Seeking information from Canadian Citizen who are working in Qatar: Do you still have to file taxes on income earned in Qatar if you do not want to surrender candian citizenship or is there any escape????
You get the form off Canada Revenue Agency's website - it should come up on Google quite quickly if you type in Canada Government non resident tax form
The number of years abroad has nothing to do with it, it's whether the Canadian Governments recognizes you as non-resident and it determines that based on the form.
This has been the required procedure for the last 25 years that I know of.
You have to complete a 4 page form from CRA and submit it to them and CRA declares if you are non-resident for tax purposes based on that information. It can take months.
A Canadian citizen legally cannot "claim" non-residency for taxes, it has to be granted by Revenue Canada.
However, if you are in a country and work for a company that does not have any tax ties or reporting lines to the Canadian government, you may fly under the radar, but they may ask you hard questions if and when you return to Canada, and CRA can go back years and years and require documents etc. that you prove you did not earn any revenue and that you prove you had no direct ties (hence the 4 page form).
The onus is on you to prove you don't have to pay taxes, CRA does not have to prove anything, that's the law in Canada
hi, i m seeking job in qatar. may be in future i'll move there? can anyone tell me the difference in living between qatar and US/canada? how does it feel there? how much salary range for an experienced (about 10+ years) project engineer? is it wise to move there?
One thing I note on threads regarding this topic - many are quick to criticize Canadians who want to plan their affairs to minimize their tax owing, as if to do so were somehow dishonest.
Non-Canadians should know that it is a principal of Canadian tax law (from a court case in the 1930's) that Canadians are allowed to arrange their financial affairs (within the law, of course) to pay as little tax as possible. Even Canada's tax auditors have to agree with this.
Ex-pat Canadians should note that having a house or condo in Canada does not mean that you are resident in Canada for tax purposes. There are cases where it would not make economic sense to sell a house - for example, if you bought a house or condo two years ago it would make no economic sense to sell it now. It would be manifestly unfair to require someone to sell their home at a loss simply to achieve non-resident status.
Note that filing an NR73 is not a requirement upon leaving Canada, though filing one and having it approved will protect your interests.
In all cases, because of the amount of money at stake, ex-pats should consult professional advice. Someone posted this link in another thread, though any Chartered Accountant or tax lawyer should be able to help you:
Basically, If the government grants you a non-resident status, you do not pay taxes on foreign income. Otherwise, all foreign income is taxable.
If you are considered a resident of Canada, meaning you have ties such as a house, interest income for Canadian bank account, your spouse or children are living in Canada while you work overseas, all income is taxable.
The question that everyone fears is if you apply for non-residence status but the government does not grant you this status... therefore the government will be aware of your work location and thus, will red flag you to pay your taxes upon filing your tax file.
The other question, declare or not to declare... I am not sure how the Canadian Government can track foreign income if you bank it outside Canada... Does anyone knows?
We all know that, if you cheat on your income taxes is fraudulent... according to the government... But is it fair to say, why we should be paying taxes to Canada if you are not using the benefits of the public system, such as schools, health care, roads, CPP, EI, etc...
My last comments, born and raised in Canada, it sucks that I cannot keep my house and my land for me to avoid paying taxes, yet I am always working abroad, and stuck to pay taxes while I am never in my home country, and using the free government benefits...
as i have said, it's up to Revenue Canada to decide either to grant you a non-residence status or not. If you owe the property, have a valid DL and Med.Card, and such, most likely you won't be able to obtain the non-residence status, and then you will have to pay tax..
Gumby, so even we can let our property be there in Canada while being a non resident; we may have to pay taxes on income coming from rental but not on foreign income, I guess... Am I right?
"You cannot own a house, or have family ties, ie married to someone living in Canada, Canadian drivers license etc."
what do you mean, I CANNOT HAVE IT???..can't I have a family in Canada??? can't I be married to someone who lives in Canada?? what a nonsense?? why on the earth i wouldn't be able to have a family in Canada? and if I DO have a family and DO own a house, then WHAT?
that was my question...and again, You gave me the answer that doesn't make any sense.. You said: I made research.. so what does your research say? that I CANNOT HAVE ANYTHING IN CANADA??? WHY???
...and your advice:"You do not necessarily have to declare non-residency to not pay Canadian taxes" is absolutely wrong and VERY dengerous!! you EITHER have to declare a non-residence OR to pay your tax to avoid some troubles/unexpected situation in the future..
very soon i am coming in doha for job..kindly anyone let me know how much qatari riyal money is enough to live in doha for month.Not very much aware about doha..kidnly guide me
Mmmm,there was a great documentary on CBC a couple of years ago about, mainly Chinese, businesses in Toronto helping mainland Chinese get "landed immigrant" (with fraudulent "government" certificates riddled with spelling errors and everything) status in Canada. Great little documentary, lots of hidden cameras and the like. The fraud was just incredible. I'd like to see a similar documentary on the scale of the business from the Middle East.
Huh? Non-resident and giving up citizenship are entirely different things. Fill out the form from the CCRA for non-residency, takes five minutes. Where'd you get this idea on citizenship? I've been non-resident for 16 years and have renewed my passport three times. You do lose voting privileges, after, oh I forget, but 5 years or something like that.
What qualifies as ties is on a case-by-case basis. You can have a bank account, but again, keep it small. I have one that has never had more than 5,000, but the interest off of that has never been a problem. You can also have various retirement and investment accounts. Just get one of the many, many specialists to help you set up your affairs for non-residency. It is easy peasy lemon squeezy.
i am aware of these "canadians" who never lived in Canada, who has no idea about the country...it is really sad and bad, i should say...they use canadian loyalty for their own sake...
first i got aware of this issue in summer 2006, when my lebanese friend went from Toronto back home to Lebanon, with all his family and got stuck there due to the war with israel (at that time I still was in canada, not in qatar).. So what I saw on TV news was thousands and thousands of Lebanese “Canadians” are standing in the queue to the Canadian ships to be rescued. At that time ( I am so naive) I thought: how come so many thousands of Lebanese (actually around 15,000 lebanese-“canadians” were rescued) went back home exactly at the same time when the war started… only later, I got aware that at least ¾ of these people has nothing to do with Canada except of holding canadian passport. By the way, my friend didn’t wait in this queue, he and his brothers and sisters in law chose another way, through Syria.. it took them about a week to get home, and they were spending their own money for this “trip”.. at the same time, some "canadian passport holders" who were rescued by the Canadian forces, didn’t spend a penny and still were complaining that the action was not organized well enough!!
“In Canada, some political and taxpayer (and I am one of them!) groups suggested that thousands holding dual Canadian-Lebanese citizenship and living in Lebanon should not have been eligible for the help”. (CBC News. ca)
I think people who have lived there for a number of years should not have been evacuated. They do not participate in canadian life, they do not contribute anything in development of canada, they just have no any clue about this country, let alone never ever paying 1 penny as tax…I think it should have been reserved for people who were on vacation (like my friend and his family) and young people, children.
I personally even didn’t declare a non-residence status. I have filed my tax return for 2007.
I've had some great conversations with 'Canadians' here especially in interviews. One chap spent six months there, (a long time for some) and wanted to come back to the Middle East. Why? He didn't realise Canada was so big, he didn't realise it was so far from India and he didn't realise it got cold.....
I had one chap who got his papers and asked me where he should live in Canada. (I'm not Canadian just in case you are wondering.) I asked him which areas he thought would appeal to him. Blank expression. Vancouver I said. Where's that? How about Toronto? Is that in Canada came the reply... He had done no research! I told him go to Toronto, lots of Pakistani immigrants and you will find it easier to fit it.
Lost our tea boy at work to Canada. he was going back to Nepal to see his stuff to get the money to go, (he had already got his papers approved) and when I showed him a map of Canada and explained it took at least 6 hours to fly across the country he looked very worried....
The other Indian chap we made an offer to as an engineer. In the meantime while he was mobilising he got his landed immigrant papers. The email sent to me read 'Please now increase my offer to reflect my Canadian Citizenship status...' My reply was simple. 'We dot not discrimate on Nationality and to obtain Canadian Citizenship you need to live there for a period of time'
Plus there is all the fraud that is happening with lawyers in the gulf advising people how to work the system.
Its not my country but I find it objectional when people take advantage like this and give nothing back and then complain. (Like the Lebanese).
Probably the best chap was the one that sat in my office waiting for an interview and declared he was Canadian Citizenship. Wow, I said the whole process bet that is hard....
wasn't there a recent report released by the Canadian govt that 98% of immigration visas, (landed immigrant status) issued in Abu Dhabi were used by people who flew to Canada and then came straight back to the Middle East. And that is just one city.
The old joke used to be you could get a Canadaian passport with a MacDonald's happy meal in Dubai but it seems the Canadian govt has changed recently....
Back to taxes. Its not easy to get non-residence status but it can be done. Speak to a lawyer who can advise you on the best course of action, after all don't just take our word for it!
.. what is your statement "You cannot own a house, or have family ties, ie married to someone living in Canada, Canadian drivers license etc." belonds to? what does it mean: "you cannot own a house?" and if I DO own a house, then WHAT?
...and your advice:"You do not necessarily have to declare non-residency to not pay Canadian taxes" is absolutely wrong and VERY dengerous!!
so again...
EITHER
-you declare non-residence, and then you DO NOT pay tax (in order to declare a non-residence you have to be eligble for this status, i.e. not to have any property in canada, let expire your driver license,medical card and some other conditions.. actually Revenue Canada desides whether you eligable for this status)..
OR
-you do not declare anything, and then you DO file Income Tax return.
You do not necessarily have to declare non-residency to not pay Canadian taxes. However you do have to file a tax return declaring your income in Qatar. You cannot own a house, or have family ties, ie married to someone living in Canada, Canadian drivers license etc. Go to google and search Canadians abroad taxes and you will find many responses.
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thanks mc :)
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/nr73/nr73-11e.pdf here's the form
You get the form off Canada Revenue Agency's website - it should come up on Google quite quickly if you type in Canada Government non resident tax form
The number of years abroad has nothing to do with it, it's whether the Canadian Governments recognizes you as non-resident and it determines that based on the form.
This has been the required procedure for the last 25 years that I know of.
mc, and where to get this "4 pages form"? Also, what happens after 5 years of residing abroad? Isn't it automatically considered "no ties"?
You have to complete a 4 page form from CRA and submit it to them and CRA declares if you are non-resident for tax purposes based on that information. It can take months.
A Canadian citizen legally cannot "claim" non-residency for taxes, it has to be granted by Revenue Canada.
However, if you are in a country and work for a company that does not have any tax ties or reporting lines to the Canadian government, you may fly under the radar, but they may ask you hard questions if and when you return to Canada, and CRA can go back years and years and require documents etc. that you prove you did not earn any revenue and that you prove you had no direct ties (hence the 4 page form).
The onus is on you to prove you don't have to pay taxes, CRA does not have to prove anything, that's the law in Canada
hi, i m seeking job in qatar. may be in future i'll move there? can anyone tell me the difference in living between qatar and US/canada? how does it feel there? how much salary range for an experienced (about 10+ years) project engineer? is it wise to move there?
One thing I note on threads regarding this topic - many are quick to criticize Canadians who want to plan their affairs to minimize their tax owing, as if to do so were somehow dishonest.
Non-Canadians should know that it is a principal of Canadian tax law (from a court case in the 1930's) that Canadians are allowed to arrange their financial affairs (within the law, of course) to pay as little tax as possible. Even Canada's tax auditors have to agree with this.
Ex-pat Canadians should note that having a house or condo in Canada does not mean that you are resident in Canada for tax purposes. There are cases where it would not make economic sense to sell a house - for example, if you bought a house or condo two years ago it would make no economic sense to sell it now. It would be manifestly unfair to require someone to sell their home at a loss simply to achieve non-resident status.
Note that filing an NR73 is not a requirement upon leaving Canada, though filing one and having it approved will protect your interests.
In all cases, because of the amount of money at stake, ex-pats should consult professional advice. Someone posted this link in another thread, though any Chartered Accountant or tax lawyer should be able to help you:
http://www.expatriate.com/
Basically, If the government grants you a non-resident status, you do not pay taxes on foreign income. Otherwise, all foreign income is taxable.
If you are considered a resident of Canada, meaning you have ties such as a house, interest income for Canadian bank account, your spouse or children are living in Canada while you work overseas, all income is taxable.
The question that everyone fears is if you apply for non-residence status but the government does not grant you this status... therefore the government will be aware of your work location and thus, will red flag you to pay your taxes upon filing your tax file.
The other question, declare or not to declare... I am not sure how the Canadian Government can track foreign income if you bank it outside Canada... Does anyone knows?
We all know that, if you cheat on your income taxes is fraudulent... according to the government... But is it fair to say, why we should be paying taxes to Canada if you are not using the benefits of the public system, such as schools, health care, roads, CPP, EI, etc...
My last comments, born and raised in Canada, it sucks that I cannot keep my house and my land for me to avoid paying taxes, yet I am always working abroad, and stuck to pay taxes while I am never in my home country, and using the free government benefits...
Nadine
as i have said, it's up to Revenue Canada to decide either to grant you a non-residence status or not. If you owe the property, have a valid DL and Med.Card, and such, most likely you won't be able to obtain the non-residence status, and then you will have to pay tax..
thanks to all again.
Gumby, so even we can let our property be there in Canada while being a non resident; we may have to pay taxes on income coming from rental but not on foreign income, I guess... Am I right?
'qatari riyal money' is NEVER enough...
Greg.. I didn't understand your statement:
"You cannot own a house, or have family ties, ie married to someone living in Canada, Canadian drivers license etc."
what do you mean, I CANNOT HAVE IT???..can't I have a family in Canada??? can't I be married to someone who lives in Canada?? what a nonsense?? why on the earth i wouldn't be able to have a family in Canada? and if I DO have a family and DO own a house, then WHAT?
that was my question...and again, You gave me the answer that doesn't make any sense.. You said: I made research.. so what does your research say? that I CANNOT HAVE ANYTHING IN CANADA??? WHY???
...and your advice:"You do not necessarily have to declare non-residency to not pay Canadian taxes" is absolutely wrong and VERY dengerous!! you EITHER have to declare a non-residence OR to pay your tax to avoid some troubles/unexpected situation in the future..
cheers!
5 star hotel, nights out in fancy resturants, booze and entertaining many girlfrineds.
It really depends on what you are in to. Some can live on 2000 a month, others 30,000.
Hi All,
very soon i am coming in doha for job..kindly anyone let me know how much qatari riyal money is enough to live in doha for month.Not very much aware about doha..kidnly guide me
Mmmm,there was a great documentary on CBC a couple of years ago about, mainly Chinese, businesses in Toronto helping mainland Chinese get "landed immigrant" (with fraudulent "government" certificates riddled with spelling errors and everything) status in Canada. Great little documentary, lots of hidden cameras and the like. The fraud was just incredible. I'd like to see a similar documentary on the scale of the business from the Middle East.
Huh? Non-resident and giving up citizenship are entirely different things. Fill out the form from the CCRA for non-residency, takes five minutes. Where'd you get this idea on citizenship? I've been non-resident for 16 years and have renewed my passport three times. You do lose voting privileges, after, oh I forget, but 5 years or something like that.
What qualifies as ties is on a case-by-case basis. You can have a bank account, but again, keep it small. I have one that has never had more than 5,000, but the interest off of that has never been a problem. You can also have various retirement and investment accounts. Just get one of the many, many specialists to help you set up your affairs for non-residency. It is easy peasy lemon squeezy.
Thanks to ALL for useful info.
shif, you will be declaring that you do not live in Canada but you are not giving up your citizenship.
qatarisun, do a little more research before you start tossing stones, I did a great deal of research.
thanks to all for your input. So getting a NON RESIDENCE status means losing CITIZENSHIP forever or still a Canadian Citizen....
You may wish to look back at a previous thread:
http://www.qatarliving.com/node/11042
i am aware of these "canadians" who never lived in Canada, who has no idea about the country...it is really sad and bad, i should say...they use canadian loyalty for their own sake...
first i got aware of this issue in summer 2006, when my lebanese friend went from Toronto back home to Lebanon, with all his family and got stuck there due to the war with israel (at that time I still was in canada, not in qatar).. So what I saw on TV news was thousands and thousands of Lebanese “Canadians” are standing in the queue to the Canadian ships to be rescued. At that time ( I am so naive) I thought: how come so many thousands of Lebanese (actually around 15,000 lebanese-“canadians” were rescued) went back home exactly at the same time when the war started… only later, I got aware that at least ¾ of these people has nothing to do with Canada except of holding canadian passport. By the way, my friend didn’t wait in this queue, he and his brothers and sisters in law chose another way, through Syria.. it took them about a week to get home, and they were spending their own money for this “trip”.. at the same time, some "canadian passport holders" who were rescued by the Canadian forces, didn’t spend a penny and still were complaining that the action was not organized well enough!!
“In Canada, some political and taxpayer (and I am one of them!) groups suggested that thousands holding dual Canadian-Lebanese citizenship and living in Lebanon should not have been eligible for the help”. (CBC News. ca)
I think people who have lived there for a number of years should not have been evacuated. They do not participate in canadian life, they do not contribute anything in development of canada, they just have no any clue about this country, let alone never ever paying 1 penny as tax…I think it should have been reserved for people who were on vacation (like my friend and his family) and young people, children.
I personally even didn’t declare a non-residence status. I have filed my tax return for 2007.
I've had some great conversations with 'Canadians' here especially in interviews. One chap spent six months there, (a long time for some) and wanted to come back to the Middle East. Why? He didn't realise Canada was so big, he didn't realise it was so far from India and he didn't realise it got cold.....
I had one chap who got his papers and asked me where he should live in Canada. (I'm not Canadian just in case you are wondering.) I asked him which areas he thought would appeal to him. Blank expression. Vancouver I said. Where's that? How about Toronto? Is that in Canada came the reply... He had done no research! I told him go to Toronto, lots of Pakistani immigrants and you will find it easier to fit it.
Lost our tea boy at work to Canada. he was going back to Nepal to see his stuff to get the money to go, (he had already got his papers approved) and when I showed him a map of Canada and explained it took at least 6 hours to fly across the country he looked very worried....
The other Indian chap we made an offer to as an engineer. In the meantime while he was mobilising he got his landed immigrant papers. The email sent to me read 'Please now increase my offer to reflect my Canadian Citizenship status...' My reply was simple. 'We dot not discrimate on Nationality and to obtain Canadian Citizenship you need to live there for a period of time'
Plus there is all the fraud that is happening with lawyers in the gulf advising people how to work the system.
Its not my country but I find it objectional when people take advantage like this and give nothing back and then complain. (Like the Lebanese).
Probably the best chap was the one that sat in my office waiting for an interview and declared he was Canadian Citizenship. Wow, I said the whole process bet that is hard....
wasn't there a recent report released by the Canadian govt that 98% of immigration visas, (landed immigrant status) issued in Abu Dhabi were used by people who flew to Canada and then came straight back to the Middle East. And that is just one city.
The old joke used to be you could get a Canadaian passport with a MacDonald's happy meal in Dubai but it seems the Canadian govt has changed recently....
Back to taxes. Its not easy to get non-residence status but it can be done. Speak to a lawyer who can advise you on the best course of action, after all don't just take our word for it!
.. what is your statement "You cannot own a house, or have family ties, ie married to someone living in Canada, Canadian drivers license etc." belonds to? what does it mean: "you cannot own a house?" and if I DO own a house, then WHAT?
...and your advice:"You do not necessarily have to declare non-residency to not pay Canadian taxes" is absolutely wrong and VERY dengerous!!
so again...
EITHER
-you declare non-residence, and then you DO NOT pay tax (in order to declare a non-residence you have to be eligble for this status, i.e. not to have any property in canada, let expire your driver license,medical card and some other conditions.. actually Revenue Canada desides whether you eligable for this status)..
OR
-you do not declare anything, and then you DO file Income Tax return.
it is that simple.
You do not necessarily have to declare non-residency to not pay Canadian taxes. However you do have to file a tax return declaring your income in Qatar. You cannot own a house, or have family ties, ie married to someone living in Canada, Canadian drivers license etc. Go to google and search Canadians abroad taxes and you will find many responses.
As qatarisun said, you have to declare a non-residence status in order to get rid of the taxes.
:D
exiledsaint...about 31 mln canadian (citizens and permanent residents ) actually live in canada.
shif, if you declare non-residence status, you don't pay tax..otherwise you do..
Non resident Canadian those who has virtually NO ties with Canada can apply to CRA for non residency. Thus he/she can escape paying tax to canada.
Ties means direct family, no assets, no investment and also no bank account that yield any income etc etc...
I meet lots here but none seem to stayed more than a couple of weeks and none of them seem to pay any tax...
I'd even like to know. Any help from QLers would be appreciated.