Atkinson
Joined: 15 Oct 2004
Location: Land of the Golden Twist-tie
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 Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 8:32 am Post subject: Canadians: Voting can mean Canadian tax |
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By my reading of the following documents, if your tax status is tenuous --because maybe you still have a car or bank accounts back home-- then simply registering to vote could mean you have to pay Canadian income tax.
1) If you vote, you are expressly stating that you intend to resume residence in Canada:
| Elections Canada wrote: |
| You may register to vote by special ballot using the form in this guide provided ... you intend to resume residence in Canada. |
2) CCRA (formerly Revenue Canada) determines your residency (where you pay income tax) based on residential ties with Canada:
| CCRA wrote: |
In making a determination of residence status, all of the relevant facts in each case must be considered, including residential ties with Canada and length of time, object, intention and continuity with respect to stays in Canada and abroad.
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3) If you have some residential ties, you have to demonstrate your intention to sever them:
| CCRA wrote: |
Where an individual maintains residential ties with Canada while abroad, the following factors will be taken into account in evaluating the significance of those ties:
(a) evidence of intention to permanently sever residential ties with Canada,
(b) regularity and length of visits to Canada, and
(c) residential ties outside Canada. |
To be clear, if you have no residential ties, you can vote without concern:
| CCRA wrote: |
| For greater certainty, the CCRA does not consider that intention to return to Canada, in and of itself and in the absence of any residential ties, is a factor whose presence is sufficient to lead to a determination that an individual is resident in Canada while abroad. |
Elections Canada source: http://www.elections.ca/content.asp?section=ele&document=eligible&dir=39ge/ec78610&lang=e&textonly=false
CCRA source: http://www.taxca.com/221R3.htm |
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