Korean Job Discussion Forums

[itiswhatitis]

Been in Korea since late 2007, filed income tax when I was visiting Canada in 2008 (for the 2007 year).

Have not filed since then.

I will soon send in the non-resident form (although I understand that it is not a requirment).

Anyway....a few days ago my parents get a letter from Revenue Canada saying that I should file for 2011 within 30 days. Last time I worked in Canada was in 2007 and I have not filed since. I have not visited/not been in Canada since March 2010 (almost 3 years).

A letter like this has never came before. This is strange.

I have no income and thus nothing to file. I will continue to teach overseas for several years.

Best to let life go on and ignore??

Of course conventional wisdom says "give revenue Canada a call and find out". There is no clear cut answer to this and anyone who has tried to ask revenue Canada about this knows that!!!

Advice ??? Thanks!!!

[schwa]

Nothing to report, no reason to contact them. [Unlike our US friends, who I think are required to check in annually regardless.]

Dont fill out the non-residency form. Its pointless & not required. If & when you return to Canada to live, the facts will speak for themselves.

Assuming you dont own property, earn taxable interest, or maintain dependents back there...

[Captain Corea]

I agree with the above. I didn't file for years... didn't have any income in Canada - so it wasn't an issue. Went in and filed a batch, everything was fine.

Just be sure that you're not collect stuff like GST checks and such.

[Weigookin74]

Filled out taxes for first year and got a notice I was listed as a non resident. Haven't worried since.

[ttompatz]

IF you have no ties to Canada (other than perhaps an unexpired D/L) then no worry. Ignore them at your leisure.

If you maintain a bank account, credit cards, health care, collect GST/HST checks, etc then you should file or potentially face issues (fines and penalties) when you do return in a few years time.

If you have no plans to return in the next 5-10 years, other than as a tourist, then feel free to ignore it.

.

[12ax7]

With what banks pay as interest (typically 1% per year on a savings account), you'd need to have a fortune in your account in order to have earned enough in interest to owe the government.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_taxes_in_Canada#Personal_federal_marginal_tax_rates

[ttompatz]

not about owing... about filing....

No income and no ties = no need to file (unlike Americans who do need to file even if there is nothing to pay).

IF there is income (T4, T4a, etc), or if you collected GST/HST/other benefits then you have to file regardless of whether there is taxable income, taxes owing or not.

.

[silkhighway]

[giraffe]

DO NOT FILE THE NON RESIDENCY FORM. its not a requirement for a reason.... Filing it does not make you a non resident. By filing it you're actually putting yourself on their radar.... So Best not to...

Also, Its not just about making money in Canada... As others have pointed out...

Do you

1. Receive any GST / HST cheques/deposits in your account since you've left canada? If you have , you have to pay all of it back!
2. Do you have any investments in Canada? any bank accounts that are receiving any kind of Interest? Even if you make 1 penny of interest you technically do need to file a report...
3. Do you own property, A car etc in Canada?
4. Did you cancel your Provincial healthcare in CAnanda? If not, YOU abosolutely need to... as a non resident of canada you need to cancel it... It's your responsibility to before you leave...

IF you receive absolutely no money/ interest from within canada ( investments) and you dont own ANYTHING in canada and arent tied to a provincial health plan... Then Just ignore their request... You have nothing to report..

[itiswhatitis]

[giraffe]

by report, I meant you have to file you taxes... That means if you make a single penny from a Canadian source ie: investment, employment, freelance , , somekind of account thats giving you interest etc... it means you have to file your taxes....

If what you say is true, then you shouldnt have anything to worry about and it might jsut be a mistake.... Honestly, If i were you, I would call the internatonal number for CRA and Ask them why they want you to file a report. THey will answer you.. YOu will have to call them late at night korean time... I've done it a bunch of times and they were always helpful...

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/cntct/ntrntnlnqrs-eng.html

Worst case scenario would be that you actually HAD to file a tax report and that you owe them something and you will have to pay late fees/interest on whatever amount you owe them... Longer you wait the more you will owe... Best just call them and figure it out with the Agent.

You shouldnt have to file a tax report if you've been out of canada for a while unless you have somekind of income/ interest accumulating somewhere in canada... or unless you have property or a wife and kid still living there...

If the agent tells you you need to file one for some reason.. Then just do what he tells you to.. Easy as that.

[silkhighway]

giraffe, I'm not disputing what you're saying is true but I've known many people to return to Canada and start filing again as usual and have no trouble with Revenue Canada. As long as you're a legitimate expat and not trying to defraud the government, I don't think they'll care about things like drivers licenses and chequing accounts (as long as you're not making huge interest). I didn't even cancel my health insurance when I went away and just let it expire. When I returned, they asked me how long I was out of the country, and issued me a new card. That was it. No hassle or anything.

Maybe the person reading this thread will be the unlucky one, but if you don't make frequent trips home, enough that you are basically living there, or if you don't maintain property ties, have huge investments or sources of income in Canada, you likely have nothing to worry about. Remember there's a personal tax exemption in Canada that varies from province to province, but at least 15K, and they're not going to go after your income teaching ESL in Korea.

As for the OPs situation, it's hard to tell without actually reading the letter. If it was me, I would just likely ignore it.

[giraffe]

[Mr. BlackCat]

I got a similar letter after I was here a few years. I called and told them I was in Korea. They just told me to fax the letter back with the date I left and my SIN on top. I was immediately considered a non-resident.

However, a few months later I got another letter saying I owed my tax refund back. I called and explained that even though I received the refund while out of the country, it was from income I earned while in the country the year before. Basically, Revenue Canada is like the mafia and threatened me all sorts of ways until I just paid. Then they said I owed GST refunds and a bunch of other things, which I had never actually received. Again, I was browbeaten until I relented and paid the hundreds back. Then, about a year later I got another letter that said, whoops, yeah guy you totally didn't owe us all that money. We'll pay it back to you....the next time you file your income tax. Did I mention that I had to pay interest on the money they said I owed them, but now they were keeping the hundreds from me until I returned to Canada and filed a claim again.

So, a couple of years ago I had reason to file income tax in Canada again and claimed that amount after some phone calls. But then I got a letter back saying I did it wrong, I'll just have to claim it again on my next filing. I don't ever expect to see that money again.

Long story short, if I could do it over again, I would have just ignored the first letter. It seems as though doing the right thing is often the way to get screwed over the most.

[12ax7]