Hello,
I am about to move to the Caribbean to semi retire and I will continue to undertakes some international business investments and consulting from a non-tax jurisdiction. The consulting and investments will not be in the country where I will be relocating but rather in Europe, Brazil and China. My concern is to make sure I cannot be taxed in Canada so I will provide the following information:
I am Canadian and have resided in Canada my entire life;
I am married and my wife would be moving with me;
I have averaged between 3 and 6 months per year outside of Canada over the last 6 years;
I plan on selling my home and all possessions;
I will have family in Canada but my Children are all over 21 and independent;
I plan on visiting family in Canada every year for a few weeks per year;
I plan on moving before the end of the existing calendar year;
I do not plan on returning to Canada to live;
I have some private interests with other parties in Canada but I do not receive any income from the business;
I would encounter resistence from partners and tax problems if I tried to dispose of my interests in the companies;
The companies do not distribute any monetary benefit to me directly or indirectly and have not for several years;
My questions are as follows:
If I intend on conducting business on a part time basis from the Caribbean, does it matter if I establish the corporation before or after I depart Canada? I am asking this question because of the reporting requirement for the current tax year tax return! I am not trying to hide anything but I would prefer not to provide any linkage for the Canada Tax Authorities because I don't feel it is any of the Canadian Tax Department's Business as I will no longer be in Canada?
With respect to the private corporations where I have personal and corporate private share holdings, is it possible for me to contribute the shares to a charitable foundation? The assets are basically loans to the corporations that hold assets in the millions and the corporations have not been particularily active over the last few years. I feel if a charitable organization took over my position it would inspire the remaining parties to be responsible and utilize the assets for more humanitarian purposes. The cash flow that is possible could easily generate in the 7 figures per year. I have no interest in the companies, the existing partners and I do not want to cause a tax problem for myself by selling the shares, I believe the shares would be more appropriate for a Charitable Organization because they are patient and could appeal to the other shareholders humanitarian righteousness to utilize the assets in a more appropriate manner.
If I cannot contribute the shares to a Charitable Organization, could I move the shares into some type of blind trust and pledge the benefits to a Charitable Organization or the Governement of Canada and thereby, avoid any taxation regarding the value of the shares or the income that would be generated?
The questions regarding the shareholdings are relevant with respect to avoiding any linkage to Canada so I do not compromise my residency and potential earningw when I relocate out of Canada?
Thank you!
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david ingram replies:
I am niot going to try and answer this because the 'what if's' are endless.
And, indeed, I have three people coming in this week who are returning from Caribbean islands after 5 10 and 12 years and are suffereing because they now cannot afford to buy a decent house when they sold a good one to leave.
The answer to all your questions is likely.
Whether you should or not is another question.
Sid Ireland of the Salvation Army is a very good Charitable Gifts Expert. give him a call at (604) 681-9311. In general, if you give publicly traded shares, there is NO capital gains tax to pay and you get a charitable tax credit for the full amount.
As for residency, you can leave a $2,000,000 house behind and as long as it is rented at arm's length, it does not make you a resident of Canada.
However, with no house, frequent visits to Canada by yourself or your spouse, can easily make you a taxable resident of Canada when you are not in your supposed country of residence for more than six months.
If you spend 6 weeks in Canada, 3 months in the Bahamas, two months in Switzerland, a couple of months in New Zealand, and three months in the United states, you are still a taxable resident of Canada.
I wrote most of the following 20 years ago and it was downloaded an average of 35 times a day in so far in 2007. If it, or any part was incorrect, someone should have told me by now.
You can get some of your answers from this. However, I suggest that you need a personal consultation with someone like myself and maybe tqwo of us to deal with any conflicting opinions.
A major suggestion is that if you are truly trying to escape Canadian taxation, that you do not return to Canada for two years at least for any visit. Pull into Bellingham, or Minot or Fargo or Niagara Falls(NY), or Plattsburg or any other US border town and invite the kids and friends down to visit you in the US.
Read the following which can be found in full at
www.centa.com, click on US Canada Taxation in the second box down.
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QUESTION:
Hi David
We are currently living & working in Dubai and to the best of my knowledge, I have a non-resident status in Canada. I have been out for 6.5 years now and we are planning to come back within the next 3 years. I was employed for 3 years of this tenure. I have a canadian licence (which I needed in order to get a licence in the UAE) and I have a canadian visa card and a non-resident bank account. Otherwise, we have no other ties to Canada. Furthermore, my husband is not a Canadian citizen. Will maintaining any of the above effect my status as a non-resident with regards to being taxable?
Hope you can help...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- david ingram replies:
Five years ago, I would have suggested that the driver's licence was an absolute no-no but today, because of the World Trade Center Disaster, many of the countries in your area are suspicious of a carrier of a Canadian Passport who do not have a Canadian driver's licence to match. Still, having a Canadian Visa card ABD a driver's licence could be enough to make them look at you because there is no reason to keep a Canadian visa card for 6.5 years.
A non-Canadian husband is only a bit of a help. Read the following and decide if you should get rid of the licence (you do have a Dubai licence now) and credit card. Dennis Lee was taxed even though immigration would not let him into Canada.
The following was my answer to someone wanting to move to Dubai.
My_question_is: Canadian-specific
Subject: Thinking of moving to Dubai to work for government from Canada
Expert:
[email protected]
Date: Saturday March 31, 2007
Time: 11:25 AM -0500
QUESTION:
Hi,
I have been bantering back and forth with a possible offer to work for the government of Dubai.. if I do accept the offer and go, I want to keep my condo and my car here in Canada... I will establish a residence there as well.. my question is how much tax will I have to pay out of my income from over there.. I do not wish to sell everything and put it in storage... the car maybe, but it is a lease and I don't currently own it.. but Dubai is ready to take care of my obligations here, so I say keep it.
Thanks for your time
_______________________________________________________________
david ingram replies:
If you keep a car and home here and return for visits, you will be taxable at full rates on whatever you earn in Dubai.
read the following:
So what are the rules?
Well, to leave Canada for tax purposes, you must give up clubs, bank accounts, memberships, driving licences, provincial health care plans, family allowance payments (if you are a returning resident, you can continue to get Family Allowance out of the country), your car, and furniture. You can keep a house here as an investment and rent it out, but it must be rented on lease terms of a year or more. And you MUST have an agent sign an NR6 for you (see example). This NR6 has the Canadian Resident AGENT ** guarantee the Canadian Government that if YOU do not pay your tax to Canada, the AGENT WILL. Even after fulfilling the foregoing, the Canadian government can still tax you or "try" to tax you on your income out of the country. If you are being paid by a Canadian Company, they can quite often succeed.
Even though you can collect family allowance out of the country, don't! One client's wife found out that she could get family allowance out of the country if she said they were coming back to Canada. She got some $3,000 of family allowance and cost the family some $80,000 in income tax when they came back to Canada from Brazil. I will never forget the husband's expression when he found out why he had been reassessed and I will never forget his wife's explanation. She said he was a skinflint and never gave her any money. The total episode cost them their house.
** The "agent" referred to above can be a friend, relative, or a business such as ours. We charge a minimum of $40.00 per month to be an "AGENT" for an NR-6 filing. This $480 per year is "in addition" to any other fees but "well worth it" of course. It stops your mother, father, brother, next door neighbour or ex-best-friend from being plagued by paperwork they do not understand.
OUT OF CANADA AND RESIDENT - IN CANADA AND NON-RESIDENT
It is possible to be physically "in Canada" and be treated as a Non-Resident and it is possible to be out of the country for seven years, or never have even lived in Canada, but wanted to, and be taxed as a Canadian resident as the following three cases show. In case you missed it, the reason for the different rulings is the "INTENT" of the parties involved. Wolf Bergelt intended to leave Canada. David MacLean was only working out of the country. He still maintained a residence and could not ever become a resident of Saudi Arabia anyway. Dennis Lee "wanted" to live in Canada.
In 1986, Wolf Bergelt won non-resident status before Judge Collier of the Federal Court, even though he was only out of the country for four months and his family stayed behind to sell his house. He had given up his memberships, kept only one bank account and rented an apartment in California until his house in Canada was sold. Four months after his move, his company advised him that he was being transferred back to Canada. Judge Collier said his move was a permanent (although short) move and he was a non-resident for tax purposes for those four months.
In 1985, David MacLean lost his claim for non-residence status even though he was gone for seven years. He kept a house and investments in Canada and returned a couple of times a year to visit parents. He had even been to the Tax Office and received a letter on January 29, 1980 stating that his Canadian Employer could waive tax deductions because he was a non-resident. However, he did not advise his banks, etc. that he was a non-resident so that they would withhold tax, he did not rent his house out on a long term lease and he did not do any of the things that makes a person a "NON-RESIDENT". Judge Brule of the Tax court of Canada said that he thought Mr. MacLean had stumbled on the non-resident status by chance rather than by design. In other words, to become a non-resident of Canada, you must become a bone fide resident of another country. As a rule, only a Muslim born in Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabian parents can become a Saudi Arabian citizen. The best that David MacLean can hope for is that he has a Saudi Arabian temporary work permit.
In other words, when a person leaves a place, they usually leave and establish a new identity where they are because the "new place" is where they live now. Trying to "look" like a non-resident is not the same as "BEING" a non-resident - think about it.
In 1989, Denis Lee won part but lost most of his claim for non-resident status. He was a British Subject who worked on offshore oil rigs. He maintained a room at his parents house in England and held a mortgage on his ex-wife's house in England. For the years 1981, 82 and 83 he did not pay income tax anywhere. in 1981 he married a Canadian and she bought a house in Canada in June of 1981. On September 13, 1981, he guaranteed her mortgage at the bank and swore an affidavit that he was "not" a non-resident of Canada. [As I have said in the capital gains section of this book, bank documents will get you every time.] During this time he had a Royal Bank account in Canada and the Caribbean but no Canadian driver's licences or club memberships, etc.
Judge Teskey said:
"The question of residency is one of fact and depends on the specific facts of each case. The following is a list of some of the indicia relevant in determining whether an individual is resident in Canada for Canadian income tax purposes. It should be noted that no one of any group of two or three items will in themselves establish that the individual is resident in Canada. However, a number of the following factors considered together could establish that the individual is a resident of Canada for Canadian income tax purposes":
- - past and present habits of life;
- - regularity and length of visits in the jurisdiction asserting residence;
- - ties within the jurisdiction;
- - ties elsewhere;
- - permanence or otherwise of purposes of stay;
- - ownership of a dwelling in Canada or rental of a dwelling on a long-term basis (for example, a lease of one or more years);
- - residence of spouse, children and other dependent family members in a dwelling maintained by the individual in Canada;
- - memberships with Canadian churches, or synagogues, recreational and social clubs, unions and professional organizations (left out mosques);
- - registration and maintenance of automobiles, boats and airplanes in Canada;
- - holding credit cards issued by Canadian financial institutions and other commercial entities including stores, car rental agencies, etc.;
- - local newspaper subscriptions sent to a Canadian address;
- - rental of Canadian safety deposit box or post office box;
- - subscriptions for life or general insurance including health insurance through a Canadian insurance company;
- - mailing address in Canada;
- - telephone listing in Canada;
- - stationery including business cards showing a Canadian address;
- - magazine and other periodical subscriptions sent to a Canadian address;
- - Canadian bank accounts other than a non-resident account;
- - active securities accounts with Canadian brokers;
- - Canadian drivers licence;
- - membership in a Canadian pension plan;
- - holding directorships of Canadian corporations;
- - membership in Canadian partnerships;
- - frequent visits to Canada for social or business purposes;
- - burial plot in Canada;
- - legal documentation indicating Canadian residence;
- - filing a Canadian income tax return as a Canadian resident;
- - ownership of a Canadian vacation property;
- - active involvement with business activities in Canada;
- - employment in Canada;
- - maintenance or storage in Canada of personal belongings including clothing, furniture, family pets, etc.;
- - obtaining landed immigrant status or appropriate work permits in Canada;
- - severing substantially all ties with former country of residence.
"The Appellant claims that he did not want to be a resident of Canada during the years in question. Intention or free choice is an essential element in domicile, but is entirely absent in residence."
Even though Dennis Lee was denied residency by immigration until 1985 (his passport was stamped and limited the number of days he could stay in the country) and he did not purchase a car until 1984, or get a drivers licence until 1985, Judge Teskey ruled that he was a non-resident until September 13, 1981 (the day he guaranteed the mortgage and signed the bank guarantee) and a resident thereafter.
My point is made. Residency for "TAX PURPOSES" has nothing to do with legal presence in the country claiming the tax. It is a question of fact. My thanks to Judge Teskey for an excellent list. The italics are mine and refer to the items which I usually see people trying to "hold on to" after they leave and are trying to become non-residents. No single item will make you a resident, but there is a point where the preponderance of "numbers" leap out and say, "He / She is a resident of Canada, no matter what he / she says."
The case above is not unusual in any way. It is a fairly typical situation in my office.
In 1990, John Hale was taxed as a resident on $25,000 of directors fees he had received from his Canadian Employer and on $125,000 he received for exercising a share stock option given to him when he had been a resident of Canada (the option, not the stock). Judge Rouleau of the Federal Court ruled that section 15(1) of the Great Britain / Canada Tax Convention did not protect the $125,000 as it was not "salaries, wages, and other remuneration". It was, however a benefit received by virtue of employment within the meaning of section 7(1)(b) of the act.
Even a car you do not own can make you a resident as the next sailor found out.
In 1988, FrederickReed was claimed by the Canadian Government as one of their own. He lived on board ship and shared an apartment with a friend in Bermuda but only occasionally. He also stayed with his parents in Canada when visiting his employer in Halifax. Judge Bonner of the Tax court ruled that he could not claim his place of employ or the ship as his residence and just because he did not have a fixed abode, did not make him a non-resident. He was also the beneficial owner of a car in Canada which even though of minor consequence, served to add to his Canadian Residency. He had in fact borrowed money from a credit union to buy the car, even though it was registered in his father's name. He had maintained his Canadian Driver's licence as well.
An interesting case in June, 1989 involved Deborah and James Provias who left Canada in October of 1984. They had sold a multiple unit building to James' father on September 21, 1984 but the statement of adjustments did not take place until December 1, 1984. They tried to write off rental losses and a terminal loss against other income as `departing Canadians'. Judge Christie of the Tax Court ruled that they had left before the sale and were not entitled to the terminal loss or another capital loss as these could only be applied against income earned in Canada from October 13, 1984 (the day they left) to November 30, 1984 (the day before the sale) and there was no income, only a rental loss.
But June, 1989 was a good month for Henry Hewitt. He had been a non-resident living in Libya for four years and received some back pay after returning to Canada. DNR tried to tax him on the money but Judge Mogan of the Tax Court came to the rescue. He ruled that although Canadians were usually taxable on money when received, that assumed that the money itself was taxable in Canada, which was not true in this case.
In 1989, James Ferguson lost his claim for non-residency status but from the information, it didn't stand a chance anyway. He had been in Saudi Arabia on a series of one year contracts for four years. His wife remained employed in Canada, and he kept his house, car, driver's licence, union membership, and master plumber's licence. Judge Sarchuk ruled that he had always intended to return to Canada and was a resident.
A similar situation involved John and Johnnie M. Eubanks in the United States. He was working on an offshore oil rig in Nigeria with a Nigerian work permit and attempted to claim non-resident status for the purposes of exempting the foreign earned income exclusion. His wife was in the United States at all times and because he worked 28 days on and 28 days off, he returned to the U.S. for his rest periods using 4 days for travel and 24 days for rest with his family. He did not spend any 330 day period (out of a year) in Nigeria and only had a residency permit for the purposes of working in Nigeria. Judge Scott ruled he was a resident of the U.S. and taxed him some $20,000 with another $6,000 penalties and interest.
The Tax departments in Canada and the U.S. issue Interpretation Bulletins and Information Circulars and Guidance Pamphlets. These documents sometimes get people in trouble because the individual reads the good part and doesn't pay any attention to the exceptions. The following case ran contrary to a Guidance Pamphlet issued by the IRS.
On and Off-shore Oil rigs were involved with William and Margaret Mount and Jesse and Mary Wells. William and Jesse worked in the United Arab Emirates. However, they kept their homes and families in Louisiana and kept their driver's licences in Louisiana and voted in Louisiana. No evidence was shown that they had tried to settle in The United Arab Emirates. Judge Jacobs turned down claimed exclusions of approximately $75,000 each.
There isn't any question about what oil rig people talk about on oil rigs. It has to be "how to beat the tax man". Unfortunately, they all seem to think it is easy. Another such story follows.
In 1989, Clarence Ritchie found out that bona fide residence means just what it says. You cannot be a non-resident of the U.S. for tax purposes if you are not a bona fide resident of another country. He was working on the Mobil Oil Pipeline in Saudi Arabia and although when he left he was married with a couple of kids, by the time he returned permanently, he was a happily divorced man. Judge Scott ruled that though he did not have an abode in the United States, he had not established one in Saudi Arabia and therefore was not entitled to the foreign earned income exclusion which requires you to be away for 330 days out of 365. He had worked a 42 days on, 21 days off schedule and usually returned to the U.S. for his days off although he did spend time in Tunisia, England, Italy and Greece.
On a final note, as explained on page 143 of the "PINK" 17th edition of my ULTIMATE TAX BOOK, it is possible to have three countries after you for tax. If you are thinking of taking a job because a recruiter told you the money is tax free, think twice and check three times with competent individuals about what the rules "really are". No government likes giving up the right to tax its citizens.
DEBT SECURITIES - BANK ACCOUNTS
Non-residents of Canada with investments in Canada are subject to a 25% non-resident withholding tax on any money paid to them while they are out of the Canada. Therefore, if they have $10,000 in the Bank of Montreal and they live in Argentina, The Bank of Montreal must withhold 25 cents out of every dollar of interest paid to the account. Most tax treaty countries such as Great Britain, Germany, the United States, and Australia have a reciprocal agreement with Canada that limits the withholding to 15%.
