Canadian Taxes for 2017

[bracy 7]

Hey fellow Canadians! So, I am in a bit of a rut in terms of taxes! I've been researching on this thread and elsewhere but I am still confused with what forms to use!

A little info: I arrived at the end of Nov 2017 and got married in mid Dec 2017. Also worked until a few days before I left to the US.

My husband ended up filling jointly and it seems like a lot of other Canadians ended up filing married but filed separately as they have been in Canada for most of the year. 

Question is should I file as a resident of Ontario or as a non-resident? Thanks!

Edited April 19, 2018 by bracy

[FrancesTaber 12]

1 hour ago, bracy said:

Hey fellow Canadians! So, I am in a bit of a rut in terms of taxes! I've been researching on this thread and elsewhere but I am still confused with what forms to use!

A little info: I arrived at the end of Nov 2017 and got married in mid Dec 2017. Also worked until a few days before I left to the US.

My husband ended up filling jointly and it seems like a lot of other Canadians ended up filing married but filed separately as they have been in Canada for most of the year. 

Question is should I file as a resident of Ontario or as a non-resident? Thanks!

It's been a little while since I did this, but I believe there is a little box you can check that says something about becoming a non resident and making this tax filing your "exit taxes". I can look in my tax records and see if I can find more info..

 

I also moved in November (2015) and had worked in Canada that year so similar situation.

[NikLR 13,232]

File exit taxes.  You have to do this filing on paper and make sure they know WHEN you ceased being a resident. 

[FrancesTaber 12]

Just now, NikLR said:

File exit taxes.  You have to do this filing on paper and make sure they know WHEN you ceased being a resident. 

Yes! I recall my accountant asking me to write a letter that had my name, SIN, date of birth, date I became a non resident, new mailing address & physical address, dollar amt received from foreign sources in that tax year and dollar amt received from Canadian sources after the date I became a non resident (i.e. final paycheck from employer). I had to include this letter with the exit taxes.

 

One thing to keep in mind - and maybe @NikLR knows the answer, is that you will possibly need to file a Marital Status Change form, given that you were married in 2017.

[bracy 7]

What do you mean by exit taxes? Would this mean I would file this Form 1 - Ontario Resident since it has a box for when I ceased to be a Canadian citizen? vs this Form 2 - Non Resident ?

[FrancesTaber 12]

1 minute ago, bracy said:

What do you mean by exit taxes? Would this mean I would file this Form 1 - Ontario Resident since it has a box for when I ceased to be a Canadian citizen? vs this Form 2 - Non Resident ?

From what I remember (I could be wrong - and unfortunately can't find this in my dropbox folder of tax doc's) it is the normal T1, however you just have to fill in the part about ceasing to become a Canadian resident (still a citizen but Canada taxes based on residency not citizenship). Filling in this part is what makes it considered "exit taxes", as well as attaching the letter I mentioned above (which my accountant requested I provide - not sure if it was truly necessary or not).

[bracy 7]

5 minutes ago, FrancesTaber said:

From what I remember (I could be wrong - and unfortunately can't find this in my dropbox folder of tax doc's) it is the normal T1, however you just have to fill in the part about ceasing to become a Canadian resident (still a citizen but Canada taxes based on residency not citizenship). Filling in this part is what makes it considered "exit taxes", as well as attaching the letter I mentioned above (which my accountant requested I provide - not sure if it was truly necessary or not).

Ahh okay, so basically we would file like we normally do as a Canadian resident except we just have to tell them we're not in Canada anymore. I'm assuming you didn't fill in the spouse information since they're not a Canadian citizen? Appreciate the responses. It's been really helpful!

[FrancesTaber 12]

24 minutes ago, bracy said:

Ahh okay, so basically we would file like we normally do as a Canadian resident except we just have to tell them we're not in Canada anymore. I'm assuming you didn't fill in the spouse information since they're not a Canadian citizen? Appreciate the responses. It's been really helpful!

From what I remember, yes, but I'm hoping someone with an actual tax background chimes in here haha. And since I had an accountant do mine I really can't remember exactly but I do recall the letter being important. My husband is actually a dual citizen of the US and Canada, so I did fill in his SIN number. However he is not a resident of Canada and made no income in Canada so I feel like I left the other parts blank.

 

One other thing to mention - and I failed to do this originally so it was a pain to deal with after.... I was supposed to call CRA as well when I moved and tell them that I no longer lived in Canada (not sure if you already did this). Basically I was still getting those GST/HST credits as well as Ontario Trillium benefits direct deposited into my Canadian bank account. I ended up paying them all back to the receiver general, and had to write them several letters before they finally stopped depositing them. CRA said it can be avoided if you call to tell them you are a non resident when you moved. So if you didn't do that, and you've been getting any sort of government benefits, you'll have to pay them back... they should stop coming after you file exit taxes though! I learned this the hard way haha.

[bracy 7]

that's a good point. thanks for the mention! 

[acidrain 325]

I filed our Canadian taxes and wrote a cover letter to CRA. My spouse moved a year before me so I will still have to file for 2018.

 

I've found it makes things a lot easier to do it this way as CRA will notify GST, Child Tax, etc. to cease payments. They already dealt with GST and they figured out exactly how much I owed back (calculating # of days). It was easy to deal with and I just paid my amount owing online. They just have to figure out our child tax benefit situation.

 

I used Turbo Tax which asks the question whether you were living in Canada at the end of 2017. It figured out our complicated situation with living apart and various credits. It's good to let them know you moved and give them your new address.

[bracy 7]

17 hours ago, acidrain said:

I filed our Canadian taxes and wrote a cover letter to CRA. My spouse moved a year before me so I will still have to file for 2018.

 

I've found it makes things a lot easier to do it this way as CRA will notify GST, Child Tax, etc. to cease payments. They already dealt with GST and they figured out exactly how much I owed back (calculating # of days). It was easy to deal with and I just paid my amount owing online. They just have to figure out our child tax benefit situation.

 

I used Turbo Tax which asks the question whether you were living in Canada at the end of 2017. It figured out our complicated situation with living apart and various credits. It's good to let them know you moved and give them your new address.

Did you file jointly or separately for US taxes? Might consider using Turbo tax as I was doing it the old school way haha

[acidrain 325]

3 hours ago, bracy said:

Did you file jointly or separately for US taxes? Might consider using Turbo tax as I was doing it the old school way haha

For the US we filed married - separately as I was not a resident in 2017. Turbo Tax in the US was pretty good as well and was able to navigate our situation with that one too. The only thing that was a bit tricky was the FBAR filings if you have a Canadian bank account with over 10K you are supposed to declare. There is no software for that but I figured out how to do it by googling and figuring it out through their website.

[Marzena & Stephen 544]

because we have to file our taxes on paper here is a tip!

 

file your taxes on turbo tax PAY for them but before pressing submit you just press print- the print option allows you to send your taxes in yourself using their program. If there are any areas such as address that say province just put your state there and so on (as per cra, i called go ask)

 

I also left Canada in November 20th to be exact. On the taxes it asks when you became a non resident. So i wrote November 20.

 

In regards to usa taxes I didnt make any money between Nov 20 to Dec 31 so my husbands accountant just added me as married on his taxes. 

 

Hopefully this was okay. My friend did the same and everything worked out for her. 

 

Filing married together is more beneficial on the usa side. Filing married seperate in usa you pay more taxes than a single person it's crazy! 

[NikLR 13,232]

On 4/20/2018 at 7:45 PM, Marzena & Stephen said:

because we have to file our taxes on paper here is a tip!

 

file your taxes on turbo tax PAY for them but before pressing submit you just press print- the print option allows you to send your taxes in yourself using their program. If there are any areas such as address that say province just put your state there and so on (as per cra, i called go ask)

 

I also left Canada in November 20th to be exact. On the taxes it asks when you became a non resident. So i wrote November 20.

 

In regards to usa taxes I didnt make any money between Nov 20 to Dec 31 so my husbands accountant just added me as married on his taxes. 

 

Hopefully this was okay. My friend did the same and everything worked out for her. 

 

Filing married together is more beneficial on the usa side. Filing married seperate in usa you pay more taxes than a single person it's crazy! 

The only error made with your taxes technically is that regardless of when you became a US resident, they want to know what you earned the entire year.  So it doesnt matter that you didn't work after moving, you were supposed to declare the Canadian income and then claim a foreign deduction.  

However, personally, I think that's dumb so like you, I only did the amount after moving to the USA.   Hubs did MFS the first year. 

[Marzena & Stephen 544]

6 hours ago, NikLR said:

The only error made with your taxes technically is that regardless of when you became a US resident, they want to know what you earned the entire year.  So it doesnt matter that you didn't work after moving, you were supposed to declare the Canadian income and then claim a foreign deduction.  

However, personally, I think that's dumb so like you, I only did the amount after moving to the USA.   Hubs did MFS the first year. 

So weird that the accountant didnt know that because he also deals with immigration as they own an accounting/immigation/etc office.

I was wondering that same thing.

I hope it doesnt cause any issues. 

Edited April 23, 2018 by Marzena & Stephen