New immigrant in late 2013, now to file Canadian taxes?

[keesio]

Hello,
My wife became a PR in October last year. Before then, she lived and worked in the US. My question is - does she need to file Canadian taxes and if so, does she just start with income after she became a Canadian resident? She does not work so she doesn't have any Canadian income (not even any Canadian interest income) since she landed but she does have some interest income in the US from various savings accounts in US banks.

thanks!

 

[santoki]

I found myself in a similar situation last year come tax time. My wife moved to Canada from the US in December 2012. She did not earn any income in the two weeks that she was a resident in Canada for 2012, so we simply filed her US taxes as we normally would. She will be filing her first income tax return this year for 2013. This was on the advice of our accountant who said she should not have any issues. Obviously it'll be best to speak with your accountant (if you don't have one I strongly suggest you get one as you'll have to deal with filing US taxes on an ongoing basis for your spouse) to clarify.

 

[keesio]

Thanks for the reply. I do have an accountant who specializes in US taxes for Americans in Canada (I am also a US expat) but I thought that they would have a bias to say "you should file" since it is more business to them

 

[santoki]

I suppose you could always file to be safe, but it seems unnecessary in this situation.

Btw, when did you apply for Canadian citizenship and how long did the process take? I just read an article about proposed changes to the process and it stated current wait times are between 24-32 months.

 

[keesio]

Looking at the recently tabled citizenship bill, I may file taxes for my wife to be safe. That is because the new bill requires PRs to file taxes for the years they will count towards their residency for citizenship.

I applied for citizenship at the end of April (the 29th) and became a citizen in the beginning of December (6th). So it took a little over 7 months.

 

[mohammad110]

Dear All,

I become PR and settled Sep 2013, since then I am not working and no income.
not it is time for me to fill the first Tax form before april 2014.

1- now I want to transfer part of my savings in last 10 years (around 100,000 CAD) via bank transfer from outside Canada to my account in Canada.
will it be taxable?
2- should I mention my whole savings (inside and outside US ) in my first TAX form??

Thanks in advance,
Mohamad

 

[jes_ON]

the transfer is not taxable, you are simply moving money that is already yours.

However, Canadian residents are taxed on global income. Any interest earned on your savigns after becoming a resident is reportable on your income tax return

 

[Suin]

Hello,
My wife became a PR in October last year. Before then, she lived and worked in the US. My question is - does she need to file Canadian taxes and if so, does she just start with income after she became a Canadian resident? She does not work so she doesn't have any Canadian income (not even any Canadian interest income) since she landed but she does have some interest income in the US from various savings accounts in US banks.

thanks!

I got PR status in December and when I contacted CRA they strongly recommended to file the tax return even for residence in Canada that was less than a month for a year.

 

[shamrock21]

I got PR status in December and when I contacted CRA they strongly recommended to file the tax return even for residence in Canada that was less than a month for a year.

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