This is welcome news for Canadians planning to move to the US because it means that they can continue to be assured that they won’t be refused private US health coverage due to age or pre-existing conditions. This is thanks to a key provision enshrined in Obamacare known as “guaranteed issue.” This popular provision would have remained in force in any case under the Republican plan, but the fact that Obamacare remains the law of the land provides further reassurance to Canadians moving stateside of continued guaranteed eligibility in the future.
For more on this issue, please refer to Jonah Ravel’s blog here: https://mcacrossborder.com//blog/obamacare-repeal/
2) Tax Reform
As I mentioned in the first blog in this series, President Trump campaigned on introducing major US tax reform with a planned overhaul of the US tax code that would cut personal and corporate income tax rates. With Trump’s recent failure at health care reform, his plan to reform the tax code is looking like an even more difficult hurdle to overcome. The spending cuts that were a part of the failed Republican health care plan would have helped to pay for Trump’s intended tax cuts. Combine that with the division within the Republican party, and it appears likely that Trump’s tax reform will also not get off the ground any time soon. Regardless of whether Trump’s reforms go through however, US personal income tax rates are generally lower than Canadian rates, making tax savings an attractive benefit for Canadians planning to move to the US.
3) Immigration
Other than developments that haven’t affected my Canadian clients such as the recent travel ban that President Trump imposed by executive order on citizens of six Muslim-majority countries (which has since been suspended and placed on indefinite hold by a US federal judge) and his continued insistence on building a wall along the Mexican border, there aren’t any significant updates to report on the immigration front. I’m continuing to follow any updates to the TN visa that could arise from Trump’s campaign promise to renegotiate NAFTA. So far, there has been no indication of any changes that could impact Canadians, but I will continue to monitor any developments closely.
As always, please feel free to contact me should you have questions regarding your specific situation.
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