Closing house deal after I leave Canada

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macece
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2011 11:13 pm

Closing house deal after I leave Canada

Post by macece »

Hello,

I am in a really complicated situation and time is tight. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I will leave Canada on July 15. We have sold our house last week and the closing date would be Aug 2. A lawyer just said that there may be some problem as I will be non-resident of Canada selling my house. Does this make sense at all? Do I need to pay tax on this? This is our primary residence.

On the other hand, since I have a property in Canada until Aug 2. Shouldn't I be Canadian resident since I have a primary residency tie?

For your info, I will be working in US on TN visa and I have disposed almost all my properties in Canada and the house will be the last one.

Another question is that: we plan to let our lawyer send closing documents to us in US. Then we'll need to sign it in front of a US lawyer and mail it back. It sounds doable, but has anyone done this before?

Thanks a lot!
Derington
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2011 3:51 am

Post by Derington »

I suggest you should consult the immigration officials instead of seeking immature advice which you would have to confirm from the professional again.
nelsona
Posts: 18311
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2004 2:33 pm
Location: Nowhere, man

Post by nelsona »

Selling your former principal residence as anon-resdnt is not a "probleM'. There are a couple of forms to file before and after sale, to ensure that any tax that you might owe is withheld. But you do not owe any tax, so this will just be a formality.
See CRA website non-resident section for forms. piece of cake.
nelsona non grata. Non pro. Please Search previous posts, no situation is unique as you might think. Happy Browsing :D
wimzieguy
Posts: 23
Joined: Fri Mar 14, 2008 2:45 pm
Location: Canada

Post by wimzieguy »

I did the same this year, didn't file any extra forms or such. My lawyer told me the same thing that they'll withhold 25% of proceeds from the house sale for CRA, but when they learned that I sold my house within 4 weeks of my physical move, they backed off. I think if you are away for more than a year or something, than they can withhold. Also, I did use my US address for all communication with my real estate lawyer.

Good luck.
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