Self employed - question

[ljiljka007]

I heard that a person who holds open work permit can be self employed, but cant open a business. Can somebody explain me how it works then, with self employment thing? I dont get it, if You cant open a business how can You be self employed?

 

[BigBee]

I heard that a person who holds open work permit can be self employed, but cant open a business. Can somebody explain me how it works then, with self employment thing? I dont get it, if You cant open a business how can You be self employed?

The best place is to start exploring is the CRA website;

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/bsnss/sm/menu-eng.html

If you are referring to "Incorporation" vs "Self employed", Incorporation can be done only by PR or Citizen while you could say you are self employed and file your income tax.

Please post your query under the "Finance and Taxation" forum and I am sure you will get more appropriate answer to your queries.

Good luck.

 

[jes_ON]

I heard that a person who holds open work permit can be self employed, but cant open a business. Can somebody explain me how it works then, with self employment thing? I dont get it, if You cant open a business how can You be self employed?

You can be an independent contractor / consultant (Sole Proprietor) without incorporating as a business.

 

[ljiljka007]

You can be an independent contractor / consultant (Sole Proprietor) without incorporating as a business.

From what I found online sole proprietorship is a business that is owned and run by a single person. And on the other hand, I read that non canadian (or PR at leats) cant run a business. That is what make me so confused..

 

[thisisauser]

As long as you have a SIN number, whether permanent or temporary, you can start a business that is:

- Sole Proprietorship
- Partnership

You can register a business name for a fee with your province as well.

If however you wish to start a corporation it would require a Board of Directors. Corporations Act says that at least 25% of the directors should be resident Canadians (defined as PRs and Canadian citizens). This percentage is rounded up so for less than 4 people you would need at least 1 permanent resident or citizen. So you alone as a work permit holder can not incorporate.

Why would you want to "open a business" though? Is it for HST collection? All you need is a Business Number from CRA. If you expect to collect less than $30K, then you are not required to collect HST. Collecting it does have some benefits such as Input Tax Credits (ITC). Depending on how much that is, it might not be worth the effort and obligations.