Paws3

Hello all,
Am hoping to move back to the UK in the New Year. Will have Canadian income ie pensions in C Dollars. Am worried about this thing called withholding tax. I am assuming we will have to file taxes both in UK (most income) and Canada (very little income).
Can we do it ourselves or do we need an accountant who understands the tax in both countries? and if so any recommendations?

lf1

There is a tax treaty between the UK and Canada, so in very simple terms you should not be paying tax in both countries. I think you will have to file a tax return in Canada for 2012 on the assumption that you were considered a tax resident. We are planning to get professional help to complete our Cdn return for 2012 just to be sure that things are done properly. Normally, I do them myself, but as our circumstances are a bit different this year, due to moving back, I think it will be worthwhile.

nun

If you have income from Canadian pensions or other retirement accounts and are resident in the UK then under the UK/US tax treaty Article 17 para 1, you are only taxable on that income in the UK. You should inform your pension provider of your UK residency and that all income should be paid without tax being withheld. There will probably be a Canadian tax form that you should submit to do this and also to inform the canadian tax authorities of you chance of status and liability (or not) to canadian taxation. If you only have Canadian retirement accounts you probably won't have to file any Canadian tax returns, but if you have regular investments in Canada like saving accounts or mutual funds you'll be liable to Canadian tax on any gains and also will have to deal with them on a UK self assessment form.