Posted on: 16-03-04 20:43:48
hi,
I have stayed in CANADA continously for 3 years now. (came in 2001 jan). I still have my landed paper. Yet to apply for PR or Citizenship.
I am afraid to apply because i have n't paid any taxes for last 3 years.
I know for citizenship i have to pay my taxes.
What about my PR card ? do i still have to pay my taxes?
Can any one give me advice?
Regards
Kumar
Quote:
Orginally posted by Alexkumar
hi,
I have stayed in CANADA continously for 3 years now. (came in 2001 jan). I still have my landed paper. Yet to apply for PR or Citizenship.
I am afraid to apply because i have n't paid any taxes for last 3 years.
I know for citizenship i have to pay my taxes.
What about my PR card ? do i still have to pay my taxes?
Can any one give me advice?
Regards
Kumar
What do you mean by not paid your taxes? Do you mean that you have not filed your tax returns? Are you a self employed and have had income for which your were supposed to pay taxes and have not done so? I would say please do not delay and file your tax returns as soon as possible as you would have to pay heavy penalties on your tax owing. In Canada, the tax returns has to be filed by every 'resident' who has income and it does not matter whether or not he is a 'Citizen'.
Also by not filing your taxes you lose out on certain benefits such as Child Tax Benefit (if you have kids) GST/HST refund and Ontario Sales Tax credits etc. Hence, you should seek advice from an accountact and should not delay it further.
Secondly, if you do not have a PR card, you can not come back to Canada once you go out ( in some special case they will give you only a one time visa to come back to Canada) and that means YOU NEED TO HAVE either PR card or Citizenship if you want to return to Canada.
Thirdly, as far as I know, they do not ask for your tax returns when you apply for the Citizenship and I hope the same must be the case with PR Card (though I am not sure as I chose to go for Citizenship instead of PR card) and some one else who applied for the PR card and got it would be able to confirm if they ask for your taxes or not.
Still, if you are confused, send me a personal email with your details and I will be able to advise you on your tax situation.
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Pramod Chopra
Senior Mortgage Consultant
Mortgage Alliance Company of Canada
If the reason you filed no returns is to avoid paying tax you are not in danger of being discovered when you apply , you are in danger if they decide to audit the person(s)/companies who hired you.
If you did not file returns because you were NOT resident in Canada but working in the US you will get into serious trouble if you apply for citizenship.You will have to declare that you were a resident of Canada and provide addresses on the application form. To verify residency (they do NOT do that with every application but flag certain applications to check) they may ask you to prove that you lived at that address. Even if they do not , your citizenship could be revoked at ANY time if they prove later that you lied on the form. And remember that Canada / US have treaties regarding tax law enforcement.
It's just not worth it!
hi sridthar ,
Nothing like that!. I am here in canada for last 3 years from april 1st 2001 to March 2004 . Almost completed Citizenship requirement.
I need more money to pay my taxes as i spent it all. haha.
Need better paying job to get rid off all my balances including taxes.
Someone told me that i have to have all my tax returns done before applying for citizenship.
I need my PR card immediately to get better job in USA ( i can get back to my old USA job).
I just want some immigration lawyer or expert to confirm to me that i won't be in trouble in applying PR card without paying taxes.
Just file the tax return (labour charges) for my INC itself is 600 cdn minimum. I am not ready to spend all my money now paying my taxes now until i get better paying job. Thats all.
I need help here! Anyone? 
sridthar , Thanks for the reply anyway!
Alex
If you are sure that you can get a better job in USA (which means it will pay you higher amt than what you are getting here in Canada), don't you think it makes sense to move to USA as soon as possible so that you do not lose the differential on your earning every month?
And if that be the case, don't you think you should file your taxes without delay even if means paying off the money now.
By the way, they do not check your taxes when giving out a PR card - since it only means giving you a travel document, that too to come back to Canada.
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Chandresh
Advice is free – lessons I charge for!!
