Newcomers to Canada (Immigrants)
The following information applies only for the first tax year that you are a new resident of Canada for income tax purposes. After your first tax year in Canada, you are no longer considered a newcomer for income tax purposes.
Are you a newcomer to Canada?
You become a resident of Canada for income tax purposes when you establish significant residential ties in Canada. You usually establish these ties on the date you arrive in Canada.
Newcomers to Canada who have established residential ties with Canada may be:
• Protected persons;
• People who have applied for or received permanent resident status from Citizenship and Immigration Canada; or
• People who have received "approval-in-principle" from Citizenship and Immigration Canada to stay in Canada.
If you were a resident of Canada in an earlier year, and you are now a non-resident, you will be considered a Canadian resident for income tax purposes when you move back to Canada and re-establish your residential ties.
Do you have to file a tax return?
As a resident of Canada for income tax purposes for part or all of a tax year (January 1 to December 31), you must file a tax return if you:
• owe tax; or
• Want to claim a refund.
Even if you have no income to report or tax to pay, you may be eligible for certain payments or credits. In order to receive the following payments or credits, you must file an income tax return.
• The goods and services tax/harmonized sales tax (GST/HST) credit;
• Canada child tax benefit payments; and
• Payments from certain related provincial or territorial programs.
What income must you report?
For the part of the tax year that you were NOT a resident of Canada:
You pay Canadian income tax on Canadian source income.
You have to report the following amounts:
• Income from employment in Canada or from a business carried on in Canada;
• Taxable capital gains from disposing of taxable Canadian property; and
• The taxable part of scholarships, bursaries, fellowships and research grants you received from Canadian sources.
For the part of the tax year that you WERE a resident of Canada:
You have to report your world income (income from all sources, both inside and outside Canada) earned after becoming a resident of Canada for income tax purposes on your Canadian tax return.
In some cases, pension income from outside of Canada may be exempt from tax in Canada due to a tax treaty, but you must still report the income on your tax return. You can deduct the exempt part of your tax return.
Source: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca
Are you a newcomer to Canada?
You become a resident of Canada for income tax purposes when you establish significant residential ties in Canada. You usually establish these ties on the date you arrive in Canada.
Newcomers to Canada who have established residential ties with Canada may be:
• Protected persons;
• People who have applied for or received permanent resident status from Citizenship and Immigration Canada; or
• People who have received "approval-in-principle" from Citizenship and Immigration Canada to stay in Canada.
If you were a resident of Canada in an earlier year, and you are now a non-resident, you will be considered a Canadian resident for income tax purposes when you move back to Canada and re-establish your residential ties.
Do you have to file a tax return?
As a resident of Canada for income tax purposes for part or all of a tax year (January 1 to December 31), you must file a tax return if you:
• owe tax; or
• Want to claim a refund.
Even if you have no income to report or tax to pay, you may be eligible for certain payments or credits. In order to receive the following payments or credits, you must file an income tax return.
• The goods and services tax/harmonized sales tax (GST/HST) credit;
• Canada child tax benefit payments; and
• Payments from certain related provincial or territorial programs.
What income must you report?
For the part of the tax year that you were NOT a resident of Canada:
You pay Canadian income tax on Canadian source income.
You have to report the following amounts:
• Income from employment in Canada or from a business carried on in Canada;
• Taxable capital gains from disposing of taxable Canadian property; and
• The taxable part of scholarships, bursaries, fellowships and research grants you received from Canadian sources.
For the part of the tax year that you WERE a resident of Canada:
You have to report your world income (income from all sources, both inside and outside Canada) earned after becoming a resident of Canada for income tax purposes on your Canadian tax return.
In some cases, pension income from outside of Canada may be exempt from tax in Canada due to a tax treaty, but you must still report the income on your tax return. You can deduct the exempt part of your tax return.
Source: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca
