As per rules, we need to be in Canada for three years prior to filing for citizenship. Also we need to file incometax returns fore three years prior to application date . What if we do not have any income in the three years period ? Do we have to file NIL incometax return for three years in order to qualify for applying for citizenship or DO WE NEED TO HAVE INCOME FOR THREE YEARS COMPULSORILY IN ORDER TO QUALIFY FOR APPLYING FOR CITIZNESHIP ? Kindly also indicate where we can find authntic Government source on this . Thanks in advance.
If there is no income do we have to file nil incometax return in order to apply for citizenship ?
- Thread starter Genesis923
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Income is not a compulsory criteria for citizenship. For income tax you can still go ahead and file nil return for past 3 years. There are certain benefits(federal, provincial) which you get only after filing returns.
Returns and citizenship application I will let others chime in.
No, to be eligible for citizenship there is no need to file a "NIL" tax return for any years in which the citizenship applicant was not required by CRA rules to file a tax return.
Any tax year for which the applicant can honestly check [No] in the Required to file column in the application will count toward the minimum three years in tax-filing compliance (whether or not a return was filed for that year). So, even a year prior to the applicant becoming a PR and moving to Canada, before the applicant had any ties in Canada, can count as one of the three years (if it is within the five tax years prior to applying for citizenship).
So, yes, technically a person may qualify for citizenship even though they have never filed a Canadian tax return and even if they were required (under CRA rules) to file a return for two of the relevant five tax years. This is because they have complied with the filing requirements for three of those five tax years, thus meeting the requirement prescribe by the Citizenship Act in Section 5(1)(c)(iii)
For government sources: See item 12. b) in the application form and the instructions: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/application-forms-guides/guide-0002-application-canadian-citizenship-under-subsection-5-1-adults-18-years-older.html
The particular requirement is prescribed in Section 5(1)(c)(iii) of the Citizenship Act, which is here: https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-29/page-2.html#docCont In particular, to be eligible the PR must have:
"met any applicable requirement under the Income Tax Act to file a return of income in respect of three taxation years that are fully or partially within the five years immediately before the date of his or her application"
In particular, to be eligible for a grant of citizenship the tax-filing requirement does NOT necessarily require actually having filed an income tax return. It requires compliance with Canada Revenue rules governing who must file a return for at least three of the five tax years. This is why the instructions state that, to be eligible, the applicant "may need to file taxes in Canada," not that they must file taxes.
CAUTION: Who needs to file a Canadian tax return is not always a simple question. Be sure to review the information about who needs to file a tax return, including the information at CRA website linked in the instructions for the citizenship application (link listed under "Filing income tax" for "Find out if you need to file your taxes") Note, for example, individuals do need to file a tax return to get certain benefits or credits even if they had no income.
