Canadian moved to US, tax question when selling property

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Yuni
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2018 11:36 pm

Canadian moved to US, tax question when selling property

Post by Yuni »

Hi all,

I moved to US June 21, 2018 and my wife moved to US July 8, 2018.
I'm holding TN visa and I've owned one apt for my own living in canada.
As my accountant suggested, we informed to bank and provincial health insurance we moved to US to become a non-resident of Canada. We haven't informed to CRA directly.
Accountant also said we better sell our property asap within this year in order to avoid paying tax. What I understand from this was, I don't need to pay any tax to US and Canada when I sell my primary home if this sold by this year and it did.

Now, our lawyer(seller's lawyer) contacted us and ask "Are you a resident of Canada in terms of income tax act at this moment? If you are not, you will have to pay tax 25% of capital gain."

We've contacted our accountant again for this issue and he just kept saying we need to file "Clearance Certificate" when we sell our home as non-resident of Canada.

Now I'm confusing whether I should sell this home as resident or non resident to avoid pay tax.

I appreciate for all your help!
nelsona
Posts: 18311
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2004 2:33 pm
Location: Nowhere, man

Re: Canadian moved to US, tax question when selling property

Post by nelsona »

Well, as your accountant surpising knows, there is a difference between withholding of tax, and OWING tax,

You will not owe any Cdn tax on this property since you sold it within the 12 months after departure (and assumedly did not rent it out). But, since you were non-resident at the time, there are certain steps that need/needed to be done prior to or at the time of sale, which *,ight* require some tax money to be withheld from the sale. the Compliance forms do have a place for you to calculate this tax, including the exemption for primary resident, which, if done correctly and in a timely manner, avoid any withholding by the purchaser (the buyer has to withhold before giving to you).

But even if not done correctly, any tax withheld will be refunded to you when your departure return file next spring.
nelsona non grata. Non pro. Please Search previous posts, no situation is unique as you might think. Happy Browsing :D
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