*Canadian* Taxes?

[tallfrond 2]

My wife just emigrated here via K-1 from Ontario. We are still waiting for her green card but we have her EAD/AP.

I have some questions about her tax status with the Canadian government.

• What are the implications of filing or not filing a Canadian tax return for her this year? How about in future years where her residence is 100% in the US?
  
• In the months following her entry to the US, she has received a couple Ontario Sales Tax Credit cheques at her old address which have been forwarded to us in amounts from around $50-$100. What are the potential implications of cashing them?
  

It's tempting in some sense to just cash the cheques, or to say "We've left Canada, so they can just live without any more returns/info from us," but I don't want to do anything that will come back to bite us later on.

I have always done my own taxes here in the US but I have next to zero knowledge of the Canadian tax system.

Info from those who have actually emigrated from Canada to US and have actual experience is much appreciated. I don't need speculations from people without first-hand knowledge in this area, I can speculate without your help already ;-) thanks!

[at long last 58]

My wife just emigrated here via K-1 from Ontario. We are still waiting for her green card but we have her EAD/AP.

I have some questions about her tax status with the Canadian government.

• What are the implications of filing or not filing a Canadian tax return for her this year? How about in future years where her residence is 100% in the US?
  
• In the months following her entry to the US, she has received a couple Ontario Sales Tax Credit cheques at her old address which have been forwarded to us in amounts from around $50-$100. What are the potential implications of cashing them?
  

It's tempting in some sense to just cash the cheques, or to say "We've left Canada, so they can just live without any more returns/info from us," but I don't want to do anything that will come back to bite us later on.

I have always done my own taxes here in the US but I have next to zero knowledge of the Canadian tax system.

Info from those who have actually emigrated from Canada to US and have actual experience is much appreciated. I don't need speculations from people without first-hand knowledge in this area, I can speculate without your help already ;-) thanks!

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/formspubs/t1gnrl/on-eng.html

here is the link where you can get all your answers.

[Inky 1,110]

She should file her exit return with Canada.

I wasn't allowed to cash any checks from them and told I had to repay everything when I did not cash anything from them.

I had sent them all back. CRA was horrible to deal with for 6 months trying to sort out their own mistake.

We used H&R block who had an international tax specialist. Because Canadian income needs to be listed on US taxes if there was income before moving to the USA. Same for stocks etc.

[at long last 58]

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/formspubs/t1gnrl/on-eng.html

here is the link where you can get all your answers.

ok I just spoke with Revenue Canada and the cheques CANNOT be cashed and must be returned.

If you have any other questions this is the number I was given to call. 1-800-267-5177

Terri

[Krikit 1,163]

She will need to file a return for any year in which she received Canadian income. The implications... if she has an outstanding amount owed they will tax her like crazy and it will carry through, and get increasingly expensive, the longer she waits to file. If they owe her money and she has not filed.... well, she will not get that money.

Once she is permanently in the US and, presumably, no longer receives an income from Canadian sources then she is not required to file.

If she cashes the Ontario Sales Credit cheques as a non-resident they will catch up with that and demand repayment. There are a whole lot of Canadians who have stories to tell about that. You can either do a search or maybe some of them will show up here to comment. If she is going to cash the cheques here in the US then make sure you/she speaks with the bank first. They have a pretty poor history on their ability to handle foreign currency. You will want to know about exchange rates, holds, and service charges first. And even after knowing that they can still F it up by using the wrong transit # during the transaction and it can be bounced back as rejected and you will incur more service charges for their own effing error.... plus the added bonus of spending a year chasing the issuer down to have that cheque reissued. Not that I have any everlasting anger about that or anything.

[tallfrond 2]

She should file her exit return with Canada.

I wasn't allowed to cash any checks from them and told I had to repay everything when I did not cash anything from them.

I had sent them all back. CRA was horrible to deal with for 6 months trying to sort out their own mistake.

This is what I'm afraid of, the worst of both worlds. It makes me wonder if we should just cash them into a savings account and then just pay it back when we file.

[dualhammers 1]

This is what I'm afraid of, the worst of both worlds. It makes me wonder if we should just cash them into a savings account and then just pay it back when we file.

Except they will charge you interest that far outstrips any interest you will get in a savings account.

[at long last 58]

Revenue Canada wants to know her exit date as per her stamp in her passport for sure. BAD idea to cash the cheques, she is to send them back to Revenue Canada. Then in Feb you can download the tax return forms 2011. She has to file a hard copy not efile and it has to be mailed to International Services which you can find the address at the site link I sent earlier. If you try to pull the wool over Revenue Canada things can be made difficult for your new wife .

[tallfrond 2]

Revenue Canada wants to know her exit date as per her stamp in her passport for sure. BAD idea to cash the cheques, she is to send them back to Revenue Canada. Then in Feb you can download the tax return forms 2011. She has to file a hard copy not efile and it has to be mailed to International Services which you can find the address at the site link I sent earlier. If you try to pull the wool over Revenue Canada things can be made difficult for your new wife .

What I want to know is how to get proof that we sent them back. We don't really care about the money.

It's also not encouraging when Revenue Canada's phone line is always BUSY (seriously?).

We will be filing the 2011 return, but I get the sinking feeling we will have Krikit's luck and are in for another long, stupid, faceless, correspondence-based battle with a government agency. But I guess that kind of thing is why VJ exists right?

[Inky 1,110]

What I want to know is how to get proof that we sent them back. We don't really care about the money.

It's also not encouraging when Revenue Canada's phone line is always BUSY (seriously?).

We will be filing the 2011 return, but I get the sinking feeling we will have Krikit's luck and are in for another long, stupid, faceless, correspondence-based battle with a government agency. But I guess that kind of thing is why VJ exists right?

When i was dealing with them. Mailing things back etc. I would mail the check in the original envelope back to them but stick it inside a larger envelope with a letter.

Everytime I had to send checks back ( they kept sending to me anyways even after i told him 8 times i do not live in Canada they sent them to me in the USA. )

I did this -

Wrote a letter saying please stop sending the payments i'm not entitled to them - explanation etc

Put the check in the envelope with the letter

Before mailing I would take a photograph of the "packet " and its contents i was mailing them and make a copy of the letter. Kept copys of this in case I needed it. But was fortunate after 6 months of frustration i got a lady on the phone who actually checked and said all my packets were in the mail room and told me it was their fault! 4 weeks later i got a letter from CRA stating balance owed 0$. Much nicer than the nasty grams they sent me saying i owed tons of money because i cashed checks that i never cashed.