A few basic tax questions

[pocheros 101]

Hi everyone,

I finally received my T4 yesterday (it was mailed over a month ago... woweee was that slow!) and I -think- I basically have it figured out, but there's a few things I'm not sure of.

Basic info: I'm a Canadian K1 who entered the US in September 2011. I got married in September as well. I have not earned any income in the USA. American hubby has not earned any income in Canada. I do not have any RRSPs or stocks or any source of income in Canada. I just worked in Canada until August and that was my only source of income. Hubby has already filed American taxes (he filed married.)

I do not yet have my green card. I haven't even applied for it yet, although I'm going to as soon as I can. Hence, I am out of status in the US. However, I lived in Canada for the majority of 2011. I called the CRA a few times throughout the last few months to tell them to stop sending me GST/HST credits and that I was no longer a resident and on March 2nd they sent me a letter that says I am no longer eligible for these credits because "residency requirements are not met," so hopefully they understand that I'm not a resident anymore.

So here are my questions:

1. a) How do I indicate this is an exit tax return and I am no longer a resident? Is merely indicating your departure date on the first page of T1 General sufficient?

b) For the identification section on T1 General on the first page, do I just enter my zip code under postal code and put my state and country on the "city" line? How do I go about this?

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2. Since I'm filing an exit return, it must be done on paper right? You can't use netfile?

The first year I did taxes my dad filled them out for me and in subsequent years I just used some kind of tax software. In other words I have never filled out a paper return myself so I'm kind of confused. But I also found something called StudioTax that will calculate your taxes and then print it out, so that's what I did.

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3. I put "single" on my tax return. Is this a problem even though I got married in September and hubby listed me as married on his tax return? I technically could have gotten married until February since that's when my visa expires (I know CRA doesn't know/care about any of this- just though I'd mention) Note I really do not care about making my return bigger because I did not earn very much last year and my return will be small anyways. I just want to get this done simply and quickly and legally.

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4. How do they determine the date you filed it? Is it the date you just write in on the sheet? I'm worried my return will get to the CRA late because I'm only filling it out just now (not my fault) and it seems to take 3-4 weeks for anything I mail to Canada (or have mailed to me) to get anywhere. I'm getting a refund but this still worries me slightly, although I'm sure it's not that important as long as I mail it before the 30th...

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5. Is filing an exit return basically just filing a regular return but indicating your departure date? Just making sure there aren't any special extra forms I have to fill out. My tax return comprises of:

-T1 General 2011

-Schedule 1

-ON 428

-Employee Overpayment of 2011 CPP; Contributions and 2011 EI Premiums

I'm worried the software might've included or excluded something. It absolutely insisted that I enter a province (so I put Ontario) so I printed it out and just plan on redoing the very first page with my correct address.

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6. How should I mail in my return? In a big brown folder? Should I indicate anywhere on it that it's a return (thinking about safety here...) I don't really have money to fedex it or anything. Should I be sending it through secure mail?

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Thanks very much in advance.

Edited April 17, 2012 by pocheros

[SapphireDreams 71]

You can use Netfile, you just can't file it online, you would have to print it out and mail it in to the International Tax office. I just put in my US address and didn't have a problem. I'm sure I did the zip code in the postal code area and then the city and state wherever it fit.

You should file married, it won't affect your return. I just entered in my husband's income as 0.

There should be a question that asks you if you ceased to be a resident or emigrated or something like that and then it'll ask for the date you left the country. I can't remember exactly where, but I remember it was on there.

They determine the date you file it by the post mark on the envelope. So when you go and mail it, go in person to the post office and have them stamp it with the date. I just sent mine regular mail and it was fine.

They called me a couple of months after I sent it in to confirm my exit date and that was that.

[pocheros 101]

Thank you very much!

[canada_socks 97]

I just had mine done by my parents accountant, and will be singing the papers when I go back to Canada next week. I had him file me as single since I figured it didn't matter since it happened after I left. Is that going to be an issue for me????

[pocheros 101]

I just had mine done by my parents accountant, and will be singing the papers when I go back to Canada next week. I had him file me as single since I figured it didn't matter since it happened after I left. Is that going to be an issue for me????

It'd only be an issue if you were trying to take advantage of the CRA somehow, which you aren't. If anything it probably means that your return will be a little smaller than it could've been, but that's it. I'm going to file as single just to keep things simple, though what sapphire dreams suggested is also legit.

This is just my guess.

[canada_socks 97]

Ok good. My return is more than I expected anyway so I don't want to rock the boat lol!!