Repatriating after declaring deemed Non-resident status

Hi everyone, I am wondering if other Canadians now living in China have declared non-residency to avoid paying Canadian taxes. I moved to Beijing with my husband last year and I am not working. Would it benefit me if I declared non-residency on my upcoming tax return? How would this effect my husband (who will declare non-resident). Or should I just continue to file a Canadian tax return each year, even though we plan to be away from Canada until 2013? Thanks for your advice!

Absolutely no benefit. You are gone. No need or reason to pretend otherwise.

Hey there
We have just gotten our taxes from our accountant and will be filing them soon with CRA. I think that you have to have the same status as your husband. If he has already received the go ahead from CRA to declare his status deemed non-resident, then that should apply to you as well.
If CRA has declared him a deemed non-resident then you can ignore what I am going to say as it won't apply to you. If you have severed all ties to Canada, you can also ignore it as it won't apply. You have to be careful with the deemed non-resident status as if you are wrong about it, you will be dinged with taxes when you go back to Canada. If you are not being taxed in China on your worldwide income, that means China is not treating you as a tax resident (paying taxes in a country does not alone make you a tax resident). If you are not a tax resident of China, and you have not severed your ties with Canada you are a tax resident there. This means Canada will tax you on your worldwide income.
The good news is that because of the treaty, you are eligible for all kinds of foreign tax credits and your tax bill in Canada won't be as bad as you might think. The good news is that as a resident, you get to enjoy the benefits of residency (RRSPs RESPs TFSA UCCB etc.) There are also benefits to home owners if you happen to be renting your home out while away.
For us, as we will be here less than 5 years, and will return to Canada when we leave, we chose to not sever our ties and thus remain residents. I believe that if you are in China for more than 5 years, they start to tax you on world wide income, and then you can be deemed a non-resident of Canada.
Keep in mind I am no expert and this is just from my own research and talking with our accountant and CRA...so take it with a grain of salt.

Hi CanadianMOM74 - does your husband get paid in Canada or in China? We are moving to Shanghai and we are struggling to understand the whole resident/non - resident tax issue.