Help me with my tax assessment

[Stuart and Thea 95]

I had been expecting a refund of close to 2000$ but instead got a tax assessment saying I owe 77$

I moved away from Canada at the end of November last year, (the 26th) so knew the credits had to be adjusted for that missing month, but didn't expect it to mean I owe! Any idea how they figure this out?? My child tax credit went from 2131 to 2008, which makes sense, for 11 instead of 12 months. but the federal non-refundable went from 4021 to 2333, that's a huge drop for only moving at the end of the year, I would have expected that much of a drop if it were July, not November! And the Ontario one as well was dropped, but they didn't give me the change, just the final amount....

How can I look at this to know if they maybe made a mistake? Anyone have any idea how they readjust the credit for people who move away?

At the very least, if it's going to mean not getting 2000 dollars, wait a month to move! This is money I need!

[bsd058 296]

You should check with an accountant. Do not go to H&R block. This is something that should be looked at by a professional.

[Stuart and Thea 95]

You should check with an accountant. Do not go to H&R block. This is something that should be looked at by a professional.

I have a message in to them but they're away...

[Nuke and Tsy 1]

I know there's some credits that non-residents aren't entitled to claim, or that you have to be a resident on December 31st 2011 to claim. Hopefully your accountant will be able to figure out if they made a mistake or if your assessment is wrong. I've worked for a few accounting firms over the years, and sometimes due to holidays, deadlines, projects, the "newbies" are given the task of entering tax returns that are above their level and unfortunately sometimes if they've forgotten (not known to) click a box, and the person reviewing the file doesn't realize the clients life changes, they don't look for these errors.

[Stuart and Thea 95]

On the page that says whether or not you are a resident for tax purposes, it says:

When do you become a non-resident?

When you leave Canada to settle in another country, you usually become a non-resident of Canada for income tax purposes on the latest of the following dates:

the date you leave Canada;

the date your spouse or common-law partner and dependents leave Canada; or

the date you become a resident of the country to which you are immigrating.

link

I kind of thought that meant I was a resident for all of 2011, and only lost my status in May of 2012, as it is the latest date of the three?

I wish I could find something showing how to recalculate these credits by number of days in Canada to see if indeed they made a mistake.

[Flames9_RN 358]

http://forums.serbinski.com/viewforum.php?f=2 better place to ask tax questions

[Udella&Wiz 325]

http://forums.serbinski.com/viewforum.php?f=2 better place to ask tax questions

Yep - I second asking this forum your questions. They are super helpful for free. I was in a very similar situation (I left on Nov 12 of 2007). I suspect there are some credits (federal or provincial) which assume you're a non resident even if you've only been a non resident for 1 month out of the 12 (aka Dec only in the US like you). An all of nothing approach, but I don't know for sure.

I ended up paying for the first time in my life since having my daughter because they considered me a non resident for certain purposes or some ridiculousness (wish I could remember the term specifically). In the end, I just called it a day and considered that I got off lucky and didn't have to pay more than a $100. Between paying back the darn CTB and GST/PST credits which they wouldn't stop depositing in my account (despite repeated attempts of telling them via phone to stop) I was just sick of CRA by the end.

[Stuart and Thea 95]

Okay, it seems that some of my credits are only allowed for those who are residents, but some of them were removed because the combined income for myself and my husband put us out of the loop. I was not filing joint, as we only started living together in December, and he never lived in Canada. I think it's nuts to use his salary to determine my tax, the IRS wasn't interested in what I made in Canada because I was living in Canada when I made it. I've been advised to pay the tax, and they're going to see if it can be sorted out. Also, there's a question as to when residency ends, so they're looking into that as well, because from the tax departments own link I was a resident until May of this year. If they can't fix the joint filing issue, then we'll talk to the tax people here and maybe they'll adjust my husband's taxes because his income was effectively taxed in Canada.

[TheFantastics09 19]

I had been expecting a refund of close to 2000$ but instead got a tax assessment saying I owe 77$

I moved away from Canada at the end of November last year, (the 26th) so knew the credits had to be adjusted for that missing month, but didn't expect it to mean I owe! Any idea how they figure this out?? My child tax credit went from 2131 to 2008, which makes sense, for 11 instead of 12 months. but the federal non-refundable went from 4021 to 2333, that's a huge drop for only moving at the end of the year, I would have expected that much of a drop if it were July, not November! And the Ontario one as well was dropped, but they didn't give me the change, just the final amount....

How can I look at this to know if they maybe made a mistake? Anyone have any idea how they readjust the credit for people who move away?

At the very least, if it's going to mean not getting 2000 dollars, wait a month to move! This is money I need!

Ugh, I had a similar issue... I did my taxes and was going to receive a little over $2000 too, then I put in the day I left Ontario and it went down to about $137 :/. I really hope that you don't have to pay anything.

Best of luck!

Edited July 18, 2012 by TheFantastics09