Tax situation ...scary!! Advice on Canadian tax law please!

Canuckabroad!!
i've been abroad now for 12 years.
I have a property in Canada that I rent (cheap!) to my Mother. I send money home to help cover expenses. I keep a valid driver's license in Canada b/c I visit from time to time.
I have active bank accounts & a credit card issued from Canada.
Here it come; I haven't filed a Canadian income tax return since 1998...
I pay my taxes abroad here, but haven't touched a Canadian tax paper.
2 years a go, I changed ownership on my house to include 50/50 owner with my Mother.
One of my questions is; is that rental income for me?
The other is; how much trouble am I in/ Has anyone gone through this sort of thing/ do you have any good news or advice for what i should do next?
I want to come back home with my new wife, but CAN I??

Thank you in advance for your comments!

It all depends where you currently live.
If your current country of residence has a tax treaty with canada, you are not in any trouble wit hcanada, since you are surely considered tax resident of other country.

If, however, you are not living in a treaty country, you could be on the hook for back taxes on all your income.

Any income you recieve from rental is income, in BOTH countries. However, it is possible that none of this income is considered "rent" since it is within family. My guess is that your mother is not paying rent at all -- which is fine -- and saves a lot of headaches for you. If you treat things this way, you cannoy claim any renatl expenses either.

Please please please please please just call an accountant who has some knowledge of non-residency requirements. I mean absolutely no offense, but please don't be cheap and look for answers on the internet; you'll feel bi-polar after 3-4 days of research. If you want to PM me I can give you the name of my accountant in Peterborough ON who has helped guide me through the process. It will cost you $100 bucks/hr for her time, but you will have a) peace of mind and b) an action plan to cope with whatever may come.

or just ask this question at forums.serbinski.com, and get my expert answer. Do you really think we make thios stuff up?