Do my wife needs to submit tax report ?

[sammy_engineer]

You each file your own tax returns.

Thanks , so for me is it possible to file while i did not a single day in 2017 ?

 

[torontosm]

Thanks , so for me is it possible to file while i did not a single day in 2017 ?

You don't have to live in Canada to be a tax resident. You are obligated to file if you are considered a tax resident and you earned income during the relevant period. So yes, you should file your 2017 taxes even if you weren't living in Canada if your wife/family were living here.

 

[Alex54321]

You don't have to live in Canada to be a tax resident. You are obligated to file if you are considered a tax resident and you earned income during the relevant period. So yes, you should file your 2017 taxes even if you weren't living in Canada if your wife/family were living here.

Not so fast.
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/international-non-residents/individuals-leaving-entering-canada-non-residents/non-residents-canada.html

"
Non-residents
You are a non-resident for tax purposes if you:

• normally, customarily, or routinely live in another country and are not considered a resident of Canada; or
• do not have significant residential ties in Canada; and
  • you live outside Canada throughout the tax year; or
  • you stay in Canada for less than 183 days in the tax year."

Pay attention on first bullet and word "or"b


Also
https://travel.gc.ca/travelling/living-abroad/taxation#deemednon

Deemed non-residents of Canada for income tax purposes
If you are a factual resident or a deemed resident of Canada and are considered to be a resident of another country that has a tax treaty with Canada, you may be considered a deemed non‑resident of Canada for income tax purposes.

If you are a deemed non-resident, you must follow the same rules as a non-resident of Canada and declare your income from Canadian sources.

 

[sammy_engineer]

Thanks for your reply Alex , that is exactly what i understood from the law but other members like torontostom and many others actually advised me to file taxes even if my wife did only live in canada for 1 or 2 months . as they say i would only end up paying taxes for those 2 months and not for the entire year. the law is not very clear as it only shows white and black , in other words it say if you lived more than 6 months or have other ties then you end up paying but it does not say anything about sombody who lives a couple of months .

thanks for sharing

Not so fast.
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/international-non-residents/individuals-leaving-entering-canada-non-residents/non-residents-canada.html

"
Non-residents
You are a non-resident for tax purposes if you:

• normally, customarily, or routinely live in another country and are not considered a resident of Canada; or
• do not have significant residential ties in Canada; and
  • you live outside Canada throughout the tax year; or
  • you stay in Canada for less than 183 days in the tax year."

Pay attention on first bullet and word "or"b


Also
https://travel.gc.ca/travelling/living-abroad/taxation#deemednon

Deemed non-residents of Canada for income tax purposes
If you are a factual resident or a deemed resident of Canada and are considered to be a resident of another country that has a tax treaty with Canada, you may be considered a deemed non‑resident of Canada for income tax purposes.

If you are a deemed non-resident, you must follow the same rules as a non-resident of Canada and declare your income from Canadian sources.

 

[Alex54321]

Thanks for your reply Alex , that is exactly what i understood from the law but other members like torontostom and many others actually advised me to file taxes even if my wife did only live in canada for 1 or 2 months . as they say i would only end up paying taxes for those 2 months and not for the entire year. the law is not very clear as it only shows white and black , in other words it say if you lived more than 6 months or have other ties then you end up paying but it does not say anything about sombody who lives a couple of months .

thanks for sharing

Nice link here http://www.kurucz.ca/expatrepat/taxes.php
I like this part "The CRA is a hungry lion " and "You are a gazelle".

I am not sure about your country of residency but her is a lot of information:
https://serbinski.com/working-in-usa/canadian-residence-definition

 

[canuck78]

Your wife and child will be using healthcare services on a regular basis in December but it doesn't occur to people that they should be paying into the system as a family so yes you would need to pay income tax on your December 2017 global income as a family. You will also have to declare your global income from the beginning of 2018 before you arrive in Canada. Sending your dependents to Canada to use the services while the primary income earner earns more than most Canadians and might not pay any tax is my huge pet peeve and is a pervasive problem. I hope CRA prioritizes going after those living in expensive houses and driving luxury cars but claiming no income. On top of that they are getting a full child tax benefit.

You may need to ask for help from a tax professional if you need help interpreting the rules in Canada. Filing income taxes from 2 coubtroes can get complicated. Your wife already obtained a health card incorrectly. Luckily you didn't mention that she had used the card during her short landing. I assume that AHCIP will speak to her about her error in getting a AHCIP card during her soft landing and the importance of reporting if she leaves the country for a long period ever again once she tries to reactivate her health coverage.

 

[Alex54321]

""...Your wife and child will be using healthcare services on a regular basis in December but it doesn't occur to people that they should be paying into the system as a family so yes you would need to pay income tax on your December 2017 global income as a family...." "... Sending your dependents to Canada to use the services while the primary income earner earns more than most Canadians and might not pay any tax is my huge pet peeve and is a pervasive problem. I hope CRA prioritizes going after those living in expensive houses and driving luxury cars but claiming no income. On top of that they are getting a full child tax benefit...."
.

These all good moral points, but just your personal opinion and has nothing to do with the law. Please prove me wrong otherwise....

 

[torontosm]

Not so fast.
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/international-non-residents/individuals-leaving-entering-canada-non-residents/non-residents-canada.html

"
Non-residents
You are a non-resident for tax purposes if you:

• normally, customarily, or routinely live in another country and are not considered a resident of Canada; or
• do not have significant residential ties in Canada; and
  • you live outside Canada throughout the tax year; or
  • you stay in Canada for less than 183 days in the tax year."

Pay attention on first bullet and word "or"b


Also
https://travel.gc.ca/travelling/living-abroad/taxation#deemednon

If you continue to read on the same site, you will come across this, which is the page that allows you to determine whether you are a resident or not, and goes into significantly more detail:

https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/international-non-residents/information-been-moved/determining-your-residency-status.html

On this page, it says
"
The most important thing to consider when determining your residency status in Canada for income tax purposes is whether or not you maintain, or you establish, residential ties with Canada.

Significant residential ties to Canada include:

• a home in Canada;
• a spouse or common-law partner in Canada; and
• dependants in Canada;"

The answer is pretty clear...having a spouse/family residing in Canada makes you a tax resident.

You can try spinning the wordplay with the CRA but I doubt they will care.

 

[Alex54321]

If you continue to read on the same site, you will come across this, which is the page that allows you to determine whether you are a resident or not, and goes into significantly more detail:

https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/international-non-residents/information-been-moved/determining-your-residency-status.html

On this page, it says
"
The most important thing to consider when determining your residency status in Canada for income tax purposes is whether or not you maintain, or you establish, residential ties with Canada.

Significant residential ties to Canada include:

• a home in Canada;
• a spouse or common-law partner in Canada; and
• dependants in Canada;"

The answer is pretty clear...having a spouse/family residing in Canada makes you a tax resident.

You can try spinning the wordplay with the CRA but I doubt they will care.

Well, on personal note my situation is going to be a bit different. I am a dual citizen and live and work in US and will continue ( hopefully) to do so, but my spouse and child will land in Canada and live there. They will be in Canada and I am in USA. All our family worldwide income is my US income. Yes, it will be significant residential ties to Canada - spouse and dependent child, but I think that this phrase is applied to my situation - even if I am " a deemed resident of Canada (because of ties) and is a resident of another country (USA) that has a tax treaty with Canada, I may be considered a deemed non‑resident of Canada for income tax purposes".

What do you say?

 

[torontosm]

Well, on personal note my situation is going to be a bit different. I am a dual citizen and live and work in US and will continue ( hopefully) to do so, but my spouse and child will land in Canada and live there. They will be in Canada and I am in USA. All our family worldwide income is my US income. Yes, it will be significant residential ties to Canada - spouse and dependent child, but I think that this phrase is applied to my situation - even if I am " a deemed resident of Canada (because of ties) and is a resident of another country (USA) that has a tax treaty with Canada, I may be considered a deemed non‑resident of Canada for income tax purposes".

What do you say?

I think you'll have to read the US/Canada tax treaty as your question will be addressed there.

 

[Alex54321]

I think you'll have to read the US/Canada tax treaty as your question will be addressed there.

Yes, I will, but still in my case:

https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/international-non-residents/information-been-moved/determining-your-residency-status.html
Date modified: 2017-01-04

Your residency status if you entered Canada

• If you have ties in a country that Canada has a tax treaty with and you are considered to be a resident of that country, but you are also a factual resident of Canada because you established significant residential ties with Canada, you may be considered a deemed non-resident of Canada. The same rules apply to deemed non-residents as non-residents of Canada.

 

[pie_vancouver]

Even if you file, probably still be zero taxes because of 1 or 2 months income only? unless you have like $40,000 income in 2 months.

 

[canuck78]

Even if you file, probably still be zero taxes because of 1 or 2 months income only? unless you have like $40,000 income in 2 months.

Very true. In my experience if people are having problems finding a job or realize they were paid significantly more in somewhere like one of the gulf countries many decide to return so it is important people realize their tax obligations.