Need Help and Information

Canadian Expats and travelers in the USA can communicate with each other here!

Moderator: visaplace.com

pdsujanNew Member
Topic author
Posts: 2
Joined: 6 Aug 2008

Need Help and Information

Post Thu Mar 05, 2009 6:25 pm

I am Canadian citizen living in US last four years. I am married to US citizen and have one daughter. Last four I haven't file a Canadian tax, haven't change the marriage status ( Which I found out that I need to change those information now). I really want to move to Canada in future and want to maintain my citizenship and pay all the taxes even I am not working in Canada and not getting any benefits form government. Also I do not own or rent any property in Canada.
Can somebody help me?
1)Do I need to file the tax in Canada?
2)How do I change my married status in Canada?
3)Do I need to inform Canadian government about tha birth of my child?
4)Can I renew my passport..without living in Canada without paying taxes?

Thanks.
Sujand
Top
Reba

Re: Need Help and Information

Post Fri Mar 06, 2009 5:12 am

You do not need to file taxes in Canada if you do not have any financial ties to Canada. Your last year that you lived there, you should have filed what they call an "exit return". That notifies Rev Can that you are no longer resident and do not need to file taxes anymore.

Why would you need to change your married status in Canada?

You can get your child a Canadian passport by registering her birth abroad. Check with Citizenship Canada (google their website) for information, or call the closest Canadian consulate to where you currently live and ask them.

Yes, you can renew your passport from the US through the mail. Do it well enough in advance before it expires (I'd suggest at least 2 months, there's going to be a rush agian this year as passport requirement comes into effect in June). Google "passport Canada" for info on how to apply from the US.
Top
StevenCanuckAbroad VIP
Posts: 3637
Topics: 2
Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Location: Calgary

Re: Need Help and Information

Post Fri Mar 06, 2009 1:05 pm

By law a spouse is a residential tie, and under US law you have to file jointly as a resident if you reside in the US and are married to a resident US citizen.

The upshot being that it's almost impossible to be considered a tax resident of Canada under that circumstance, which means you ceased to be a resident of Canada for tax purposes when you got married and moved to the US.

So you owe nothing in Canada. The only slight snag is that you should have told the CRA this when you moved, but you can always call them now and tell them that you moved. If you failed to file a tax return in the year that you got married, you might owe some small amount of tax but I assume the tax was withheld on a T4 anyway, so it's just a case of a late filing fee for one T1 (in fact they may owe you money depending on how much was withheld).

You remain a Canadian citizen, so yes, you can renew your passport even though you are no longer paying Canadian taxes. Likewise, you can register your child and they will become a Canadian citizen.

Frankly you're worrying about the wrong things, what you probably need to do is this:

1) Apply for US citizenship (if you haven't already), so you can move back to the US if you ever want to;
2) If your spouse is coming with you, you need to sponsor him for permanent residency. (If they're not, you have to honour custody agreements, which means you must have your spouse's permission to remove the child from the US).
Steve.
Top

Did you enjoy this post? Share it!

 
  • Related topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post
cron