We hope you enjoyed your living in Canada.
Thank you for your inquiry.
If you are unsure whether someone is a non-resident, a deemed resident, or a resident of Canada, we can assist you. Individual with income from Canada and a residence in another country may have many tax implications to consider.
Before filing tax returns, you need to determine your residency status.
Qualifications for non-residents
For Canadian income tax purposes, a person is not considered to be a resident of Canada if :
- They lived all year outside Canada and had no ties to the country, so he was not considered a resident.
- Their stay in Canada was less than 183 days, and they did not have any residential ties to Canada.
- Due to Canada's tax treaty with another country, they were not deemed to be Canadian residents under the Income Tax Act.
Criteria to qualify for deemed residency
According to federal tax law, a person is considered a deemed resident of Canada if they meet any of the following criteria:
- A resident of Canada but has no significant ties to the country
- ; has lived in Canada for at least 183 days; AND;
- A tax treaty does not consider you a deemed non-resident of another country OR
- if you lived outside of Canada during 2019.
Criteria for residential ties
Most significant residential ties among respondents are related to the home in Canada they own or rented and their spouse, common-law partner, or dependents who lived and worked within Canada. Other significant residential ties that may be relevant include:
- License to drive in Canada
- Credit cards or bank accounts in Canada
- Provincial or territorial health insurance
- Private property and relationships with other citizens within Canada.
In accordance with the CRA:
Your tax responsibilities
If you are deemed to be a resident of Canada for the tax year, then:
- For the entire tax year, you must report world income (income from all sources, domestic and international).
- If applicable to you, you may claim all deductions and non-refundable tax credits
- Unlike provincial or territorial taxes, you will pay a federal surtax rather than provincial or territorial taxes
- All federal tax credits are available to you, but you cannot claim provincial or territorial tax credits
- There is a credit for goods and services tax and harmonized sales tax (GST/HST) applicable to you
The Canadian tax obligations and entitlements for non-residents can be found by clicking Canadian tax obligations and entitlements for non-residents.
Please feel free to ask us for clarification if necessary.
