As per the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), individuals who have been in Canada for more than 183 days in a calendar year are considered residents for tax purposes. Therefore, if your wife has been in Canada for more than 183 days, she may be considered a deemed resident of Canada for tax purposes, even if she does not have a SIN number.

A person who is considered a deemed resident of Canada for the tax year, he/she:

• must report world income (income from all sources, both inside and outside Canada) for the entire tax year
• can claim all deductions and non-refundable tax credits that apply to him/her
• are subject to federal tax and instead of paying provincial or territorial tax, will pay a federal surtax
• can claim all federal tax credits, but cannot claim provincial or territorial tax credits
• are eligible to apply for the goods and services tax/harmonized sales tax (GST/HST) credit

Note: If you are a deemed resident of Canada, and also establish residential ties in a country with which Canada has a tax treaty and you are considered to be a resident of that country for the purposes of that tax treaty, you may be considered a deemed non-resident of Canada for income tax purposes. You become a deemed non-resident of Canada when your ties with the other country become such that, under the tax treaty with which Canada has with the other country, you would be considered a resident of that other country and not Canada. As a deemed non-resident of Canada, the same rules apply to you as a non-resident of Canada.

 

If your spouse or common-law partner was a deemed resident of Canada in 2022, their net world income is the amount from line 23600 of their return or the amount it would be if they filed a return. Enter this amount even if it is zero.

If your spouse or common-law partner was a non-resident of Canada in 2022, their net world income is their net income for 2022 from all sources both inside and outside Canada. Enter this amount even if it is zero.

 

Yes, you can claim spousal return. In general, claiming a non-resident/deemed resident spouse is more or less the same as claiming a resident spouse, as long as you have supported them during the year.

 

Note: She can fill zeros as her SIN number, as she does not have one.

 

Please contact the CRA at1-800-959-8281 and you can also  contact TurboTax customer support telephone experts for more help.