rivingtonpike

? Eh? Do you mean in Nova Scotia - or on here? I think I'm being thick!

Simon Legree

The Maritimes (NS, NB,PEI, and NL) are considered to be a "B" market and pay rates and salaries are generally lower for comparative trades and professions than places like Ontario for instance. Taxes and the general cost of living are also higher. As for cultural issues I can't say. I only know a couple of Brits and they seem to be content with their new lives. I personally do not know of any Brits who are "leaving in droves" but then I don't live in or near Halifax or Fall River, which seems to be very popular with Brits, when I'm in NS.

Jericho79

High cost of living, high taxes, comparatively very little to do (limited choice of restaurants, places to go etc). The malls, if you/your wife likes to buy clothes, are shocking. It's very isolated- it's a good 7-8 hour drive to the US border. The nearest big city is Montreal (10+ hours away). In many ways, it's stuck in a timewarp- example, Ikea opened there around 10 years ago and had to close it's doors due to poor business (some might say a lack of Ikea is a positive , but i think it demonstrates the reaction to "new" things).

House prices are cheaper than Vancouver/Toronto/Calgary, but I think the high utility prices more than make up for it.

On the plus side, the scenery is beautiful, and in the summer, you've got beaches, lakes, etc.

burgesshead

Thanks for this information Simon. The wife's face when I told her about being taxed on rent in the UK was a picture mixed with . I've looked at a couple of threads, and it seems that selling here and renting in Canada could be initial preferred option.

rivingtonpike

Can you claim tax relief against interest paid on your UK mortgage though? I seem to remember you used to be able to. We sold when we moved out of the UK. Apart from anything else, we needed the cash!

MarkG

Don't forget that you'll also pay capital gains tax on your UK house when you sell it, based on the difference in value in Canadian dollars between the time you land and the time you sell. So, if the Canadian dollar declines in value over that time, you can end up having to pay tax even if you sell the house for fewer pounds than you paid for it.

Dashie

Unless you sell before you leave surely? We didn't pay tax when we sold our house to move here.

Aviator

If you are resident of Canada, you will be taxed on this income in Canada in CAD$ using the prevailing FX. You can claim deductions for legitimate costs of maintaining the property for rental, such as mortgage interest, agency fees etc.

You would need to fill in a T1135 in Canada reporting the asset on your 2nd tax return you file in Canada.

If you keep the house, be sure to get a valuation done just prior to leaving the UK and keep it safe. The day you become tax resident in Canada, you are deemed to have disposed of this and re-aquired it at market value in CAD$. When you sell, the proceeds are converted to CAD$ for tax purposes (you may still be holding GBP though). If there is a difference, you can claim a capital loss if you get less or if more you'll pay capital gains tax.

Then of course if you hold the funds as GBP and you make another gain from receiving the fund to converting it, you pay tax on the currency gain as well.

I would rent a house and sell the one you have in the UK. Safety nets sometimes make it too easy not to settle as it is too easy to go back. Renting lets you find an area you like to live and then buy when you settle down after 6 months or so.

Aviator

If you sell before you take up tax residency it is not an issue, nor is it if you sell before Dec. 31 the year you arrive if you lived in it that calendar year. If you move here and move back without selling it is not an issue either.

DandNHill

NS is a nice relaxed place.. If you live near Halifax it's ok but you would have a serious culture shock if living a long way from Halifax.
We've just moved closer to Halifax and we are already finding it a much better fit.
If you have a decent job in NS then you can have a very decent life but if you're struggling it's not so much fun and you can't eat the scenery...
I would definitely recommend renting to start with...

burgesshead

Thanks for this info. My wife really likes Fall River, and we've stayed around St Margaret's Bay (although only in the summer...even then it was misty near Peggy's Cove some mornings, but clear as a bell when we drove inland). I think we'd be looking around the areas reasonably close to Halifax (Hammonds Plains, Windsor junction, Tantallon etc).

sazzle.pops

That's for the information in this thread, its been really useful. I'm not moving to NS but am looking to sell my house or rent it if I couldn't sell by the time I left.

I'm now thinking definitely no to renting, knew I would have to pay tax but nothing else.

jwtimmon

Don't forget to fill out the foreign tax credit form if you pay taxes on the foreign rental income

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/t2209/t2209-13e.pdf

In Ireland as a non Irish resident I will pay 20% on my rental profit (Rent less allowable expenses)

So say I rent for €800 and have €200 of expenses in insurance, management fees 75% of my interest on the mortgage etc


So my rental profit is €600 and revenue.ie take 1/5th of that or €120 a month or €1440 for the year.

Canadian revenue at year end see I earned €9600 but in Canada my allowable expenses are actually better in that I'm allowed to claim 100% of my interest and one or two other things like life insurance on the mortgage so my actual profit is €500 a month or €6000 for the year

Marginal rate in Canada of say 40% so my €6000 rental income costs me 2400 in taxes. The above form offsets the tax I paid in Ireland of €1440 so I pay €960 to the Canadian revenue (1440 in CAD strangely enough)


If my wife was working then we'd let her declare the income and try to avail of a lower marginal tax rate.

Oh fun fun fun

T1135 for the net worth of your UK property as well http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/t1135/t1135-13e.pdf

dbd33

Some snags with renting out the house at home (based on the experiences of someone close to me):

- the tax mess
- it's your house, even the best tenant isn't going to treat it as you would, the management company will send pictures of things that got banged up and need replacing; perhaps things that were once precious to you
- the fact that, with the tenant in the house you can't easily sell it, without the tenant you have to cover the mortgage
- an increase in the cost of covering the mortgage due to exchange rate movements
- a fall in the value of the house
- the increased cost of a mortgage valid for a rented property

It could all go fabulously well, of course, a mate of mine rented out his house in the Chalfonts went he left England, that was in the early eighties. A couple of years ago he remembered having it, realised it was worth a small fortune and cashed in. I suggest that, for most of us, that's not going to happen.

cheeky_monkey

i never declared my income on my rental back in the UK as it stayed in my UK bank account..i never paid tax in the UK on it either as i was classed as a foriegn landlord.