Convoluted tax question (common-law)

[couteausnob]

Okay, this is going to be an odd question. I'm a US citizen going through excessively lengthy divorce proceedings with my ex in California. Meanwhile, I'm staying with my Canadian boyfriend in Canada on visitor status, and will qualify as common-law in January, at which point he's applying to sponsor me for PR.

So, my question is about my filing status for my 2012 taxes, and what effect it may have on our sponsorship application. I just found out about yet another ridiculous setback in my divorce (because of the court system, not any sort of interpersonal drama), which means that it will almost certainly not be finalized by the end of the year. Thus, I'll only be able to file my 2012 taxes as either Married Filing Jointly or Married Filing Separately. If I file jointly, I get a major refund, separately I get nothing. If I were to file jointly with my ex in order to claim that refund, would it reflect poorly on the establishment of my common-law partnership? Does CIC look at those records?

Thanks for any advice you guys can provide. Sorry if my post is a little unintelligible; I'm just very frustrated right now.

 

[MissDominica]

Hi there,

CIC looks at your "Option C printout" which is a summary of taxes filed for the most recent year of filing at time of application. Therefore, it is quite possible that they will see you filed with your ex. If it were me (I also applied common-law), I would take the hit and file separate (take no $$). Since they are going to KNOW about your recent or pending divorce in your common-law application anyway, you could use this unfortunate situation to your advantage. You could state something like, "During our divorce proceedings, I had the option to file as a married together couple to gain $$(amount). However, because I consider myself to be separated completely from my ex-husband and in a committed, marriage-like relationship with my current common-law partner, I decided instead to file as married separated and receive no reward. This should show the level of commitment I have toward finalizing my divorce and starting an honest life with my new partner."

Or something similar like that...

It is terrible that you're still stuck dealing with your divorce when you're trying to move on with a new life... but I think if you do it the most honest way, it will help your common-law case a lot more than taking the additional money (CIC will see your tax return summary and may be able to devise that you got it through your ex, which would look like you still have a relationship/dependency on them). So use it to your advantage...

Just my advice. Common-law is a little tricky as it is, don't give them any chance to doubt your relationship status.

 

[tinytortoise]

My divorce took 17 months so I feel your pain. We filed married separately during that time (two tax years). In doing so he lost out on a $2,000 education credit (his choice) but it was worth paying taxes to not deal with each other. I would file separately.

 

[couteausnob]

My divorce took 17 months so I feel your pain. We filed married separately during that time (two tax years). In doing so he lost out on a $2,000 education credit (his choice) but it was worth paying taxes to not deal with each other. I would file separately.

Heh, same credit I'm looking at giving up by filing separately. There's no bad blood preventing my ex from cooperating with me, but as MissDominica said, not worth the money if it might interfere with my new life with the man of my dreams. Though I do want to clarify one thing: my understanding was that only the sponsor had to submit the Option C printout; I'm not seeing any tax documents listed on the checklist for the sponsored partner. Am I missing something?

 

[LeisaP]

Heh, same credit I'm looking at giving up by filing separately. There's no bad blood preventing my ex from cooperating with me, but as MissDominica said, not worth the money if it might interfere with my new life with the man of my dreams. Though I do want to clarify one thing: my understanding was that only the sponsor had to submit the Option C printout; I'm not seeing any tax documents listed on the checklist for the sponsored partner. Am I missing something?

no that is right.
only the sponsor needs to provide an option c, or other documents for tax or income references.

the applicant doesnt need to provide this information

 

[MissDominica]

Heh, same credit I'm looking at giving up by filing separately. There's no bad blood preventing my ex from cooperating with me, but as MissDominica said, not worth the money if it might interfere with my new life with the man of my dreams. Though I do want to clarify one thing: my understanding was that only the sponsor had to submit the Option C printout; I'm not seeing any tax documents listed on the checklist for the sponsored partner. Am I missing something?

You are correct, for some reason I was thinking that you were the sponsor while I was writing that reply. In that case, it might be a little safer for you to try and get away with it.. there is no obvious reason that CIC will be looking at that. However, if it were me I would still use it as proof that my common-law relationship was strong (giving up $$ on tax filings, etc). Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I submitted any little detail I could think of to show that I was interested only in my common-law partner and left no area for doubt that they could ever find... But, essentially, you are correct, they should not request your Option C printout if you are being sponsored. (My bad)

 

[LeisaP]

MissDominica is right

its is really good evidence of your common-law relationship

we applied common-law and we filed our taxes together as common-law and our immigration consultant said that was a very strong piece of evidence.

so even though you dont file with your common-law yet, proof that you chose not to file with your ex husband is very good!,
you would rather be with your common-law than have anything more joint with your ex.

if i were you i would do it too. file seperate.