Do I have to change my status for Taxes
- Thread starter Can18
- Start date
Yes. You MUST change your status when doing taxes. You cant say you're single or common law if you are in fact married.
I have the same question. Does anyone know if CRA will request any type of information relating to my husband's salary in 2017? He's in India. I was wondering if it would be easier to just say he earned more than the threshold amount (I think it's $11,500 CAD) rather than getting the actual amount as according to Turbo Tax my refund would be the same as if I put myself down as single. However I don't know that if I do it that way if CRA will still expect some type of document from my husband (eg. a letter from his employer). I assume if I state it was less (based on what he tells me) than the threshold that CRA would probably want some kind of proof, correct?
You need to state your husband's actual income. Putting anything else would be a lie, i.e. tax fraud.
I'm using Turbo Tax and the question it asks is your spouse's salary under $11,500 CAD or over in a foreign country. He has not been to Canada so will not have a T4.
If under I need to put the amount he earned. However I can just click and say I know it's over that amount and no need to enter the actual. By clicking that it is over that amount my refund ends up being exactly the same as if I were still single (much lower). This might be the easiest approach assuming that CRA will not want me to provide them with any proof of my husband's employment or salary in India. I assume they are more likely to request this if I state that he earned less that then the $11,500. I'm not trying to commit any tax fraud as I will get a much smaller refund by saying it is over $11,500. I just don't want to have to run around to try to get some kind of proof from India. I'd rather do without the extra refund and get the refund for declaring him over the $11,500 (which works out to be the same if I were still single). Plus we are not supporting each other so I'm not sure why I would get anything extra anyway.
Hopefully that made sense. I just want to be prepared in case I'm asked for something from CRA regardless of how much he earns.
CRA will not ask for proof of your husband's income in India.
Did you change your status with CRA when you actually got married?
Even if you put his income is lower than 11,500, it will not get you any more of a refund. He is not living in Canada with you and you are not supporting him financially, so you can NOT claim him under the spouse amount for extra credit. There should be another question in Turbo Tax if you are actually supporting him, which you would answer no.
However you need to put as close as possible to his actual income earned, converted to Canadian dollars. CRA may use this to calculate your "family income". Family income is used to determine what benefits you are eligible for, and how much you'll get (i.e. child benefits, HST/GST rebates, etc). It's more for this reason they will ask for his accurate world income.
Also a tax question for you.
I also did it through turbo tax but haven't filed yet. So I'm curious now as I read this.. I did out married, enter his info and for his SIN number I put all 0s as I read to do so. Then I put him as non resident and put his income as $0
So my question is.. Does it matter when we got married? Would I input his whole 2017 income even though we only got married in October? Or just his income from the time we got married?
I also did it through turbo tax but haven't filed yet. So I'm curious now as I read this.. I did out married, enter his info and for his SIN number I put all 0s as I read to do so. Then I put him as non resident and put his income as $0
So my question is.. Does it matter when we got married? Would I input his whole 2017 income even though we only got married in October? Or just his income from the time we got married?
It does get me a higher refund. The actual amount is $11,635. I am putting that he wasn't in Canada for the year and that we aren't supporting each other. What it says if he earned more than the $11,635 you don't get the spousal deduction. I don't know if it's a bug in how Turbo Tax programs or why it shows I get a much bigger refund if I put that his income is below that amount. However to make things simpler and to avoid any issues I plan on responding that his income is over that amount and I'll get the same refund as I would get if I was single.
I don't have children and I don't qualify for HST/GST rebates or any of the other benefits.
Something is wrong with the program or how you are entering the info. Most likely it's entering his income for claim on line 303 Spouse amount: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/about-your-tax-return/tax-return/completing-a-tax-return/deductions-credits-expenses/line-303-spouse-common-law-partner-amount.html
However as you noted you don't qualify for this claim at all, since you are not actually supporting him. Make sure there is no instructions on in what situations you are supposed to enter spouses income in case he's a non-resident. I would also call Turbo Tax help line to ask.
Again, there should be no increase to your own refund, by putting in his income even if under the $11K amount.