I need a Canadian accountant
 

I am a non-resident of Canada who is not a resident of any specific country. I hold a Canadian passport but I travel too much to be a resident. In the past it has not been a problem because I have been paid by a Canadian employer and taxes were basically normal. However becoming my own employer brings up a lot of questions and I need to find an accountant who understands taxes for non-residents AS WELL as self-employed tax law.

Thank you in advance!

Not a reseident of any specific country...are you an alien (in the space sense)?

To be declared a non-resident canadian citizen you MUST be a resident of another country for tax purposes.

:helpme

don't worry, i'll do your taxes for you.

Any big Canadian/international experienced accounting firm is your best bet, BDO, delloite for example. A lawyer could work. The no specific country is the hard part.

Depends on where and how long you live. AFAIK you should be okay paying CDN taxes, but it might depend if you live anywhere for 6 months plus in a year.

I'm confused as to how you have no citizenship anywhere? Somebody somewhere must want your money!

Well revenue canada told me I can't be a resident if I am not in the country a minimum amount of time...I have to pay for health care myself, I can not be part of any provincial plans. People that backpack are not residents either, as far as I know. Who knows, maybe I've been filling it out wrong all this time but either way I've paid full taxes to them just because I had a regular salaried (not sub-contract) job with a Canadian company and it was just easiest that way. Now it will be different and I'm not sure how to deal with it.

Sly, I am a canadian citizen, I just am a deemed non-resident because I am not in the country enough to be utilizing social services and therefore am not supposed to be taxed as high.

MagicMike, thanks, I'll contact Deloitte to start with and see where I get from there :)

So your citizenship is Canadian - if so you would get health care etc. Unless you "revoked" your Canadian citizenship, then you would not need to pay any Canadian taxes I believe.

OK, the situation you fall under is a factual non-resident of canada.

If this is the case (as is such for backpackers & Canadians working abroad) you are still responsible for Canadian taxes on your worldwide earned income.

If you intend to become a deemed non-resident of canada you need to sever all ties, including closing your canadian bank accounts, credit cards, either sell or take with you all your real property and personal affects. You will need to fill out form FM-3 and have a formal disposition of all assets and holdings. If the CRA agrees with this then you will not be on the hook for Canadian income taxes. In order to be given deemed non-redisent status you MUST be able to prove residency in another country.

So in short, you will be filing federal taxes in the same way as a permanent Canadian resident and instead of provincial taxes you will be paying a non-resident surcharge/replacement tax.

Hope this helps.

Neither deemed non-residents or factual non-residents receive healthcare coverage even though they still retain their Canadian citizenship.

All Canadian citizenship entitles a non-resident to is prisoner transfer programs should you get locked up abroad and allows you to travel through some countries (such as the US) without having to apply for a travellers Visa.

Thank you so much, this was really helpful!

not true, you have to live in canada 6 months a year to be eligable for health care

This is what I have been advised as well.

Good luck. Hope you find one.

I know this probably doesn't apply to you, but I thought I'd point out for others that if you spend 6 months plus a day in the U.S. you are considered a U.S. resident regardless of citizenship :2 cents:

well you're right and wrong.

If I were ALLOWED to spend that much time in the US, yes I would. But the US does not let people stay longer than 6 months without a visa, in which case you are classified according to your visa. There may be a couple countries that they allow, but not Canadians and I doubt it for commonwealth countries also.

I should add that this is what i was told by a Canadian emigration employee, I never actually dug through the US website.

does your ass taste good?

Hit me up. I'll give you my accountant.

it is true what you are saying, partly, but immigration and taxation are two different things, and it doesn't matter if you stay illegally or legally to the IRS, if you are in the u.s. for over 6 months you are counted as a U.S. resident

and there are millions of "technically illegals" in the U.S., it is just a technicality, as they can get tax numbers from the IRS no problem and are a necessary part of the u.s. economy.

Let me know if you still need an accountant. Ours is familiar with the same issues, and adult.

Learn to speak Spanish then don't pay taxes, get health care and freely walk around anywhere in North America.


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