Canada is a country known around the world as the place to come if you are experiencing strife of any kind in your present country whether from wars or persecution because of your religious beliefs or your sexual identity because we are a country of tolerance and diversity.
Immigrants to Canada are a part of the fabric of our society and have made this country what it is today. In fact, without immigration spurring growth in our economy year after year we would be much worse off than we are today.
There are some things that newcomers to this country need to understand in order to make their transition as easy as possible.
From a tax perspective you are considered a resident of Canada once you have established significant “residential ties” to the country.
This means that if you own a home in the country or have a spouse who resides in Canada or have children or other dependents that currently live here you are, from a tax perspective, considered to have those “residential ties” and must file a tax return and declare your income even if that income comes from sources other than business or investments that are in Canada.
You need to file a tax return in Canada if you have taxes that are owed or if you want to claim a refund on taxes that you have already paid or would like to benefit from any of the tax credits that you may well be eligible for.
The deadline for filing a tax return is April 30th of the following year in question.
There are 3 areas of your tax return that must be completed. Those include your identification, the date of your entry into the country and any information regarding your partner’s income.
There are a variety of benefits that newcomers can claim when they file their taxes in Canada that will be of great assistance to them.
One of these is the Canada Child Benefit designed to assist Canadians who are raising children. The amount you can claim differs depending on the ages and numbers of children that you have but the benefit is open to all Canadian residents regardless of the amount of time they have been here.
There are also other benefits and deductions that you can claim and to learn about these and other tax implications contact a qualified accountant to file your taxes so that you have all the information that you need to maximize your returns and offset any remittance you may be required to pay.
