Residency Requirement

[olags]

I arrived in Canada last July 2007 and left last February 2008 to work outside Canada. I know I didn't meet the residency requirement if I renew my PR card. I am planning to return this coming May 2012 but I am afraid that I will be denied entry due to residency requirement. Is it possible that immigration officer deny my entry to Canada?
Another question is ''Am I going to pay income tax for my salary I earned outside Canada?''

 

[Leon]

I arrived in Canada last July 2007 and left last February 2008 to work outside Canada. I know I didn't meet the residency requirement if I renew my PR card. I am planning to return this coming May 2012 but I am afraid that I will be denied entry due to residency requirement. Is it possible that immigration officer deny my entry to Canada?
Another question is ''Am I going to pay income tax for my salary I earned outside Canada?''

They will not deny you entry but if they realize you don't meet the residency requirements, they can report you for it and in that case, they will let you in and give you the chance to appeal for your PR. From what most people write on this forum who have entered without meeting the requirements, they seem to get in, they may get a stern talking to or told that they have actually lost their PR but hardly ever do they seem to get reported for real.

 

[olags]

Thanks for the info.

 

[olags]

One more thing, are they going to ask me for income earned outside Canada?

 

[Leon]

Immigration does not care about taxes. For that, you deal with revenue services.

Did you even work in Canada? If no, you never really took up residence in Canada for tax purposes and will start filing taxes only after you take up residence and start working.

If you did work in 2007 and 2008, did you file taxes for those years? If not, then you should have and you should have notified the tax authorities when filing for 2008 that you are no longer resident in Canada for tax purposes. Since you can't go back in time, you will have to deal with it when you arrive to clear up what you should have done then and take the consequences.

 

[olags]

I have worked in 2007 and paid my taxes. 2008 onwards I did not pay because I am already outside Canada.
Is this income outside Canada subject to tax?

 

[Leon]

You say you left Feb 2008 so I assume that you did not work in January or February 2008?

Did you file your taxes for 2007? Paying taxes is not the same as filing taxes. If you are working for an employer, they will automatically withhold your taxes and pay them for you but every year, usually in March or so when you have all your data, you are supposed to file your taxes, list your income and possible deductions etc. and then you will either get money back or have to pay more.

For 2008 (in March of 2009), you should have filed a zero return if you did not have any income and told CRA at the same time that you had moved and are no longer resident in Canada for tax purposes.

You will have to clear this up when you arrive in 2012.

 

[olags]

Yes, I did not work there since January 2008. And I have filed my income tax for the year 2007.
Thank you very much.