ScotinCanada

J-A-UK

No Clue !!
But welcome to Ontario when you arrive :-)
Where will you be living?

Siouxie

Hello and welcome!

I'm a remote worker who works on projects for a UK agency - but as a self employed / freelance (what ever you wish to call yourself, lol) so may be a little different to your situation as I have to invoice them and am paid in sterling to a Canadian bank account.

A lot will depend on whether you will be on the payroll still in the UK. If you will then I will leave it to Snowy to post her experience of such... or if you will be invoicing them monthly for works performed (in which case let us know and I can give you some personal experience advice on that aspect, such as overseas clients being 0 rated for GST!).
You will be expected to pay taxes on your income here as a tax resident - (you are taxed on World income) - but you can get a tax credit for any taxes paid in the UK already.

Do be aware that if you are a self employed person here you may have to pay not just the taxes on your income but also CPP contributions. Keep a record of your expenses pertaining to working remotely - internet costs - phone costs - equipment costs - percentage of utilities / mortgage (or rent) for the specific area of your home office etc., as these can be offset against taxes due. Get a good internet package with a decent speed / connection and reliable! Make yourself a proper space for a home office so that you can 'go to work' and leave it again.. and set yourself proper breaks and reasonable dedicated working hours, rather than it co-mingling with the rest of your day (bearing in mind the time difference). Plus, there are tax advantages to having a designated office space.




It's a work permit, not a visa - and actually you can work remotely even as a visitor!

With regards to the 'work permit' aspect - if your husband's job is designated O/A/B (skilled worker) then you should be able to obtain an Open Work permit on the back of his work permit - which you could get on arrival in Canada, no need for anyone to 'arrange' anything for you, necessarily. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/ap...&q2_options=2d

ScotinCanada

Hi! We'll be moving to Mississauga - hubby will be working in Toronto.

ScotinCanada

Thanks Siouxie - super helpful as usual!
I'll keep a record of all that stuff in case but I think they want to just keep me on as an employee - need to finalise with HR.

Allie73

My husband did this for about 10 months when he first moved here. He notified HMRC and stopped paying taxes in the UK. When he filled out his Canadian income tax form the next year, he declared his income as World Income then when his tax assessment was finished, he then paid his Canadian income tax in a lump sum. You can find a tax calculator online so you can kind of figure out what your tax contribution will be which will help you know how much to put aside each month if you want. Tax assessments are done early the following calendar year. We usually do ours in February/March. They are due by the end of April. We used an accountant the first couple of years, but now we do it ourselves.

Aviator

As a tax resident of Canada you will still be liable for tax in Canada and have to file a T1 tax return, even as an employee of an overseas business. If they deduct tax in the UK, you will need a certificate of tax paid, file this along with your T1 in Canada and claim for Foreign Tax paid. If in the end you would have paid more tax in Canada you have to pay the difference, if you would have paid the same or less, then no additional tax to pay.

Aviator

Tax return due date and for all taxes owing to be paid is April 30. For self employed, tax return due date is June 15. Any tax owing and not paid by April 30 accrues interest.

Lamilla

Guys, this is all very helpful, as I am in a similar situation. However, in my case the employer is asking me to switch to a self-employed status and to continue on a contractor basis (i.e. provide services to the UK company from Canada). I am moving to Toronto next Tuesday, so it's all very much ad-hoc. I would greatly appreciate if someone could recommend a good accountant to process all the changes and to help me register as self-employed. Also, any advice on where to go to and how exactly to register is greatly appreciated

Siouxie, if you could share some of your experience in this respect, it will be much appreciated as I am currently lost - where do I go first once in Toronto?

Many thanks,

Aviator

You don't register as self employed. You just work and report net income, you are defacto self employed. If you have income over $35000 (or expect to) you need a CRA number for GST (call CRA), payroll and workers comp if you employ people. Insurance and possibly a business license, depending on municipal rules. No GST is charged to overseas clients, but you still have to have a GST number.

MS2017

Hi All - I am in a similar position to Lamilla/Siouxie - I am currently working as a perm employee for a UK company. They want to keep me on but I will need to resign and then invoice them for my services as a consultant from Canada. I work in IT and am used to the contracting set up in the UK but not sure what is done in Canada. I have heard about becoming Incorporated as one option - which sounds similar to Limited Companies in the UK along with the admin around it. I have also been told that an Umbrella Company route is one option but have not found any companies or details on that in my searches in Canada.
I see that Siouxie is a remote worker and sounds similar to what I will be doing - Do you use a specific type of accountant? I will probably invoice the company in GBP and have them pay to a Canadian account. Is there any issues with this or would it be better to invoice in CAD? Did you set up an Incorporated Company or are you just invoicing in your individual name and paying World Tax once it reaches the respective thresholds? Any advice and accountant contacts would be very much appreciated!
Thanks
MS

Siouxie

Hello!

Do be aware that if you have only ONE client you may have issues claiming that you are self employed and not employed.

I don't use an accountant, I have never found a need - I invoice in £ sterling - you can either use software to create your invoices, or make up a base template and input the figures into software after.

They pay me in £ sterling to my Canadian Bank account by wire transfer on a monthly basis. The exchange rate impacts the amount of income you have, so be aware (when it dropped from 2.4 to 1.6 for instance!). You will need to keep track of both the original value of the invoice and the actual value in Canadian Dollars on the day of receipt / exchange for tax purposes (it's good practice anyway). You can ask the bank to notify you of the exchange rate used). Personally I would be wary of 'umbrella companies' who will not only charge you a percentage / flat fee monthly or for each transaction but will likely also not give you the best rate of exchange. I lost literally hundreds of dollars over a 2 year period when the company in the UK used a 3rd party umbrella company to pay me - I had to pay a fixed fee every month plus the exchange rate they used was significantly lower than that I could obtain at a bank. Paypal is another one to avoid.
If you have a UK bank account, it may be worth your while to keep it (register it to a family members address if necessary) and get paid in sterling to that account - then arrange a 3 monthly (if you can afford to have a gap between payments) transfer either through the bank itself or using a company such as transferwise, direct to your Canadian bank account. Canadian Banks charge $17 +/- per wire transfer, hence the suggestion of once every 3 months, but that is tax deductible.

As the agency in the UK are not the only aspect to my self employment, I registered my business name (as I don't use my own name for my business) through Ontario Business Registration and obtained a Business License through the municipality as sole proprietorship / self employed. Which Province are you going to be residing in?

Under the laws, you have to submit a tax return annually at the minimum regardless of whether you have hit the 'tax threshold' or not. It's in your interests to do so as if you are filing as a self employed person - there are all sorts of tax deductible items you can claim - such as use of home office (percentage of rent / mortgage interest / utilities / city taxes / phone / internet) - plus the normal expenses of equipment / supplies / software / business insurance etc. It's also in your interest to submit a tax return as this is used for proof of residency (if you wished to apply for Citizenship at some point), but also for any benefits you may be entitled to... and you do have to pay your CPP contributions on however much you have earned.

If you anticipate that your annual income will exceed $30,000 a year - or as soon as it does (which is where keeping track of your income is important) - then you must also register for an HST / GST account - and you can claim any HST/GST that you pay out, but must charge it out for any work performed for a Canadian client. If the client is located overseas (international) then the GST/HST aspect is '0' rated but you must still include your GST number together with your Business Number on your invoices.

You'll also need to pay CPP (Canada Pension Plan) contributions but you can opt in or out of paying Employment Insurance/

Hope that helps a little and hasn't confused you more, lol. It's not complex even if it appears that way initially!
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-age...ed-income.html (some useful links at the bottom too)


If any of the 'tax / small business' experts happen to see an error in my post, do please point it out - I'd hate to inadvertently give anyone incorrect advice.

Aviator

Incorporation is the same in the UK as Canada, in the UK the suffix Ltd or Limited is used as in Canada, or in Canada you can choose to use Inc. or Incorporated.

One should understand the pros and cons of the entities, Proprietorship or Incorporation. The cost of incorporating and maintaining a company are higher, as are the reporting requirement. As a proprietor you can just do business without and additional paperwork. Unless you have an extremely high income or a liability issue, incorporating is generally not work it. There is no such entity as an 'Umbrella Company' other than those who make rain and sun protection.

You would also need to consider insurance, if you rent or own a house, letting your home insurer know, the mortgage holder or landlord. A business license may be required. You will need to register for HST/GST if your income exceeds $35000, although you do not charge GST to overseas clients.

Whether you bill in GBP or CAD is between you and the business you work for.

MS2017

Thanks for coming back so quick Siouxie and for the feedback - I will at the beginning anyway be working for one client - why would this be an issue? I will be living in Ontario. I will probably get paid in £ sterling as it would be the easiest for the company paying me. I used XE.com recently and the rate was reasonable although was a lot better 4 months ago! I will still have a UK bank account as well but I would be worried about the funds going into a UK bank account as I may be subject to tax or at least have to explain to HMRC why I am getting funds paid to a UK account but not living here.
I will do some more digging and take your advice into account - I just need to weigh up the pro's and cons of either going self employed/sole propietership or choosing the Incorporated/Limited company route.
Thanks!

MS2017

Thanks Aviator for your feedback - I will need to register for HST/GST but wouldn't charge it to the UK company. As you say I will need to weigh up the pro's and cons of each route