Hi there.
I have been an expat and living outside of Canada but only recently discovered that despite notifying CRA about my status as non resident, it still was considering me a resident for a few years so I sent them a note a few weeks ago to let them know. I had been seeing the TFSA cap increase so that is what flagged it to me after doing research that investing would be a potential issue since I am not supposed to have qualified.
It seems like just the other day they actually "fixed" my account but I do have a few questions.
1. They seem to have wiped out the ability to view the entire TFSA contribution as under that section it just indicates "non-resident" so cannot increase or add contribution room and links to the non resident section. While I understand that, I probably still had "some" leftover from when I was a resident. Is this just a system thing or should I call in to make sure they didn't mess things up.
2. With the exception of the above, there are not notes or messages or any indication about them receiving my note and making changes. I had to figure it out by going in and unless you were looking for something specific, I wouldn't have seen it. Is that also normal? I am not expecting a love letter but one of the major root causes was my international address being updated on the system and nothing specific was what made me feel comfortable that they were already aware. I also see that it still indicates that my returns from the years past were not submitted. Is this also just an "in case" detail? I don't have any income in Canada at all outside of an RRSP which I am told isn't something that would warrant an actual return.
3. I am going to be returning to Canada. My banks and advice from other accountant friends is to wait until I am an actual resident before doing anything. (And thank goodness, I found about the non resident TFSA stuff lol.)
How long after I "land" and become living in Canada would I have to wait to actually start investing/doing things on my finances without worrying about it all. I would of course submit another letter to indicate that I have returned but was wondering if I have to wait or something.
Thanks ahead of time for any responses that come out of this
I have been an expat and living outside of Canada but only recently discovered that despite notifying CRA about my status as non resident, it still was considering me a resident for a few years so I sent them a note a few weeks ago to let them know. I had been seeing the TFSA cap increase so that is what flagged it to me after doing research that investing would be a potential issue since I am not supposed to have qualified.
It seems like just the other day they actually "fixed" my account but I do have a few questions.
1. They seem to have wiped out the ability to view the entire TFSA contribution as under that section it just indicates "non-resident" so cannot increase or add contribution room and links to the non resident section. While I understand that, I probably still had "some" leftover from when I was a resident. Is this just a system thing or should I call in to make sure they didn't mess things up.
2. With the exception of the above, there are not notes or messages or any indication about them receiving my note and making changes. I had to figure it out by going in and unless you were looking for something specific, I wouldn't have seen it. Is that also normal? I am not expecting a love letter but one of the major root causes was my international address being updated on the system and nothing specific was what made me feel comfortable that they were already aware. I also see that it still indicates that my returns from the years past were not submitted. Is this also just an "in case" detail? I don't have any income in Canada at all outside of an RRSP which I am told isn't something that would warrant an actual return.
3. I am going to be returning to Canada. My banks and advice from other accountant friends is to wait until I am an actual resident before doing anything. (And thank goodness, I found about the non resident TFSA stuff lol.)
How long after I "land" and become living in Canada would I have to wait to actually start investing/doing things on my finances without worrying about it all. I would of course submit another letter to indicate that I have returned but was wondering if I have to wait or something.
Thanks ahead of time for any responses that come out of this
