How do I claim my non-refundable tax credit this year isntead of pro-rating it?

[jhunjhun 7]

Canadian filing tax return for 2008 is just started this year. I was wondering, since I declared that I'm no longer a resident of Canada from July 2008 how can I claim my non-refundable tax credit for my 2008 income tax return? I was wondering if I can claim it buy simply writing a statement that I want to claim all of my non-refundable credits for 2008. I don't want to see that some of my money that I paid for my taxes will go to federal non-refundable tax credit. This is not make sense to me, if i'm no longer a resident of canada how can I use my federal non-refundable tax credits in the future? I cannot use my $8,000.00 non-refundable federal tax credit from my previous tax return for this year since my income was low and i'm no longer resident of Canada. This is useless. I would like to claim my non-refundable tax credits for my 2008 income tax return. but my question is..how can I do this? Do you think CRA will insist to claim some of non-refundable federal credits from my taxes this year? I read somewhere else that I can claim all of my non-refundable federal tax credit for this year instead of doing the pro-rate? How tru is this? Any suggestions will be appreciated.

[trailmix 77]

If I am understanding you correctly?

- You ceased to be a resident of Canada for tax purposes in July of 2008

- You want to claim non-refundable tax credits for the entire year, instead of just the days you were resident in Canada

- You want to carry forward unused non-refundable tax credits from 2008 and/or previous years (bit unclear on this one?)

If I am understanding this correctly then the answer is no, you can't do that.

I think you must have been reading this part of the guide for 2008? Did you have any Canadian income during the period in 2008 that you were a non-resident?

"In addition, if the Canadian-source income you are reporting for the part of 2008 that you were not a resident

of Canada is at least 90% of your net world income for that part of the year (or if you had no income from sources

inside and outside Canada for that part of the year), you can claim the remaining federal non-refundable tax credits

in full". link

Edited January 10, 2009 by trailmix

[Texanadian 10]

You should be able to collect the full Federal basic personal exemption (assuming you didn't work in the US)

In addition, if the Canadian-source income you are

reporting for the part of 2008 that you were not a resident

of Canada is at least 90% of your net world income for that

part of the year (or if you had no income from sources

inside and outside Canada for that part of the year), you

can claim the remaining federal non-refundable tax credits

in full. See your tax guide for the remaining federal

non-refundable tax credits.

Note

If you are claiming full federal non-refundable tax

credits, attach a note to your return stating your net

world income (in Canadian dollars) for the part of 2008

that you were not a resident of Canada. Show separately

the net income you received from sources inside and

outside Canada for that part of the year. We cannot

allow full federal non-refundable tax credits without this

note.

[Texanadian 10]

There is also the question of resident as in being physically in Canada vs resident for tax purposes. You stop being a resident of Canada when you become a resident of the USA. In my case, a K-1 is a nonimmigrant temporary visa. I didn't become a perm. resident until 2008 (moved here in 2007).

[trailmix 77]

Yeah, that is exactly the same question I asked him in my original post - (regarding income while he was a non-resident last year) we dont really have enough info.

It is also the same info I quoted and linked to.

Also OP, in the second part of your post, where you are talking about carrying amounts forward, are you talking about Tuition amounts?

Edited January 10, 2009 by trailmix

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Tax residency is different than immigration residency. When you physically moved from Canada to the US is when you determine your tax residency even if it doesn't align with your immigration residency. You will use the date you crossed the border to start to live in the US as your last residency date in Canada. It doesn't tie into your US green card date - you have given up residency in Canada even if you haven't been granted residency in the US. If you returned to Canada then you would be resuming residency as of that date.l

When you leave the country the next tax return you file is your exit tax return. You prorate the tax credits based on the number of months/days you were physically present in Canada. If 90% or more of your world income is Canadian for that year - which it will be if you don't work in the US during that year - you can write a letter and attach it to your return asking that they grant you full credits for the year rather than prorate the credits. I did this even though I moved in May. I had zero US income so my World income showed 100 of Canadian earned income and I was eligible for 100% of the tax credits for the year.

This information is contained in a useful document at the www.cra.gc.ca website called "Emigrants". http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/nnrsdnts/ndvdls/menu-eng.html There is also a useful document at the same link addressing how to determine residency and leaving Canada temporarily.