My husband (sponsor) hasn't filed taxes in 10 years. Is this a big problem?

[taffy7]

I would go ahead and apply!

I was approved as a sponsor and hadn't filed my taxes for three years. You will not be able to provide the "option C" because they are basically another form of a notice of assessement, based on your tax filing.

Instead of supplying the Option C, I wrote a letter explaining why I didn't have them and that I was employed. I also provided T4's for a few years to prove that I was working. I suggest you provide some documentation to demonstrate income: bank statements, invoices, references from clients, annual statements of business activities, or whatever you can round up.

He is self employed .He hasn't filed any taxes, so he won't have any T4 or any documentation except his bank account record.No statement of activities which is provided when you file business taxes .You were employed and you didn't file personal taxes and was able to provide proof.This Op won't have anything as proof with him being sole proprietorship.

 

[taffy7]

I also did not file my taxes for five years. In lieu of Option C, I provided them with a letter stating that I did not file my taxes and provided them with my SIN. I also provided them with a copy of my contract which showed my income (I'm self-employed) also I included a print out of my bank savings. I was approved as sponsor within the given timeframe. Later when I ordered my GCMS notes, I can see they did do a back ground check to see if I was or had been receiving Social Assistance ... which I hadn't so I was deemed eligible.

Good luck!

So you have a few options .Good luck which ever you chose.

 

[BCKev]

He is self employed .He hasn't filed any taxes, so he won't have any T4 or any documentation except his bank account record.No statement of activities which is provided when you file business taxes .You were employed and you didn't file personal taxes and was able to provide proof.This Op won't have anything as proof with him being sole proprietorship.

The amount of proof the OP could come up with will depend on the quality of the business records that were kept. As an example, from my own experience as a sole proprietor, invoices for my services matched with records of bank deposits creates good evidence of cash flow.

 

[taffy7]

The amount of proof the OP could come up with will depend on the quality of the business records that were kept. As an example, from my own experience as a sole proprietor, invoices for my services matched with records of bank deposits creates good evidence of cash flow.

For some reason i don't think he was to good at booking 10 years and no taxes filed is a long time .

 

[BCKev]

For some reason i don't think he was to good at booking 10 years and no taxes filed is a long time .

I suspect you are correct.

 

[NJ2Canada2013]

taffy: you seem to know a lot about this. My husband (sponsor) hadn't filed taxes for awhile and when he did he found out he owed a lot of money. He owns his own business and that is what the money owed is from! He is on a payment plan and has been paying for a year now without missing a payment however still owes quite a bit of money they he is unable to pay in full. He has already been accepted as a sponsor. We seem to be getting a lot of run around with my PR application and they just recently asked for a CRA tax assessment. Could I be denied for him owing back taxes when he's already been approved as a sponsor? I'm just getting so nervous!

 

[ydj_dil]

Just out of curiosity, and hope I will never ever need to know more, but when people file for welfare don't they need to file taxes first to show their low income? So does that mean not filing taxes automatically means you are not on welfare? Not that its a good thing to not file taxes, but just wondering...

 

[ydj_dil]

taffy: you seem to know a lot about this. My husband (sponsor) hadn't filed taxes for awhile and when he did he found out he owed a lot of money. He owns his own business and that is what the money owed is from! He is on a payment plan and has been paying for a year now without missing a payment however still owes quite a bit of money they he is unable to pay in full. He has already been accepted as a sponsor. We seem to be getting a lot of run around with my PR application and they just recently asked for a CRA tax assessment. Could I be denied for him owing back taxes when he's already been approved as a sponsor? I'm just getting so nervous!

After sponsorship approval, the next step is solely based on you, and your relationship with him I think. His financial status doesn't matter - he already agreed to look after you financially, and is expected to do so however he can.

 

[NJ2Canada2013]

I agree and was hopeful until they just recently asked for my sponsors CRA tax assessment. Why do they even need that if he's been approved as a sponsor? They have been giving us the run around since day one! They've asked for declaration of severence of common law from his ex, even though we had a legal marriage certificate which overrides a common law! Also they are now saying they have my marriage license not a certificate which is bs, because I paid for a legal marriage certificate and I sent them what I was sent! They've asked for so much crap that they either have or is necessary. So, now I'm just getting nervous that his amount of money owed is going to affect my PR.

 

[BCKev]

I agree and was hopeful until they just recently asked for my sponsors CRA tax assessment. Why do they even need that if he's been approved as a sponsor? They have been giving us the run around since day one! They've asked for declaration of severence of common law from his ex, even though we had a legal marriage certificate which overrides a common law! Also they are now saying they have my marriage license not a certificate which is bs, because I paid for a legal marriage certificate and I sent them what I was sent! They've asked for so much crap that they either have or is necessary. So, now I'm just getting nervous that his amount of money owed is going to affect my PR.

Your husband should be okay as a sponsor. I looked at the sponsorship requirements in the guide, and nothing is mentioned about owing money for income taxes:

"You may NOT sponsor if you…
are in receipt of social assistance for a reason other than disability,
are in default of an undertaking, an immigration loan, a performance bond, or family support payments,
are an undischarged bankrupt,
were convicted of an offence of a sexual nature, a violent criminal offence, an offence against a relative that results in bodily harm or an attempt or threat to commit any such offences—depending on circumstances such as the nature of the offence, how long ago it occurred and whether a pardon was issued
are under a removal order,
are detained in a penitentiary, jail, reformatory or prison,"
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/5772ETOC.asp

I have no answers about why CIC would be asking for tax assessments after the sponsorship has been approved. This is SPECULATION: Since they were asking about a previous common law relationship, maybe they want to look at tax records to see if there is any evidence of a common law relationship (such as joint filing, dependent claims, etc.) and that it is consistent with the information they have been given?

 

[dominokitty]

No matter what, your husband NEEDS to file his taxes ASAP. He's been essentially evading taxes for 10 years, that is a criminal offense and he needs to get that taken care of before sponsoring you. He does however have a window of opportunity where he can file his taxes without being criminally charged - but if they find him before he comes clean he WILL be charged.. He'll certainly owe money to the government (assuming he hasn't been paying taxes at all for 10 years.. just because you're self employed doesn't mean you don't need to make tax deductions from your paycheque), but it won't make him unable to sponsor you. He needs to get this taken care of ASAP before the government tracks him down and arrests him for tax evasion. He has essentially been taking advantage of things that are paid for by taxpayers (infrastructure, medical care, etc) without paying his taxes and this is a big, big deal that needs to be taken care of. Paying taxes is a legal requirement for working in Canada, not an option.

Let him know that if he's really struggling with filing on his own he can contact a place like H&R Block and they will file his taxes for him and get it all sorted out. They charge about $80 or so to do it, I think.

My post was written under the assumption that he has not been deducting taxes from his pay for 10 years - If he has been, you can disregard the criminal tax evasion comment HOWEVER it is still very important to file your taxes!!

 

[NJ2Canada2013]

My husband is only behind one year on his taxes. He had a accountant catch him up but that accountant messed up royally. I looked at the notice of assessment and what he owes and I almost fell off the couch. We are seeking a new accountant today for him to review what the other guy did as well as do last years and this years taxes.

Your husband should be okay as a sponsor. I looked at the sponsorship requirements in the guide, and nothing is mentioned about owing money for income taxes:

"You may NOT sponsor if you...
are in receipt of social assistance for a reason other than disability,
are in default of an undertaking, an immigration loan, a performance bond, or family support payments,
are an undischarged bankrupt,
were convicted of an offence of a sexual nature, a violent criminal offence, an offence against a relative that results in bodily harm or an attempt or threat to commit any such offences—depending on circumstances such as the nature of the offence, how long ago it occurred and whether a pardon was issued
are under a removal order,
are detained in a penitentiary, jail, reformatory or prison,"
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/5772ETOC.asp

I have no answers about why CIC would be asking for tax assessments after the sponsorship has been approved. This is SPECULATION: Since they were asking about a previous common law relationship, maybe they want to look at tax records to see if there is any evidence of a common law relationship (such as joint filing, dependent claims, etc.) and that it is consistent with the information they have been given?

As far as this is concerned that does make sense! Yes everything filed was separate when it should have been under single. My husband is up to date with his child support and never been on any kind of assistance. He only got behind with his business taxes because he was lazy, and he had closed one business and opened a different one but they were still charging gst/hst on the other business because they had the wrong number...something like that, I don't know too much but I will today! I hope that is all they are looking for but I doubt they cannot look at that bottom number owed! I'm going to talk to the accountant and if we have to send in this notice of assessment, I'm going to have a letter from the accountant stating we are currently under his business and we are working to correct the issue and hopefully get the benefit of the doubt.

 

[BCKev]

My husband is only behind one year on his taxes. He had a accountant catch him up but that accountant messed up royally. I looked at the notice of assessment and what he owes and I almost fell off the couch. We are seeking a new accountant today for him to review what the other guy did as well as do last years and this years taxes.

As far as this is concerned that does make sense! Yes everything filed was separate when it should have been under single. My husband is up to date with his child support and never been on any kind of assistance. He only got behind with his business taxes because he was lazy, and he had closed one business and opened a different one but they were still charging gst/hst on the other business because they had the wrong number...something like that, I don't know too much but I will today! I hope that is all they are looking for but I doubt they cannot look at that bottom number owed! I'm going to talk to the accountant and if we have to send in this notice of assessment, I'm going to have a letter from the accountant stating we are currently under his business and we are working to correct the issue and hopefully get the benefit of the doubt.

I hope your new accountant can get some good answers. When it comes to GST, they do some crazy things: actually making up tax bills and demanding you pay. Been through that before. The solution was getting my books straight and filing on time.

Good Luck!

 

[NJ2Canada2013]

Went to the accountant and yes his last accountant really messed up and the total owed is not quite as bad as we thought. We are doing a consumer proposal since we wont and would never do bankruptcy! Things are getting taken care of and hopefully will go more smoothly. I have 60 days to reply to CPC-Ottawa, and accountant says a couple weeks and things should be straightened out!

 

[Femme38]

Hey guys, my boyfriend took CERB for 5 months with this thought that it also applied to people who COULDN'T find work during Covid. He made over 5000CAD in 2019 but lost his job in December 2019 unrelated to Covid. It was an honest mistake and he actually thought it also included those who couldn't find work which he was constantly looking for work. Now he has returned the money in full and will pay taxes on it as well. Is this going to impact his ability to sponsor me?