canadian mortgage, us perm resident

[vanwa]

Hello,

Need some tax advice.

I'm a US permanent resident and Canadian citizen. I filed my CRA exit return a couple years ago and file with the IRS as a tax resident. I'd like to help my mother buy a condo in Canada. I see I have a couple options...

1. gift her a bunch of money for a down payment and use my lifetime gift exemption in the US; unfortunately, she likely won't be able to get a good mortgage for the remaining amount due to her credit rating and income.

2. purchase the condo together (avoiding needing to gift the money) as co-owners on the mortgage. my credit would put us in a better category and i can help out with the mortgage payments.

It seems like the issue with #2 is that it will put my residency status at risk with the CRA. I've severed most of my residential ties to Canada several years ago: I gave up Canadian medical, I don't have a Canadian driver's license or car insurance, I have a few credit cards but they don't get any use, my chequing account sees basically no activity, and I have no other assets in Canada except a small RRSP.

Any advice? Thanks so much in advance.

[nelsona]

Your residency status is absolutely NOT at risk. Owning property in canada does not override the fact that you LIVE in US. The treaty sees to this.

So #2 is your best option, assuming Cdn bank will accept the risk of having a non-resident be responsible for the payments.