Tax issue in Sponsorship application for my wife

[Mehdi59]

Dear All,

I got my Permanent Resident when I was single, and I leaved CANADA a couple of months after my landing and since then I was living and working in another country where I got married there to my wife from the same nationality of mine. Recently, I returned back to live in CANADA, and meanwhile I want to apply the sponsorship for my wife. One of the documents required for application is the latest "notice of assessment" (option C). One of my question is should I submit income tax return despite the fact that I did not live and I did not earn income in CANADA during the last year of tax assessment? Based on my own investigation through the relevant websites, I found that most likely I would be considered as Canadian non-resident in term of tax payment and have not to file the tax return. If that's the case, then wouldn't it have a negative impact on my sponsorship eligibility?

I highly appreciate sharing your experience in this regard and let me know of your opinion.

Thanks

 

[CDNPR2014]

no, you do not need to submit a tax return if you have not paid taxes in canada and were not a resident for tax purposes before you returned. the application suggests sending a letter of explanation if you can not provide a tax record, so you will want to do that explaining you have been living outside of canada and just returned so you haven't paid canadian taxes. this will not negatively affect your application. many people can't submit tax records because of being outside of canada long term and it's a non issue for those people.

the important thing for you as a pr is that you must remain in canada during the entire application process to remain eligible as a sponsor.

 

[Mehdi59]

Thanks indeed for your reply.
How about if I file the tax return but with zero income (as I did not actually get any income inside the CANADA) just for the sake of having "Option C" as a supporting document. I am thinking if it might have a positive value as a supportive documents for my sponsorship application since my new marital statues will be mentioned there?!

 

[CDNPR2014]

Thanks indeed for your reply.
How about if I file the tax return but with zero income (as I did not actually get any income inside the CANADA) just for the sake of having "Option C" as a supporting document. I am thinking if it might have a positive value as a supportive documents for my sponsorship application since my new marital statues will be mentioned there?!

there is absolutely no reason at all to file a tax return if you are not a resident for tax purposes. again, it is not required to submit an option c if you have been living/working outside of canada prior to the application. if you want to provide proof of your tax status changing because you are now married, you can easily change your CRA status online without having to file taxes and submit proof from your online CRA acocunt. as a married couple, this will have no impact on your application whatsoever. the only way providing proof of tax status helps an application is when it is for a commonlaw application.

like i said, as someone who doesn't live and work in canada, it is not required to have a tax record for the previous year. cic doesn't care about how many taxes you pay, they care about whether you have used the canadian welfare system or filed for bankruptcy, both of which are identified on the requested form. if you haven't lived/worked in canada, then it is unlikely either one would have happened in the past 12 months. providing a tax record when you don't need to have one will not have any impact on your application. IMO, you are making this a lot more complicated than it needs to be.

 

[Mehdi59]

Yes, make sense. thanks again for quick respond.

 

[cheng9999]

Yes, make sense. thanks again for quick respond.

For Canadians, they can sponsor while being a non-resident. For PR's, they need to be a resident in Canada.

You must have returned to Canada and take up residence again in order to qualify as sponsor. This one is a bit tricky to prove. The strongest proof would be that you are now working, and have a pay stub. If you do not have anything like this, then you may get delayed with CIC asking for proof that you are now actually residing in Canada again.

Without Printout C, you would still need to satisfy the requirement. If you worked overseas, then you can show former pay stubs, tax filing in that country, etc. A letter to explain would help to make sure CIC understands the situation.

 

[mad_hatter]

Dear All,

I got my Permanent Resident when I was single, and I leaved CANADA a couple of months after my landing and since then I was living and working in another country where I got married there to my wife from the same nationality of mine. Recently, I returned back to live in CANADA, and meanwhile I want to apply the sponsorship for my wife. One of the documents required for application is the latest "notice of assessment" (option C). One of my question is should I submit income tax return despite the fact that I did not live and I did not earn income in CANADA during the last year of tax assessment? Based on my own investigation through the relevant websites, I found that most likely I would be considered as Canadian non-resident in term of tax payment and have not to file the tax return. If that's the case, then wouldn't it have a negative impact on my sponsorship eligibility?

I highly appreciate sharing your experience in this regard and let me know of your opinion.

Thanks

Beside the tax issue, you need to make sure you have fulfilled the RO, ie live in Canada 2 years out of 5 since obtaining PR. If you have not, CIC might revoke your PR status.

 

[Mehdi59]

For Canadians, they can sponsor while being a non-resident. For PR's, they need to be a resident in Canada.

You must have returned to Canada and take up residence again in order to qualify as sponsor. This one is a bit tricky to prove. The strongest proof would be that you are now working, and have a pay stub. If you do not have anything like this, then you may get delayed with CIC asking for proof that you are now actually residing in Canada again.

Without Printout C, you would still need to satisfy the requirement. If you worked overseas, then you can show former pay stubs, tax filing in that country, etc. A letter to explain would help to make sure CIC understands the situation.

Thanks for the useful tips. I am going to show my tenancy agreement in Canada as a proof of my residency. Whatelse can be a proof in this regards? How about the registration in university or to attend courses, or registration to get a driving license?