Korean Job Discussion Forums

Sophocles · Joined: 15 Mar 2007 Location: MetroSeoul

Everyone keeps talking about this non-resident thing and stuff.

I want to know about your specific experiences regarding the following things:

1. How difficult was it to declare non-residency? Were you denied? If so, why were you denied?
2. Did you have many secondary ties to Canada?
3. What forms did you have from your Korean employers? Were paystubs enough?
4. How long did you live in Korea (or abroad, but especially Korea)?
5. Did you end up having to pay taxes in Canada on income you made in Korea? How much did you end up paying?
6. If you had to pay, how did they calculate it? How did they convert your WON salary into CANADIAN FUNDS?
7. When were you expected to pay the income taxes? Did you have much time to pay it back?

I will have been here two years by the time I go back. I plan on filing next year and I want a better idea of what to expect.

Rugged · Joined: 20 Jul 2005 Location: Daegu

This is my third year here and I finally got around to calling Revenue Canada a few weeks ago. They told me that I only had to file if I cashed in RRSPs or had unused tuition credit that I wanted to carry over to the next tax year. Other than that filing is optional they said. There's no need to fill out any form. They don't care about my secondary ties.

I did file last year and I had only earned money in Korea. I had to pay in nearly $2000 and I hadn't even made that much because I had a crappy first job here. They'll let you make monthly payments, but I'm not sure about the details. I'm NOT filing this year.

willneverteachagain · Joined: 17 Dec 2006

willneverteachagain · Joined: 17 Dec 2006

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tax/nonresidents/forms-e.html

peppermint · Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 3:06 pm Post subject:

I did the same thing as willneverteachagain, except I didn't file for non residency until I got back from Korea (but filed for the time I was away)

I had substantial ties to Korea, stuff like credit cards, phone and internet contracts, furniture etc (all of which you can mention on the forms) and only a bank account, drivers licence and passport from Canada, so they declared me a non resident with no hassles. I filed the NR-73, and the NR-74 before they made a decision.

They mailed me back a letter, saying that in their opinion, I'd been a non resident for the duration, and was exempt from taxes on my world income. This decision can be overruled, but I don't think that happens very often, if ever.

Just in case, I visited the local tax office in my town in Korea before I left, and got documents proving that I lived there and paid into their tax system. According to relatives working at CRA, that'll carry more weight than the paystubs from a hagwon which were written in pencil on the back of envelopes. Rolling Eyes

Sophocles · Joined: 15 Mar 2007 Location: MetroSeoul

chronicpride · Joined: 16 Jan 2003

ucfvgirl · Joined: 28 Sep 2005 Location: Bundang

Wow, so it still seems like no one can give anyone a straight answer on this topic. I have been reading all the threads on this taxation thing for the past two years and no one seems to know what the hell is right or wrong. I am heading home in four months. I am going to go to the Taxation center when I get there, tell them I have been living overseas and what do I need to do to file my tax forms. I have left over tuition credits that I would like to get forwarded, so I need to file. I suggest that anyone else who is from Canada to just wait until you get home to deal with it. It's not worth the headache.

peppermint · Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 12:08 am Post subject:

I was in Korea for 4 years, not sure if two is enough. It might be, if you file while you're there, and give the impression that you're not planning to return for quite some time.

What chronic is saying is right, in terms of being audited. Having a decision of non residency is no guarantee, but it certainly seems more likely that they'd audit someone who just didn't file for a couple of years (while they were in Korea)

If you're going the non residency route, it's probably better to file both forms. I filed the nr-74, and they mailed me back the nr-73 requesting that I fill that out and send it back too.

khyber · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Compunction Junction

My mother is a tax consultant (and has been for 20 years).
She told me that once you get the form and file for nonresidency, you are STILL supposed to submit a tax return with a copy of you nonresidency declaration and poof...done.

peppermint · Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 8:09 am Post subject:

Quick update on this.

I didn't file a tax return for the 4 years I was in Korea, filed the NR73 and NR74 when I got back in April 2006,

In March of 2007 I filed my taxes as though normal, but mentioned I'd been non resident til April 2006 on the return. It took about 5 months for my tax return to get processed Confused

The important thing is that I didn't get dinged for taxes in Korea, and got a larger return than expected. They didn't ask for any additional information, or anything