Proof of common-law with Tax Return states Single

[Rob_TO]

Thank you all for your reply!

After looking back to my issue here, I think I made a mistake in determining my status. Yes, my partner and I did live together for more than a year, but the first couple months we were just roommate (each of us rent a room in a townhouse where 5 people live together). Then we started our relationship. When we filed our tax return, our relationship has not reached 12 months.

So in this case, would 'Single' be okay for us? We're going to file the tax as common-law next year definitely.

In that case I think you're ok. CRA defines common-law as living together in a conjugal relationship, so if you were just roommates that would not count towards the 12 months qualifying time. This is also true for CIC in determining common-law for immigration.

Do either of you receive the GST/HST or other monthly payments from CRA? If so, then you would need to update them on your status change to common-law in the same month you reached 12 months, since your monthly payments would need to be recalculated at that time to account for your new family income instead of individual incomes.

This is a bit of a grey area also for both CRA and CIC. If you were each renting a room in a shared home, then technically you may not be seen to be actually cohabiting. I guess it really depends on how the address is stated, if they distinguish by "unit 1" and "unit 2" or something like that for your mail, or if they simply state the house address and that's it.

 

[Jeyla]

My boyfriend and I rented a house together June 2013 buI he was not sleepi g in the house as my children were getting to know him first but he started sleeping at the house on Jan 2014 so I applied for common law/conjugal sponsorship on Oct 2013 and my application was refused. Now on May 2016 I sent a new application which I already received my AOR letter, but realized that I been doing my taxes as single till this year that I declare common law, will this affect my sponsorship???

 

[Rob_TO]

My boyfriend and I rented a house together June 2013 buI he was not sleepi g in the house as my children were getting to know him first but he started sleeping at the house on Jan 2014 so I applied for common law/conjugal sponsorship on Oct 2013 and my application was refused. Now on May 2016 I sent a new application which I already received my AOR letter, but realized that I been doing my taxes as single till this year that I declare common law, will this affect my sponsorship???

Shouldn't affect your PR app, but could have a huge effect with CRA on your taxes. All your child and other benefits are calculated using your family income. So if you've been getting benefits this past year using just your "single" income when in fact you should have changed your status and been using your common-law "family" income (combined with your partner), CRA will force you to pay all the amount they overpaid you dating back to when you became common-law.

 

[pie_vancouver]

the question here is as of dec 31 2015 were you living together for at least 1 year?
if yes, you are common law for tax year 2015
if not and will be 1 year in 2016, ex. february, then change your status in cra myonline account and put february 2016

 

[Rob_TO]

if not and will be 1 year in 2016, ex. february, then change your status in cra myonline account and put february 2016

Yes, but the problem here is that if she's been getting monthly benefit payments all this time as single, CRA will re-calculate going back to Feb 2016 and make her pay back the difference if there is one

 

[portofmiami]

My girlfriend and I started living together for the first time in my home country in May 2014. She moved in with myself and my roommate and consequently was not on a lease etc. It was quite an informal arrangement with little documentation.

We moved to Canada in July 2015 and have lived together since.

When filing our 2015 Tax Return, we both filed as "single", as we thought our living together overseas would be difficult to prove (a mistake in hindsight) & we had not lived together in Canada for a full year. We are going to address this mistake on my upcoming PR application with a detailed explanation of our mistake and our thought process behind it.

We are going to change our status via CRA to "common law" but my question is: should we change the date of entering into a common law relationship as A) May 2015 or B) July 2016


Thoughts/guidance would be very appreciated!

 

[profiler]

My girlfriend and I started living together for the first time in my home country in May 2014. She moved in with myself and my roommate and consequently was not on a lease etc. It was quite an informal arrangement with little documentation.

We moved to Canada in July 2015 and have lived together since.

When filing our 2015 Tax Return, we both filed as "single", as we thought our living together overseas would be difficult to prove (a mistake in hindsight) & we had not lived together in Canada for a full year. We are going to address this mistake on my upcoming PR application with a detailed explanation of our mistake and our thought process behind it.

We are going to change our status via CRA to "common law" but my question is: should we change the date of entering into a common law relationship as A) May 2015 or B) July 2016


Thoughts/guidance would be very appreciated!

You can re-submit your 2015 return to correct any errors. Common-law to the CRA is 12 months from the day co-habitation starts, and ends the day one of you has a new civic address. You could argue that you lived together more than the 12 months; just not here. If it was me, I would say May 2015 and re-submit my 2015.

$0.05

 

[portofmiami]

You can re-submit your 2015 return to correct any errors. Common-law to the CRA is 12 months from the day co-habitation starts, and ends the day one of you has a new civic address. You could argue that you lived together more than the 12 months; just not here. If it was me, I would say May 2015 and re-submit my 2015.

$0.05

Thank you Profiler, this is very helpful advice.

We have a lot of proof of our relationship, but we are worried this could be a potential red-flag even though it was just a silly mistake on our behalf