Question regarding final Canadian Departure Tax Return &

Back in 2002 I completed the NR-73 and Canada Revenue at that time determined I was still considered a factual Canadian reisdent because of my ties to the country. However, I've since severed all significant ties to Canada except my passport and a bank account.

I am getting ready to final my final Canadian departure return with a departure date of Jan 10, 2007. Now because, I did complete a NR-73 back in 2002, should I complete another one? Or should I just indicate my departure date on the T1 and nothing else?

Bit of an opinion on this one, if you filed one before and they said you were resident, that's still in their file, so might be an idea to do another one just to clear the air.

Just make sure you've declared to the bank that you're non-resident (i.e. they do Part XIII withholding on your bank interest and send you an NR4 every year).

Thank you for the info.

I called Revenue Canada in Ottawa today and they told me that I would have to complete another NR73. I asked if I would be required to submit additional information, he said probably not. But I've heard of them asking for proof such as tax returns from the other country.

Does anyone know if the CRA will accept IRS form 6166 Foreign tax certification as proof that I am indeed a US resident?

I did call RBC bank and they have my US address already. But since it's non-interest bearing , it doesn't make a difference.

Yeah, I had a problem though with my bank account that they still had me down as non-resident even though I had a Canadian address on it. That has caused me a world of problems with the CRA because the non-resident dept in Ottawa appears to be run by morons.

The bank can make the reverse mistake, have a foreign address for you and not have you down as non-resident as a lot of people only live abroad temporarily and still pay their taxes as residents. The only way you know for sure is when they send you an NR4 or a T5.

You're only going to get into providing proof if they don't believe you.

You can file an NR73 any time your information changes in a way that would alter the decision. You can also challenge their decision by siting more residential ties to the new country than you have left in Canada, especially if you are living in a tax treaty country.

I called CRA again today just to see if I would get a different answer. I stated to the lady that I was deemed a factual resident in 2002 because of the NR-73 I submitted back then, should I submit another one now.

She said no. It's not mandatory. She said just put your departure date in and that's it. She did state they may ask for proof or US residency such as tax return, form 6166, etc.

I have a dumb question.

Quote RedWingsFan:
"She said just put your departure date in and that's it"

Is this referring to the T1 tax return?

I'm doing my T1 for 2007 as a Canadian resident, but in 2008 I'll be filing as non-resident. I have a couple questions about how to declare non-residency,

1. do I put the departure date on T1 2007 or T1 2008?
2. Is it mandatory to file NR73?


Thanks,

NR-73 is mainly for your own benefit, so the CRA doesn't come after you later. If they get suspicious they may want you to file one. Frankly even if they do decide you're non-resident, a court can decide otherwise, at the end of the day the CRA doesn't enforce the laws, the courts do. The CRA are just a bunch of bureaucrats.

You put the departure date on the tax form for when you left, if you left in 2007 you put it on your T1 for 2007.

The advice I've given to others is that it's best to put your departure date as 31st December, otherwise you have to figure out what portion of the personal exemptions you are entitled to (plus you have to file dual-status in the US). This is the date you are claiming your tax residency moved, not necessarily the date you physically moved. You may end up paying more tax this way, but if you moved to the US during 2007 and you're claiming the tax treaty exemption it doesn't really matter from a residency standpoint, because you're saying you still live in Canada. US and Canada are okay with that.

The non-resident T1 is only used in limited situations, if you have moved your tax home to the US and you declare you have left, you don't file a tax return in Canada anymore.

Non-resident T1s are mainly for people who are residents of Canada for tax purposes but don't have residency in a specific Canadian jurisdiction, e.g. oil rig workers, soldiers stationed overseas, etc. It can come up with people who live in the US but then you're subject to State income tax in the US (which won't matter in New Hampshire as there isn't one, so yes, you can save money filing non-resident but you might be able to save more moving your tax home, providing cutting residential ties doesn't threaten your immigration status).

Read this: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/tg/p151/README.html

Hi there

I left Canada to move to the UAE in August 2009 with my husband. I am filing returns for 2009, but am not sure if I need to declare any income from "world sources" after we left Canada. Also, I am not sure, but I think we just fill out a regular T1 return. We became residents of the UAE in October and November. Any advice would be really appreciated! Thank you

In order to determine whether you are still on the hook for world income in Canada, you need to look at form NR73 and be sure that you have NONE of the ties mentionned on those pages except passport. No bank accounts or RRSP, no drivers license, no club memberships -- nothing.

Until then, it is unlikley that CRA would accept that you have left canada; that applies not only to 2009, but also going forward.

UAE is not like US in that the tax treaty does not allow non-UAE nationals to use the residency article to free themselves from Canada.

So, you need to satisfy CRA that you are gone and won't be back.