The International Schools Review Forum

My wife and I are considering a return to International Education with our two children. The last time we went out we were a young married couple with no kids (and were able to obtain non-residency quite easily), but now we own a home and all the things that go along with it. Obviously one of the reasons we want to return is economical, but we don't want the good ol'Canadian government taxing everything when we return. I have two questions:
1. For those who obtained their non-residency, what did you maintain in Canada (house, bank accounts, storage unit, credit cards, etc.)?
2. Would you recommend anyone in the Toronto area in regards to tax advice?

Thanks,
James

If you are able to get either a straight answer from Revenue Canada, or a knowledgable tax consultant or the same opinion from two overseas Canadians, I would love to hear it.

Hi mysharona,

Thanks for your reply (I think) I take it that you must be Canadian. What are you doing in regards to stuff in Canada if you wouldn't mind saying?

Thanks!!

Hi,

I left the Toronto area with my wife and kids to teach internationally. We're renting out our home (luckily to great tenants). You'll be assessed, if you submit the taxes for your last partial year of employment, as I was, and in all probability found to be non-resident of canada for tax purposes, which means you won't have to pay any Canadian taxes. I'm in a country that has a reciprocal tax treaty with Canada (Korea) and paying taxes is off the radar.

We divested ourselves of everything with the exception of our RRSPs, 1 drivers license, a bank account and CC and of course our passports.

Thank you mysharona and morning calm for your answers!!

Just a few more if you don't mind:

mysharona:
1. Did you own a house? If you did, why did you not go with renting it out?
2. You kept your RRSPs, I assume you won't be able to contribute to them while overseas?

morningcalm:
1. Where are you in Korea? My wife and I taught at SIS for four years. We had very little left in Canada, save our bank accounts and a storage unit. With two kids and a house, things have definitely changed.

Thanks!!

We did own homes and twice we sold them before heading overseas. The Residency status was only one factor in the equation. In both cases these were our homes, places that we had fixed up and were very attached to. Personally I found it hard to think of someone else living in our house. I am also not a handyman on that level. If things were to go wrong or if things needed repair upon our return someone else was going to have to do the repairs. Finally, indoor growops are an issue in our area and that had a profound influence on our decision.

Now, having said all that we missed opportunities to sell at higher prices if we had held on to our house for a couple of more years and occasionally as we look at realestate prices today we kick ourselves but I still think the decision was a good one.

As for our RRSPs, correct you can't contribute to them as non residents. You just set up something different and move on.

Good luck with your decision. Its different for everyone and as I think I said before I have friends who own homes and stuff back home in Canada and they don't worry about Revenue Canada.

Having just gone through the process of becoming non resident Canadian I can pass along the advice given to me before leaving.

1) Pick up a copy of the book Canadian Residents Abroad at Chapters or online. It answers many questions people have about becoming non resident Canadians.

2) Print off the 'Determination of Residency Status' form from Revenue Canada. Begin to fill out the form and bring it with you to step 3.

3) Visit an accountant or tax lawyer with your form. Go over the form together.

The accountant my non-teaching partner and I visited helped us out tremendously. I just received the paperwork back saying my non-residency has been accepted. This is one year after submitting the paperwork. My partner is still waiting on his, despite us submitting the paperwork together.

Our accountant said these days if you own a home or rent it out it is very, very, very difficult to be declared a non resident Canadian. The less tick marks you have on page three of the form the better. My partner and I got rid of all bank accounts, vehicles, furniture and personal possessions, medical coverage, mailing addresses etc.

We did keep our RRSPs but are no longer contributing to them.