Paul_Shepherd

Hi everyone,

After moving from the UK to Canada does anyone know when you officially cease being a UK tax resident and become a Canadian tax resident?

Is this date when you actually land, when you actually move permanently to Canada, or when obtain your initial employment in Canada, hence start paying taxes?

This is probably something many people on here have done...but it casts quite a greay area.... many activate their PR card then return to the UK for a while before finally leaving their UK employment to move to Canada permanently. In that period are you classed as a UK or Canadian tax resident?

Paul.

JonboyE

When you move here to live.

Haleian

Hi,

My understanding is that you start paying tax in Canada as soon as you arrive. If you earn any income once you have been accepted as a migrant worker, whether that income is earned in the UK or in Canada, it has to be declared in Canada on your tax return and you will pay tax $s on it. The exception is where you are on an expatriate assignment and paid in £s rather than $s, even though you live and work in Canada. In this case your personal commitment is to the HMRC, although your company effectively pays a similar tax amount on your behalf in Canada.

exenglishman

Simply put, As soon as you start to earn money in Canada you are considered a 'resident for tax purposes'.

If you are no longer earning in the UK but are in Canada, then you are no longer a UK tax payer.

Novocastrian

Wrong.

PzFus

In general you will be deemed liable for tax in Canada from either:

The day you enter the country to work - on the relevant permit or;

The day you receive your temporary work permit if you are changing status from visitor after having already arrived in Canada.

Your tax liabilities in UK do not simply stop because you are now working in Canada. You should talk to HMRC before you leave, they will let you know what to do. It is much better to get it straight from the get go rather than hoping they won't notice, and then suddenly finding out when you go back (for any reason) that you are a tax fugitive!

There are loads of threads on this, and the info is really useful if you pick out the well informed comments from the guesswork.

mandymoochops

Again not quite 100% true.

As Jonboy said ita from the minute you're main domicile is Canada. As an example - I don't have a work permit, but seeing as I am resident here I am to complete a tax return in this country.

Paul_Shepherd

Thanks for the input everyone, the way I see it, is what Jonboy said - the day you actually move to Canada to permanantly live, however that said, there is no solid documentation to prove that date, unlike your landing date, the date you permanantly move to Canada could be any day over a 2-3year period AFTER your official landing date, if your were unemployed in Canada, your not paying taxes, therefore there is no record of you even living in Canada.

Its still a grey area, even though so many people activate a PR card (and become a landed immigrant) sometimes years before they actually move permanently to Canada whenever that may be.

PzFus

There are even exceptions to this - all tax guidance is general. If you fit precisely in one bracket that is where you sit for tax purposes, but without a case file for an individual it is difficult to say precisely when an individual becomes liable for tax - hence why international tax law is such a big business and attracts the clients who have the money. ($150k is an average salary for an experienced contracted tax lawyer.)

Just as an example some individuals who are here in Canada in full time employment or study, owning a home, do not pay a penny in Canadian tax because of the special nature of their permits - they are deemed "factual resident of Canada" but are non resident for tax purposes. Their tax liability remains with their home nation which must have a tax agreement with Canada. These are an exception, but just give you an idea of how varied the definition of "domiciled for tax purposes" is.

Aviator

It's not that grey, CRA have it figured out http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/nnrsdnts...sdncy-eng.html

Paul_Shepherd

So according to that information you posted there from the CRA and the what PzFus said....every individual case is different, it all depends on a multitude of factors, there is no black or white answer for each individual.

I suppose the only cut and dried case is if you draw a line under you UK affairs, terminate employment, square tax payment, sell property, declare personal possesssions, close bank accounts and then activate PR status in Canada and live there from then on.

However as many people would never be in that scenario every single case is unique tax wise, there is no date as such. Very complicated for any mere mortal to comprehend!

Novocastrian

Why are you being so obtuse?

exenglishman

why not care to elaborate instead of just putting 'wrong' what help is that to the OP? I'd like to know too, im not saying your wrong I just would like to know

Paul_Shepherd

Im not, just saying that every individual's case is unique, there isnt one answer to suit everyone.

Novocastrian

But there is to suit 99.9% of them. You pay tax on your worldwide income in Canada starting the day you start to live here. How hard is that to grasp?