You are stressing too much and unnecessarily, because, first of all, we were common law only for about a year, and am not even yet hundred percent sure if we were counted as common law then or not, we have planned to meet a lawyer to ask about that before applying, and also since my partner was out of country before that, it may be less than a full tax year, and that was also in that exceptional pandemic year that both of our incomes were too low to the extent that our solo tax filing and combo tax filing both were within one tax bracket, and would have the same return as solo with no difference as the sum of both of our incomes together in that year is only the very minimum required for the sponsorship and we asked and confirmed about that there would be no difference in our returns at all in that year either.
Well that is based on the information you provided, and you tend to mix things up. Just answering your ten post about "but do we have to file as common law"
Tax year is irrelevant to your marital status, the second part of my message is the quote directly from the government's website, no stressing anything, just quoting the exact rule. As quoted:
"You
must tell the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) about your new marital status by the end of the following month after your status changed. For example, if your status changed in March, you must tell us by the end of April." (including
common law)
If you meet the criteria for common law, you meet the criteria for common law for all agencies, the criteria are not specific to each agency (different from provincial rules though).
Understand that one rule applies to both agencies and plan for it accordingly that's all.
As for the tax filing, the filing is individual but the benefits are determined based on family size, that's where it matters significantly, your tax would most likely not change by much if at all, but the benefits you are receiving (for example GST credit) would be impacted, with just GST credit that could be wiped resulting in repayment of approximately 600 dollars.
This is just for your information, it is something to be aware of, not just for you, but for other readers who read your post to understand their own situation and how to deal with it.
You quoted your post earlier, I believe that question has been answered but just in case you were not sure, unfortunately there is no way around, unless one parent is deceased (and I really hope it does not happen) there is no way to change the financial criteria from 2 parents to just one and the impact is quite significant as missing one year usually delays qualifying for 3 years (even if after that income is 10 times the requirements which seems a bit harsh but unfortunately no way around that).
Your best way is indeed to cosponsor, but keep in mind that it also adds one person to the family size, so, unless financial requirements for that year get amended, you need a combined income of (for the years 2020, 2019 and 2018)
4 people | $48,167 | $61,209 | $60,271 |
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If you are common law but he does not want to cosponsor (it has implications long term: financial with repayment of any social assistance and future sponsorship as he would have to include your parents in his own family size if he ever needs to sponsor someone himself) then you need to meet income requirements for 4 people with just your income.
By yourself, you will need to meet those requirements (again if nothing changes)
3 people | $39,672 | $50,414 | $49,641 |
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Family size is 1 (you) + 2 (parents) + 1 (spouse if applicable)
The 2020 numbers have been reduced as we can see above compared to 2019 and 2018 so we don't expect them to get any lower, it is unsure if 2021 will be reduced or go back to 2019/2018 levels.
Again, all this is just information to be mindful of and to best plan for the future, nothing more.