Great news--horrible issues!

Hey all,

('important' bits bolded for easier read)

Not posted in a while (yet again), but a lot has been going on. My boyfriend (who is British) and I are looking at purchasing a house, and that's tied up a lot of our time--not to mention we went back to Canada for Christmas holidays! 'Lo and behold, while we were there, my boyfriend proposed! So now I'm engaged. It's a weird idea.

Well anyway, we're not planning on getting married for a few years (until 2011) so that my friends and family can save up and come here on holiday for the wedding, as I want to get married here.. I'm not too worried about legal issues or anything, as I'm in the UK on an Ancestry Visa. I'll deal with those a bit later, anyway, because I don't know if I have to notify Canada.. (I'll look all this up in the forums and online eventually..)

My biggest issue is the house.. While I was in Canada I managed to close all my bank accounts and transfer the money to the UK (btw, I highly recommend UK Forex, as they were able to transfer my money without any hitches--it was just the actual 'getting the money to them' that I had problems with, and that wasn't their fault). So far as I know, I can leave an RRSP open in Canada despite being a 'non-resident' and living in the UK. (because I closed my bank accounts, and have no other ties besides my RRSP, I'm a non-resident.. riiiight? >.>) Just last week I received a letter from my bank stating that, because I am a non-resident, I have to 'change the legal beneficiary of my RSP'--which, so far as I know, I don't even have. All I have left is an RRSP. Has ANYONE gone through this, or know what to do about it? I tried calling the person from the bank, but they were unavailable. (I also don't know if this RSP is part of my RRSP, or if it's a separate account I didn't realize I had and therefore didn't close)

If anyone has any advice (on any of these matters) I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks, and best wishes to all.

Oh, PS, HAPPY BELATED NEW YEARS, EVERYONE!!!!

~FL

Er. Anyone? ¬.¬

Anyone know anything about RRSP's?

Or if I have to notify Canada about my impending marriage?

Or anything? o.O;

~FL

You'd need to check the UK-Canada tax treaty, I suspect (but don't know for sure) that distributions in an RRSP are subject to UK income tax but there might be some sort of declaration you can make with HMRC to exempt yourself from it. RRSP is not a tax shelter for the purposes of UK tax law and you wouldn't be able to contribute to it anymore (not as an RRSP anyway because obviously there is no RRSP provision you can use).

You need to give HMRC a call really and ask someone who is an expert on the UK-Canada tax treaty. Worst-case scenario you'll have to cash out your RRSP, pay income tax on that money and then put it into an ISA in the UK.

There are pension transfer provisions in the tax treaty, I know that much.

Might be worth talking to the CRA as well, just make sure on your final T1 you check the box that says you left. It helps if you can say you left on 31st December because then you don't have to pro-rate your personal exemptions.