Date: Wednesday February 15, 2006
Time: 09:33 AM -0800
QUESTION:
Dear David,
We've been reading your forum religously, and now have a question we just
can't seem to find an answer to.
My husband had a job offer in the Caribbean (on a tax free island) and since
there was no job for him in Canada, we decided to move. This all happened
fairly quickly, so we didn't have much time to consult a lawyer. We sold
our house and car before we left and trucked our belongings down to the US
(no problems at the border, since we had the job offer from the Caribbean
company).
We kept our licenses, credit cards and bank accounts, since we needed those
until we were set up in the Caribbean. We did not file any forms with
Canada customs, since the move was to be permanent and we were told by
customs itself that we didn't need to do anything. We left our belongings
in storage in the US, because the housing we initially got from the company
was furnished.
Well, the job didn't work out (the island was just too expensive & the pay
too little, amongst other things) and we left the Caribbean.
Our questions are:
1. We do not want to become non-residents anymore, since we plan on
returning to Canada in the summer. Until we can acquire home again in
Canada, we are living with my mother in Germany (since Dec. 6, 2005) - how
do we file our income tax for 2005, e.g. address?
2. Once we return to Canada, what are the implications for our personal
belongings, which we will ship back to Canada, probably with a shipping
company?
We'd really appreciate a quick heads-up as to what we have to do to make
this as painless as possible.
Thanks!!
--------------------------------------
david ingram replies:
I do not know when you left. However, as your intent was to become
non-residents, you may have succeeded. Make sure you have a list of your
belongings. You should have had one for the US when going through the
border. If you do not, well, make one up now and cross your fingers when
you bring it back through customs. It will help if you have the trucking
receipts of Canada to the storage and the storage directly back to Canada.
However, there is not much chance that the CRA will reject your filing a
return as a resident. That means that you will report any income earned in
Canada before you left and the income from the Caribbean Island on your 2005
return. If you need help, I would be glad to look after it for you.
Since you had a bad Caribbean experience, let me suggest that you read
Herman Wouk's "Don't Stop the Carnival". It is a hilarious adventure of
Norman Paperman, the smartest man in all New York.
Some day I will tell you about my own Caribbean adventure. Well to put it
simply, my first Lawyer, Maurice Bishop overthrew the government of Sir Eric
Gairy in 1979 and turned me over to his law partner Bernard (Bud) Coard.
Then four years later my new lawyer, his former partner Bernard Coard
overthrew Bishop and executed him at Fort Rupert Prison at St George's,
Grenada. Coard was very pro-soviet and Ronald Regan then sent in the US
Marines on October 25, 1983, eight days after Bishop was executed.
Been there, Done That!
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