To tax or not to Tax ???

[cooldoc80]

Dear All

i'm a newly immigrant to Canada , i landed at august /2015 with my wife and stayed for only 3 weeks .

at 2016 my wife went to Canada as she is pregnant , she is hopefully going to give birth there and come back exactly after 5 months , Meanwhile i'm working back home and will only join her for the last 2 months

after our child birth we are leaving Canada and not planning to go back to canada until after a 1.5 year and live there permanently ( so in this case we wont break the 2/5 years required to not lose the residency )

my wife is still a student and dosent have any income while i work backhome

Please help me with this question

I'm I required to file tax and pay for year 2016???

I read the CRA rules and for me the only thing that apply is :

- my wife spent 152 days in canada ( not 183)
- my wife has a health card and bank account which she is using
- also the only tie i have is a bank account in canada

so i'm I required to file and pay taxes

thanks

 

[torontosm]

Dear All

i'm a newly immigrant to Canada , i landed at august /2015 with my wife and stayed for only 3 weeks .

at 2016 my wife went to Canada as she is pregnant , she is hopefully going to give birth there and come back exactly after 5 months , Meanwhile i'm working back home and will only join her for the last 2 months

after our child birth we are leaving Canada and not planning to go back to canada until after a 1.5 year and live there permanently ( so in this case we wont break the 2/5 years required to not lose the residency )

my wife is still a student and dosent have any income while i work backhome

Please help me with this question

I'm I required to file tax and pay for year 2016???

I read the CRA rules and for me the only thing that apply is :

- my wife spent 152 days in canada ( not 183)
- my wife has a health card and bank account which she is using
- also the only tie i have is a bank account in canada

so i'm I required to file and pay taxes

thanks

Yes, you are definitely required to file and pay taxes in Canada for 2016. Think about it reasonably...your wife came to Canada, will live here for some time, will visit doctors and eventually deliver a baby here, etc. Who do you think is going to pay for all that? If you use the medical services here, of course you have to contribute to the tax pool as well.

Having your family here and having your son/daughter here is clear residential ties to Canada, regardless of whether she spent 183 days here or not.

 

[cooldoc80]

Thanks for your reply torontostom

actually , if thats the case then do i have to pay the fees of the health care ? we told alberta health upon registration that we are not going to stay for 6 months and they told us in that case we will not be covered by alberta health and we will have to pay our selves ...i was thinking of telling them before we leave about paying for health car expenses

but now from what you are saying is that i will pay taxes also !!!

how do you know that you have to pay taxes , does sombody contact you or how does it work ?

thanks

 

[torontosm]

Thanks for your reply torontostom

actually , if thats the case then do i have to pay the fees of the health care ? we told alberta health upon registration that we are not going to stay for 6 months and they told us in that case we will not be covered by alberta health and we will have to pay our selves ...i was thinking of telling them before we leave about paying for health car expenses

but now from what you are saying is that i will pay taxes also !!!

how do you know that you have to pay taxes , does sombody contact you or how does it work ?

thanks

Yes, if you aren't going to live in Alberta, then you can't avail the provincial healthcare and will have to pay for the delivery yourself. In that case, the situation changes and you will almost certainly be classified as a visitor and not have to pay any income tax (since you won't be a resident). however, if you want to use the free healthcare and will be availing other benefits, then you will be classified as a resident and will have to pay tax on your global income. It's either one or the other.

No one tells you that you have to pay tax. It's a law, and like all other laws, it's your obligation to obey it. You will have to file at the end of the year and pay whatever is due.

 

[cooldoc80]

Hi dear and thanks alot for you reply

I wanted to ask you somthing and i wish you or other could answer me if you have any information


1- the Alberta health care said if my wife live 6months /12 months period then she dont need to pay the fees. but my question is when is this 12 month period ? is it from january- december 2016 or its a year from the date we register for health card !??
my wife got her card at the first of JUNE , so does that mean until next year JUNE 2017 she should live 183 days(6months ) .


2- if we live more than 183 days , how is this done ? do they contact me or they trust what i say when i file taxation ? how does the CRA decide how much tax i should pay , do i have to get report from the university i work at about my salary , or they do thiere own estimation according to my job , my country doesn't have any tax agreement with canada.


thanks all

 

[keesio]

Hi dear and thanks alot for you reply

I wanted to ask you somthing and i wish you or other could answer me if you have any information


1- the Alberta health care said if my wife live 6months /12 months period then she dont need to pay the fees. but my question is when is this 12 month period ? is it from january- december 2016 or its a year from the date we register for health card !??
my wife got her card at the first of JUNE , so does that mean until next year JUNE 2017 she should live 183 days(6months ) .


2- if we live more than 183 days , how is this done ? do they contact me or they trust what i say when i file taxation ? how does the CRA decide how much tax i should pay , do i have to get report from the university i work at about my salary , or they do thiere own estimation according to my job , my country doesn't have any tax agreement with canada.


thanks all

1. It would be the first 12 months from the landing date.
2. They don't contact you, they just assume. The amount you owe CRA will be determined when you file you taxes. It should tell you how much you owe. You may want to get an accountant familiar with filing taxes for residents working abroad.

 

[cooldoc80]

Thanks Kessio for your answer , i just wanted to clarify what you said

1- you mentioned its 12 months since landing ( but we landed a year ago and stayed for a couple of weeks and didnt apply for health card at that time, now my wife landed again at June/2016 and applied for alberta health card , so would we consider it 12 months since we got the card this year .


2 what do you mean they assume ? for sombody who lives outside canada how do they know my salary ? would they take my word on it ?! i dont think anyone of them would believe me if i say my local goverment didnt pay salary for 6 months of the last year !! and now its giving us 25% of its slary because its bankrupt , how do you prove somthing like that ?

thanks

 

[keesio]

Thanks Kessio for your answer , i just wanted to clarify what you said

1- you mentioned its 12 months since landing ( but we landed a year ago and stayed for a couple of weeks and didnt apply for health card at that time, now my wife landed again at June/2016 and applied for alberta health card , so would we consider it 12 months since we got the card this year .


2 what do you mean they assume ? for sombody who lives outside canada how do they know my salary ? would they take my word on it ?! i dont think anyone of them would believe me if i say my local goverment didnt pay salary for 6 months of the last year !! and now its giving us 25% of its slary because its bankrupt , how do you prove somthing like that ?

thanks

1. ah ok. Yeah it is probably the date she applied then.

2. CRA will rely on you to fill out your tax forms correctly. So yes, they take your word for it... unless you get audited. If you do get audited and they question you, you should have supporting documentation with you.

 

[cooldoc80]

Thanks , buddy

So if my wife hopfully give birth in and stay in canada for 4-5 and I stay with her 2 months then i pay for the medical expenses and not come back to canada until 2 years

in the above scenario i dont have to file any taxes right? as the only link i would have left to canada is our bank account ?

thanks

 

[keesio]

You will likely have to pay taxes for that first year and then after that you can declare non-residency to CRA. Again, I suggest talking to a tax professional.