How do I know if I'm US resident or Canadian resident

[jedinite 0]

If that the case that I need to pay the GST check that I cashed last month (obtober 2008), does the CRA will consider/use my Non-refundable Federal credit worth $7000's CAD to pay that amount? or this is didderent thing?

Was that a 2007 tax refund? If so then no repayment, because you were a resident in Canada for your 2007 tax year.

Sapphire is correct you have to consider when you moved to the US, this means you severed ties to Canada. If you still have property in Canada you are not and cannot claim yourself as a non-Canadian resident to my knowledge until you get rid of your ties to Canada. Consider if you worked in the tax year you received your refund as well. If you didn't work a day in Canada in 2007, then I would say that you are in a very gray area. If you did not work in Canada in 2007 then I would say it's both morally and legally incorrect to receive a tax refund.

Proving residency depends on a few things:

1) if you physically reside in Canada

2) if your belongings including any property, bank accounts and debt (loans) you own belongs in Canada

3) if you are required to pay taxes in Canada for the year you are claiming any refund

4) if you have a legal visa to another country, either to work or immigrate

Like I've said before if you are a "visitor" to another country even for an extended period of time, you are still considered a Canadian resident until such time and you declare to the CRA that you no longer reside in Canada.

CRA only knows if are not a resident if you file it with them or if someone files or tells them on your behalf. For a $700 refund, this is really a small amount and quite honestly they will probably not even look into your file unless you ask them if you have the right to claim it or if you have someone that reports you to the CRA. Until you declare yourself as a non-resident the CRA will assume that you will be filing Canadian taxes, and therefore are still required to file taxes up to and including the current year.

This isn't an a perfect example, but a few years ago in Alberta, the provincial gov't issued $400 surplus refunds to all Albertan residents. So long as you resided for a day in Alberta (say you offically left Alberta on Jan 2nd or were born on Dec 31st of that year) you were eligible for this surplus refund. I know several people that still received this refund even if they didn't live in the province at all, this is because they were still registered as residing in Alberta. Obviously if they were caught they would have to pay this amount back, but I didn't hear of anyone that was caught for misleading the gov't. This is immoral and I am sure if you were caught for this act that you would have to pay the money back plus interest and perhaps penalties. I was not declared a Canadian resident at the time because I had been working for several years on a visa in the US so I unfortunately missed this refund, but it wouldn't be right if I were to receive it.

Simply put, if you can live with it then I won't worry about it. The chances of them auditing you for $700 is pretty slim unless you have been dishonest about more than you elude to.

If you met a majority of the criteria that I listed above I am sure you can claim and prove yourself as a Canadian resident for the year that you received the GST refund. Remember it's for the year that you paid taxes not for the year that you are not in the country. Even if you left in Canada Oct 2007, you still had to file taxes for 2007 and therefore you would be eligible for the refund.

Be aware that if you are out of the country trying to immigrate to another country, you cannot claim for EI or other government funded relief programs, if you are caught for this you may be in trouble. And if you're in this situation I'd be much more concerned about collecting money from the Canadian government for unemployment than I would be for a small refund.

[CHD 0]

I'm sorry if this is a repeat response, but I don't have time to read through all of the above responses.

I was in your exact position a couple of years ago (ties in Canada, living in US after marrying citizen w/AOS filed). GST rebates go by where you actually physically live on the day it is to be paid out. I had moved to the US in October 2006, and after the January 2007 GST rebate was direct deposited into my Canadian bank account, the CRA sent me a bill to repay it.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

CHC is correct. The amount of the GST cheque is based on your previous year's income tax return, but the eligibility to receive it is based on where you live when the cheque is issued.

[thetreble 19]

For a $700 refund, this is really a small amount and quite honestly they will probably not even look into your file unless you ask them if you have the right to claim it or if you have someone that reports you to the CRA.

$7 bucks, $7,000....same difference. They will want it back. Giving someone information that because 700 bucks is really pennies, because essentially it is, and therefore they won't be looked at isn't really good advice.

[jhunjhun 7]

For a $700 refund, this is really a small amount and quite honestly they will probably not even look into your file unless you ask them if you have the right to claim it or if you have someone that reports you to the CRA.

$7 bucks, $7,000....same difference. They will want it back. Giving someone information that because 700 bucks is really pennies, because essentially it is, and therefore they won't be looked at isn't really good advice.

I'm sorry but what I meant here is this: just in case that the CRA wants me to pay any amount of GST that I encashed (i.e. $120 CAD for October 2008), does my federal non-refundable credit will be used to pay this GST amount? When I filed my 2007 income tax return last March 2008, I had a federal non-refundable credit worth of more than $7000.00 dollars because I was a student but this is non-refundable and I can only use this when I need to pay whatever amounts that I'll be owing after filing my 2008 income tax return.

My Federal non-refundable credit can be used to pay any GST amount that were being encashed? Do you think this will be considered or this is different thing?

[SapphireDreams 71]

^^ When you say credit, do you mean like the tuition you claim that can be carried over? If so, then no you cannot use that credit towards paying back your GST cheques. GST cheques and tax credits are separate entities.

[jhunjhun 7]

^^ When you say credit, do you mean like the tuition you claim that can be carried over? If so, then no you cannot use that credit towards paying back your GST cheques. GST cheques and tax credits are separate entities.

Thanks for the clarrifications...

[Texanadian 10]

As far as I know, for Canadian income taxes, you use Dec 31st and file an "emmigrant" tax return. Getting the full non refundable tax credits.

For GST, it's simply a what day did you move to the US deal.