When to sever residential ties to Canada?

[ethomps 16]

Hey again,

Another question for my fellow Canadian immigrants . I just finished my taxes yesterday, and was told that I need to make sure I fill out this CRA form (NR73). Though after doing some reading, it seems a little extreme.. especially since I'm only coming in on a K1 Visa, and technically don't have permanent residence status. I kept trying to explain that I might be in the U.S, but I'm not officially a permanent resident till I have a green card.

Am I supposed to wait till I have a green card in hand, after AoS, before filling out this form/severing my ties to Canada?

Edited January 30, 2014 by ethomps

[tittysprinkles 4]

I cant comment on your specific case, but I've been a non-resident for tax purposes with Revenue Canada for the past 2 years. It's an odd situation, as up til now I've been on a "non-resident" (immigration purposes) visa in the US, though paying taxes as a resident b/c of how much time I've spent down here. So just b/c you're here on a non-resident basis for immigration, my experience is that Revenue Canada (or the IRS) look at it differently.

The NR73 form is what I filled out, but all that was for was with showing that I had severed ties to Canada (though I still own a house there).

Recognize that there are bilateral agreements between the US and Canada, so my tax return in the US has me declaring all foreign accounts (I'm not stupidly wealthy, so these arent offshore accounts a la tax evasion, but old RRSP accounts and such).

Granted, I did all of this with an accountant; most Canadians down here are keen on switching due to the lower tax rates, though need to prove that they have severed a lot of ties with Canada!

All that being said, I'm only giving you my experience; I am not an accountant or expert in international tax law! I guess ultimately you want to put yourself in a situation that doesnt have you over-paying taxes, but is a legitimate situation to be in such that nobody is coming after you for tax evasion! Good luck!

[Udella&Wiz 325]

Search NR73 in the Canadian forum and you'll find plenty of thoughts on this.

The CRA doesn't care whether you don't have a green card in hand. You're not entitled to healthcare or HST credit or any other perks. I personally put the wrong thing on my NR73 because I misunderstood a question and got screwed having to pay extra tax because they still considered me a resident for some weird reason...it took me a couple phone calls and a second NR73 to get that undone!

You may want to try the Serbinski tax forums for an answer as well http://forums.serbinski.com/viewforum.php?f=2&sid=bc9b3ab0f67608509b50d9ed06fab2d8

[Flames9_RN 358]

Never filled out the NR73 as it is 1 of those forms you "can" fill out, but it is not a "must" Everyone has their own opinion on that. Dude I talked to at Canada Revenue told me that. I departed Canada in Dec 2004. So in the Spring of 2005 when I was doing my Cdn taxes, it asks right on the 1st page of the tax forms when you became or ceased to be a Cdn Resident--I plopped down Dec 17 2004. Simple as that! And for fun I applied for the GST rebate--even though I made to much $$. I got a letter from Revenue Canada stating because I was no longer a resident of Canada, I was no longer able to claim the GST rebate.

[L_n_O 3]

OMG, Flames9, you still post!!!

BTW, I did the same thing. Never filed anything official, just noted the date on my taxes.

[Flames9_RN 358]

OMG, Flames9, you still post!!!

BTW, I did the same thing. Never filed anything official, just noted the date on my taxes.

I'm pretty lame, what can I say,lol

[Rob & Monika 87]

I think this question might have to wait a year, since you just POE'd in 2014 and you are filling out 2013 taxes (though I am no expert on this topic).

[sheeshkabelle 153]

We filled out the NR73 only because my husband has a union trust retirement account he wanted to cash out and move down to reinvest with. In order to cash it out early he had to prove he was no longer a resident of Canada. The letter from CRA stating such is the only thing the Union would take as proof.

You don't have to fill out and send the NR73, unless you have a situation like we did or you just want too.

He didn't get any EI or any Canadian income for 2013, so no need to file a Canadian return this year. YAY!

[keilanf1 0]

I cant comment on your specific case, but I've been a non-resident for tax purposes with Revenue Canada for the past 2 years. It's an odd situation, as up til now I've been on a "non-resident" (immigration purposes) visa in the US, though paying taxes as a resident b/c of how much time I've spent down here. So just b/c you're here on a non-resident basis for immigration, my experience is that Revenue Canada (or the IRS) look at it differently.

The NR73 form is what I filled out, but all that was for was with showing that I had severed ties to Canada (though I still own a house there).

Recognize that there are bilateral agreements between the US and Canada, so my tax return in the US has me declaring all foreign accounts (I'm not stupidly wealthy, so these arent offshore accounts a la tax evasion, but old RRSP accounts and such).

Granted, I did all of this with an accountant; most Canadians down here are keen on switching due to the lower tax rates, though need to prove that they have severed a lot of ties with Canada!

All that being said, I'm only giving you my experience; I am not an accountant or expert in international tax law! I guess ultimately you want to put yourself in a situation that doesnt have you over-paying taxes, but is a legitimate situation to be in such that nobody is coming after you for tax evasion! Good luck!

Based on your post, it sounds as if you are working in the US under TN status. Is that correct? I am curious because that is my current situation, and I am wondering how filing an NR-73 would affect TN status because the TN is a non-immigrant visa and explicitly notes that you must have intentions to return to your home country once your visa period ends. My concern is that filing an NR-73 could jeopardize my TN status, and wanted to see if someone had prior experience with this.

[tittysprinkles 4]

Based on your post, it sounds as if you are working in the US under TN status. Is that correct? I am curious because that is my current situation, and I am wondering how filing an NR-73 would affect TN status because the TN is a non-immigrant visa and explicitly notes that you must have intentions to return to your home country once your visa period ends. My concern is that filing an NR-73 could jeopardize my TN status, and wanted to see if someone had prior experience with this.

The argument I made is that I severed ties to move down here for work. I still had a house in Canada that I rent out, so for US DHS this was sufficient to show that "Hey, I might be down here, but I still have a house back home I can go back to". I argued my case with Revenue Canada that the house is there, but it's NOT my primary place of residence.

Where the TN-issues come up is when someone has been on multiple TN "visas" for 10-15 years, and at that point the US DHS (justifiably) is going to want to know whether you actually expect to return to Canada or whether you're just going to milk your way through 25 years of TN status'...

FWIW I'm now an LPR so the TN-status doesnt apply anymore.

Edited November 16, 2015 by tittysprinkles