From what I understand, the main criteria is that you have filed with the CRA, if required. Note the following:
"To be eligible for citizenship, applicants are required to meet their tax filing obligations under the
Income Tax Act for the appropriate relevant period:
(a) For applications received on or after June 11, 2015 until October 10, 2017
- Four of the taxation years that fall fully or partially within the six years immediately before the date of application.
(b) For applications received on or after October 11, 2017
- Three of the taxation years that fall fully or partially within the five years immediately before the date of application."
If you have recently applied then you will be in category (b). e.g. "An applicant applies on June 1, 2020. The taxation years that fall fully or partially within the five years immediately before the date of application are 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, and 2015. 2020 cannot be used, as the applicant has not yet filed taxes for 2020. The applicant may have filed income taxes in any three of these years: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, or 2015."
You also need state if you were not required to or filed taxes during the period specified:
"Applicants who apply on or after June 11, 2015, are required to complete a section on the application form to establish that they have filed taxes, when required to do so by the Income Tax Act, within the relevant period of their application. Applicants will choose one of the options below.
Option 1:
The applicant
- provides their SIN, Temporary Tax Number (TTN) or Individual Tax Number (ITN);
- indicates whether they have met their tax filing obligations for taxation years that are fully or partially within the relevant period of the application by checking yes on the application form; and
- consents to IRCC and the CRA sharing information relating to their tax filing history by checking yes on the application form.
Option 2:
The applicant declares that they do not have a SIN, TTN, or ITN and were not required to file taxes in any of the taxation years that are fully or partially within the relevant period of the application. n.b. ordinarily, meeting tax filing obligations (option 1) means that the applicant has filed tax returns, though there may be instances where they did not file in a given year because they were not required to do so under the
Income Tax Act (e.g., they did not meet the minimum income threshold). If they have a SIN or alternate identifier and did not file taxes because they were not required to do so, they still meet the income tax filing requirement for citizenship."
If your case meets the above criteria, then if you may have satisfied the tax filing obligations under the
Income Tax Act for the appropriate relevant period.
However, it is up to the case officer to determine if the nature of your source of income is a factor. In my opinion, as long as you are declaring your income, paying your taxes (if required to) and legitimately operating your business then it is reasonable to presume you have met your obligations in this matter. I would recommend you reaching out to an immigration consultant or the IRCC for clarification.
