Moving out of Canada to live and build your career can be a worthwhile decision. However, the tax authorities of Canada impose taxes on Canadians who earn their income in other countries. Consequently, you must make plans beforehand to pay Canadian taxes as an expat so that you don’t have to pay more money than required to the CRA or the Canadian Revenue Agency. The responsibility of collecting Canadian taxes falls under the CRA, and every resident has to fill in a self-assessment tax return’ in order to pay their tax. Learn more about taxes for Canadian expats including how to file Canadian tax returns from overseas in the following lines.
Non-Resident Tax Obligations
For those of you who, being a Canadian national, has moved overseas, you will be considered to be a non-resident in case:
- You have no noteworthy ties in the form of a resident of Canada
- You do not live in Canada for over 183 days in a tax year
Again, if despite living in Canada for more or equal to 183 days in a tax year, you have significant residential ties to another country that is tied to Canada through a tax treaty’, you will be considered a non-resident. Consequently, you are obliged to pay taxes in the form of a non-resident.
Filling Out the TD1 Form
As a Canadian non-resident, you will have to fill out a provincial’ (TD1ON, TD1BC, TD1AB, etc.) and a TD1 federal’ tax form. The TD1 federal’ tax form is the main concern for paying taxes as a Canadian expat, so that will be the focus of this article. The TD1 form’s second page includes a question based on your income – whether your income’s 90 percent comes from Canada or not.
If the answer to this question is yes’ then you have the option of making claim on the credits that are found on the form’s first page. But if the answer to this question is no’ then you cannot claim credits. You will have to pay the entire tax but that will be much better compared to owning money while filing the tax return.
How To File Canadian Taxes From Overseas
You can resort to a number of ways to pay taxes for Canadian expats, which include:
- Electronically by using the tax software that is CRA-certified.
- Opting for filling out paper forms that are available on CRA’s official website, and then mailing them to the nearest tax office.
Using your phone to pay your tax through File My Return’ (this is applicable if you have a fixed or low income).
Paying your tax through a community tax clinic’ (this is applicable if you have a low income that comes with a simple tax’ situation).
When filling in the;tax return,’ you will have to provide your personal information, report every untaxed income for that tax year’, and make claims on credits, deductions, and expenses that are intended to be used to offset against the tax bill’.
Payment Methods For Taxes For Non-Resident Canadians
In Canada, the tax payment deadline is 30th April, and that applies even to those who do not need to file their return until 15th June. Payment for taxes for Canadian expats can be made through:
- Debit or credit card
- Online payment
- Bank transfer
- By cheque
- In person by paying at a tax office’
- With the help of a third-party service provider
If you want to make the payments over time instead of at once, there is an option of paying installments on a quarterly basis on specific dates all through the year.