Cross-Border Telecommute Contract requirements

[martinpruss]

Hi,

I'm moving from the USA to Canada and want to retain my current employment. My employer wants to move me to a contract status as they do not have the ability to pay Canadian payroll (taxes etc.).

I'm wondering what is required from a contract status (anything special) for me to continue working (as a contractor). My initial thoughts were that we could just sign a simple contract stating hours to work, pay rate etc. I would bill them every 2 weeks and they would pay me the amount. It would be my responsibility to pay Canadian taxes etc., they would have nothing else to do.

Is this too simplistic? Did I get it wrong? I'd appreciate it if somebody could let me know how easy/difficult this should be.

Thanks,

Martin

[nelsona]

That is about it, if you are Cdn. You didn't mention if you were a US citizen or not.

[martinpruss]

I am a US Citizen but I also have Canadian PR status.

Are there any sample contracts that could be used as a starting point?

Thanks,

Martin

[nelsona]

That is not a tax issue. This is not a legal site.

You will not have any US tax withheld, since you are a US citizen. You will file all world income in both countries.With various exemptions, deductions and credits, you shoudl not owe any US tax. You should not pay any SE tax in US, because you will be paying Cdn CPP.

[martinpruss]

Thanks for the information.

If this is company is my only customer, does that change anything? I've seen postings that seem to state that only having one customer essentially indicates that you are an employee and could lead to fines or other issues.

Thanks again.

Martin

[nelsona]

"fines"? hardly!

There is a lot of web info about being self-employed in Canada. happy browsing.

[nelsona]

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/tg/rc4110/rc4110-12e.pdf

has lots of info about how the Govt views it.