Korean Job Discussion Forums

[OBwannabe]

Ok, so I hear conflicting things from just about everyone I ask. I'm just gonna put it out there again and see if there are any solid answers coming from the Dave's esl crew.

I've been living in Korea for over 3 years and have filed my taxes for both 2006 and 2007. So far I haven't had to owe anything(I've actually got a small return back). I have one small investment back in Canada that pays a small quaterly dividend and I make huge student loan payments.

I hear from many that they don't bother filing their taxes and others say they are deemed non-residents so they don't have to.

I've never understood the point of the non-residency thing if you won't actually owe the gov't in your home country anything anyway. Am I in a unique situation because I don't make huge money (2.5/mth) and still have big student debt? Perhaps that's why I don't have to pay taxes, but it seems there are load of people here in the same situation.

I do get a g.s.t deposit every so often. I think that will come back to bite me in the ass one day when I move back home. I'm afraid I'll have to pay back several years worth of gst.

So my question is this...should I even bother filing taxes? Since I never owe anything do you think that's because the gov't has considered me a non-res each time without notifying me? Or could it be because of the amount I pay in interest on my loans?

Is there anyone out there who makes roughly the same as I do and is debt free? If so, do you file income tax? And if you do, do you owe the greedy gov't a hefty sum each year?

Thanks for reading my ramblings. I hate tax time!

[teacherinseoul]

There is no clear way to distinguish between residents and non-residents, given the rules.

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/tp/it221r3-consolid/it221r3-consolid-e.html

There is a form that can be used in government queries on this matter:

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/nr73/nr73-08e.pdf

I will probably go through the official paperwork and post as to my success/failure. Hopefully, it's not necessary to close bank accounts and cancel driver's licenses to be deemed a non-resident. The government website is quite vague on these matters.

OP, I don't know why you haven't been required to pay taxes. I doubt it is related to student debt. Only debt interest comes off the taxes (not payments on the principle). I suspect that they just haven't had time to look at your case. Since you didn't pay taxes in 2006 and 2007, they probably have you labelled as low risk. They surely have bigger fish to fry.

[Chamchiman]