Canadian-US residency

[Pauline]

Hi,

I am a Canadian citizen and lived in Canada in 2013.
I moved to the US with my family in Dec. 2013 with a visa.
I never lived in the US before, so I did not satisfy the presence test in 2013 and became a US resident alien Jan 1st 2014.

When I read this forum I see that the date of the move is considered the day of non residency for Canada.

However, my understanding from the CRA's website is that I became a non resident of Canada Jan 1st 2014 (from the website: the latest of:
the date you leave Canada;
the date your spouse or common-law partner and dependants leave Canada; or
the date you become a resident of the country you settle in.)

Could you please correct me if I am wrong?

[nelsona]

It is the move date, as that is the date that, by treaty, your centre of vital interests became US. The CRA regs don't address all aspects of the treaty.

How you filed in US in 2013 had no bearing on this. You could have filed a full-year 1040 in 2013 and that would not have changed your Cdn status.

Now, given you already filed, I assume, your Cdn return for 2013, I would simply file a 2014 return with a Jan 1 departure date, implementing all the aspects outlined in the Emigrants guide if you haven't already. If you earned any US income in 2013, you would have had to include it in your 2013 return, since in effect said you still lived in Canada.

But in reality, your departure date was in Dec 2013.

[Pauline]

Thanks so much for the reply Nelsona.

When I filed our tax return in 2013 I considered that we were factual residents till Dec. 31 2013. I did not file a departure return. But I sent the CRA a letter explaining that we had moved to the US Dec 1st. As a result they stopped paying us benefits (child tax and GST) from Jan 1st 2014. Also when we withdrew RRSPs they withheld 25% and sent us NR4s.

Considering that we did not have any property in Canada, except checking account and RRSPs, we did not earn any taxable income in Canada in 2014 (except RRSPs), and we already informed them of the move do we still need to file a departure return?

Also, can I file a T1-adjustment to get back the tax we paid for the US income in December 2013?

Thanks!

[nelsona]

Well, the 25% tax wasn't withheld by CRA, it was withheld by the RRSP firm you were with, and sent to CRA. So you informed the RRSP firm to do that.

Informing them that you were no longer entitled to CCTB etc was good, but that doesn't establish that you left on a particular date, and if it was dec 1, then you should have filed departure return. That is the way to tell CRA that you are non-resident, no other way.

it is your choice if you wish to file it for Jan 1, or if you want to file it for dec 1, 2013, in which case you would amend your return and reduse your income by the US wages earned after you left.