Tax questions sponsoring American Spouse

[Chaslyn]

Hello all,

I will be sponsoring my American husband using the inland application. My question is in regards to him not filing his US taxes for the past years. This is because he has been working as a freelancer and only gets paid through PayPal. He hasn’t received a 1099K from them because it’s mostly been through Friends and Family.

Because this will be our first year married, I have to file my income tax here in Canada and report both my income and his. However, I’m wondering if he will need to file his 2019 taxes in order for me to still qualify for the Child Tax Benefit (I already had 2 kids before we got married)? Will the US and Canada make sure the amounts on our income tax match up, and does it affect our sponsorship paperwork?
Is there anything I’m not thinking about (or maybe I’m overthinking).

TIA!

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hello all,

I will be sponsoring my American husband using the inland application. My question is in regards to him not filing his US taxes for the past years. This is because he has been working as a freelancer and only gets paid through PayPal. He hasn’t received a 1099K from them because it’s mostly been through Friends and Family.

Because this will be our first year married, I have to file my income tax here in Canada and report both my income and his. However, I’m wondering if he will need to file his 2019 taxes in order for me to still qualify for the Child Tax Benefit (I already had 2 kids before we got married)? Will the US and Canada make sure the amounts on our income tax match up, and does it affect our sponsorship paperwork?
Is there anything I’m not thinking about (or maybe I’m overthinking).

TIA!

Working as a freelancer and only getting paid through PayPal is not an excuse for not paying his taxes. He really should sort out his US tax situation, as the IRS is even less forgiving than CRA.

He doesn't need to file his taxes in the US in order for you to qualify. However, credits/benefits are based on family income and you are required to FULLY declare his complete income in order for the amounts to be calculated. Failure to do so is fraud. CRA doesn't compare anything to the IRS.

 

[Chaslyn]

Just to be clear, I wasn’t suggesting that he not declare his income. It is not a lot of income that would affect our family income and ability to qualify for CCB. I just wasn’t sure if him not filing taxes in the past would disqualify me from receiving CCB and whether him not having much of an income would prove that he can’t financially support himself while here in Canada .

Working as a freelancer and only getting paid through PayPal is not an excuse for not paying his taxes. He really should sort out his US tax situation, as the IRS is even less forgiving than CRA.

He doesn't need to file his taxes in the US in order for you to qualify. However, credits/benefits are based on family income and you are required to FULLY declare his complete income in order for the amounts to be calculated. Failure to do so is fraud. CRA doesn't compare anything to the IRS.