Married, but living in two countries. Crazy?

[Steven]

Yeah, but that's an immigration issue, we're talking about taxes. Under US and Canadian law if you're married you have to file jointly, the CRA and the IRS don't give a damn what your immigration status is, you could be in the country illegally for all they care. In addition a spouse is a "residential tie" to that country. If he hasn't claimed permanent residence in Canada then they can choose either the US or Canada, but if he does get LPR status in Canada then it will definitely be Canada because a claim of permanent residence is exactly that. Whether it's abandoned or not later on is not really that important, the calculation of where your tax home is in this situation is somewhat murky, so the fact that he wants to permanently reside in Canada whether he meets the letter of the immigration law or not is what counts - and he showed that by getting LPR status to begin with.

Without him ever having LPR status it gets more murky, depends on the amount of time he spends in either country, how long she spends in either country, etc. There is a formula for calculating it in the tax treaty but also you need to check the case law on it.

Certainly if they choose the US, the CRA aren't going to be happy about a Canadian resident family filing as non-resident ad infinitum, which is why she needs a lawyer really because when they ask her to fill in NR-73 she needs something to back it up.

To be honest the simplest way out of it is to not be married, or live in the same country!

[Steven]

While I'm thinking about it, you can only have one principal residence if you're married as well, so you'd have to figure that out. One would be subject to capital gains tax if you had two. Which is another reason why you can only have one tax home.

[jodanick]

It is very confusing to say that my mom needs to stay both countries. She have a choice to remain one country but it was too late . She first got PR in US then, Canada and then finally, she became a US citizen. She has been employed in US but not anymore in Canada, does she has to declare her tax in Canada too?

One time also, she was questioned at the border about her residency and advised to give up one of them. For me, I like the health benefits that my parents have but I don't know what to do about it concerning her status. My mom wants to stay here in Canada in the future but for now she comes back and forth. Since she is holding a US passport now and not anymore her (country of origin passport), is this will be an issue for Canadian immigration when she comes here? Thanks Steven for all the response you did, I really appreciate..

[Reba]

Unless your mother gained Canadian residency thru marriage to a Canadian citizen, AND if she remains married to and living with that SAME Canadian, she will be able to keep her LPR status.

However, if she gained her Canadian residency thru any other means of immigration, it is likely void now that she has moved to the US and got citizenship there. There is no way for her to keep it if she is living in a different country.

had she applied for Canadian citizenship before she moved to the US, then she wouldn't have a problem.

[Steven]

You can have dual citizenship, you can have citizenship of one country and be resident in another, but you cannot effectively be a resident of the US and Canada at the same time, nor would you want to be because you'd face dual taxation. Anyone claiming Canadian healthcare would be deemed resident by the CRA because only residents can get it.

[jodanick]

Thanks a lot for you both (Steven and Reba)..