Family living in Canada and myself commuting to work in US on daily basis

[shallowpurple]

Here is our situation and I wanted to take thoughts from folks here (please no trolling - just constructive feedbacK)

1. We are a family of four - me, my spouse and our two children (5 and 2) currently residing in the US for last decade. We plan to move to Canada by end of January 2017 as *PR* residents.
2. My spouse has got her company to transfer her to their Canadian office, so she would be working from Canada. My company has allowed me to work remote while maintaining my H1B status (though not in Canada).
3. So, I would have to commute to US border city on a regular basis while staying in Canada (with family). Is this doable (without any legal issues)? I am sure there would be folks who work for US employers in H1B while living in Canada - requesting help.
4. For the last few years, we have filed our US taxes as Married-filing-jointly. For 2017, my spouse would be staying for less than 31 days in the tax year and so, wouldn't be a resident of US but instead would be tax resident of Canada.My understanding is that she would need to
(a). File US tax as Non-Resident (1040NR) and Married-filing-separately for the income from Jan 1-Jan 25, 2017.
(b). File Candian Tax return (as resident as her employer is in Canada) for income from Jan 25-Dec 31, 2017 (and claim US tax/FICA/state tax credit for taxes paid in US)
The date of Jan 25 is flexible - seeking advice on best course of action.
5. I would still continue to work remotely (in US) for a US employer. This means that I would be staying a little longer (more than 31 days in US for 2017) and supposedly have to file as tax-resident. I would be choosing to file married-filing-separately in US tax (using 1040), and then filing Canadian tax as resident(claiming US taxes paid as credit)

I am novice in all this and wanted to take thoughts from experts. Am I missing some pit-falls?

I plan to seek professional advice but before that I want to know if I am talking sense.
Am I missing something?

 

[scylla]

It's not clear what your status is in Canada (PR, citizen, foreign worker).

 

[shallowpurple]

We shall be PR (updated the post).

 

[shallowpurple]

(entire family is in a fix - hence requesting input and help) - God bless you!

 

[scylla]

1. Have you already submitted the PR application? If not, January may be too early to be expecting an approved. You haven't provided very much information about your family. However both children may already be citizens (if you haven't done so already you should apply for their citizenship certificates - this process can take a number of months). More information about all of your statuses currently and what applications, if any, you have submitted would help us to answer this first question.
2. I can't comment on retaining your H1B status while working in Canada.
3. Shouldn't be any issues as long as you already have PR (which may or may not happen in time depending on what you've filed so far). Also get a Nexus card if you don't already have one.
4. You'll both need to file Canadian and US tax returns. Hard to answer what you'll file without knowing your spouse's status in the US (USC?).
5. Are you saying this is something you might do instead of #4?

 

[shallowpurple]

Thanks for taking time to reply.

> 1. Have you already submitted the PR application?
I am sorry for the confusion - We are already PR holders.

> 4. You'll both need to file Canadian and US tax returns. Hard to answer what you'll file without knowing your spouse's status in the US (USC?).
My spouse is NOT a US citizen. She is a citizen from India and working as H1B in the US.

> 5. Are you saying this is something you might do instead of #4?
Well, that(#5) is what I planned to do. My spouse will do #4