Do Canadian's who invest in the US pay double taxes?

[Lisa Mauritis]

Hi All,

My name is Lisa and I am just starting to invest in the US market for profit.

I live in Canada for 6 months and florida for 6 months and have been doing this for the last 4 years.  I have 1 property in florida for my own personal use.  During the last 4 years, I have been looking / studying the the investment scene in the US (mainly Florida - because of all the short sales and foreclosures).  My boyfriend is a building contractor and home inspector and we have decided to get into fix and flips, and rental properties (possibly section 8's). 

My challenge is that, before I can analyse a property for profit, I would need to know if we will incur the extra expense of paying tax to the Canadian government on each of the American investments.  I know that if we Canadians start to make profit from investments in the US we have to get an ITIN number (tax #) and pay taxes there.    I also heard that we will have to pay taxes to the government of Canada for the profits we earn in the US.   If I am understanding this correctly, we will be doubled taxed on the profits.  If this is the case, I would think that the tax in Canada should be included in the analysis to determine what the maximum purchase price is on property should be.  

Can someone confirm the 'double taxing'? Is there any way around this? For example, if you make the money in the US and leave it there, does the Canadian government have the right to tax you on money made and left in the US? Should the property be purchased under an American Business, ie either just a registered business (or an LLC which I believe is the equivalent to an incorporated Canadian company) or should the be property purchased under a Cdn registered business or Incorporation?

Thanks in advance for advice.