CDN working in US (on H1B), Wife in Canada

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MrWookie
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Jan 17, 2006 11:30 pm

CDN working in US (on H1B), Wife in Canada

Post by MrWookie »

I've read through a few of these posts and didn't find a situation closer to mine, so here is my taxing dilemma.

I left Canada March 2003 and have not filed my CDN taxes yet because I did not have enough knowledge on how to proceed. I'm finally getting around to doing this and here is my situation.

I've traveled back and forth almost monthly after Jan 2004. Sometimes for 3-4 days, and a couple of times a year I would do a 2-3 week trip back up to Canada. I was not yet married (gf), but had secondary ties like bank accounts, gym memberships etc.

In Sept of 2005 I got married in Canada so that would establish my primary ties for that remaining year I suppose.

I do not own any stocks or property in Canada. Nor the US. I have filed my taxes here in the US for the last two years and will be doing my third soon.

One more thing, I did not have any income in Canada for the year I left.

So, I am filing my canadian taxes this year - so one of the things I am wondering is, if filing jointly with my wife helps me or her in any way? She is remaining in Canada for a while because she is trying to sponsor her mother to Canada which means she has to be physically in Canada. Another other thing is, would she be able to claim my income as a supplement to hers?

I found this firm who wants to charge me $350 for a consultation. Who knows what they will want me to pay for actually filing all my returns from 2003-2005. Though apparantly they specialize in Canadians working and living abroad who either want to claim residency or non-resident status.

Any help on any of this is much appreciated!
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