declaration of common law

[tina19]

Hi. My partner and I are applying as common law and were confused on the form IMM5409. It says if applicable so does that mean I fill that out or not. We aren't officially declared as common law with any tax return if that what it means. Sorry im just confused, thank you.

 

[Ponga]

Even for a Common-Law couple, it is not required, but some applicants choose to include it as additional evidence. Sometimes, CIC will request the form during the process, while not requesting it from others. No idea how they determine which ones need it.

When you say that you have not declared yourselves as Common-Law on tax returns...are you saying that you've been filing as single?

How long have you been deemed Common-Law?

 

[tina19]

I worked in Canada until November 2014. In april 2015 I filled out my return as single because I started living in Scotland with my partner in November 2014 but we got our own place in January of 2015. So next month will mark a year we have been living together so I dont know if it starts from the moment we started living together or after it marks a year. Next year in April 2016 I have no tax to fill out because I didnt work at all in 2015 in Canada. I dont think Ill need to declare single or common law. So sorry if my dates confuse you but I hope it answers your question.

 

[Ponga]

You're fine. Your Common-Law status starts on the 366th day of living together.

 

[tina19]

Thank you so much. It helped a lot

 

[Rob_TO]

I worked in Canada until November 2014. In april 2015 I filled out my return as single because I started living in Scotland with my partner in November 2014 but we got our own place in January of 2015. So next month will mark a year we have been living together so I dont know if it starts from the moment we started living together or after it marks a year. Next year in April 2016 I have no tax to fill out because I didnt work at all in 2015 in Canada. I dont think Ill need to declare single or common law. So sorry if my dates confuse you but I hope it answers your question.

If you are a Canadian citizen, then regardless of if you actually lived in Canada or not in 2015 you may still need to fill out your 2015 taxes. Unless you closed out all your Canadian bank accounts, credit cards, etc and declared yourself a non-resident when you moved to Scotland, then CRA sees you as a deemed resident still for tax purposes no matter where in the world you're living. You may need to declare your income earned in Scotland in 2015 and pay a portion of taxes to Canada.

However since you will officially become common-law in January 2016, for the 2015 tax year you would need to file as SINGLE (since you had not yet established common-law on Dec 31, 2015).