2010 Tax return for common law couple - confusing!

[Aroundtown22]

Hello all,

My common-law partner (Dutch citizen) and I are living together in Canada. We became common-law after living together for a full year in Canada while she was on a visitor's visa in August, 2010. I'm trying to file my taxes (Canadian citizen) and am a little confused about what to do.

She was still on a visitor visa on Dec 31st, 2010 (officially lands as a PR later this month) but we were living together in the country. Am I supposed to put her down as my spouse in my 2010 tax return? If I do, my refund increases significantly.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Harju]

Yes, she was your common-law spouse in 2010.  The government has agreed by issuing her a PR visa.  If you don't then you are contradicting the PR application by telling the tax authorities that you did not have a common-law spouse in 2010. It sounds like she is a full time resident of Canada so should be filing a tax return and reporting her world-wide income (which would reduce your credit for her).

[Aroundtown22]

As an update to this post

I called CRA and yes I do put that she is my spouse. I needed to fill out the CRA form RC 65 and send it in before I filed though to notify them of the change.

[greenish]

Hi,

I'm currently trying to file my taxes for 2010 (I know, a bit late!) and I'm not really sure how to deal with my common-law relationship situation. I have a common-law partner since october 2009 and want to include my partner on my tax return for 2010. She was in Canada on a working holiday visa, which expired in Feb 2010, and has spent the rest of 2010 in Canada on a student visa. She had a temporary SIN, which expired in Feb 2010 along with her working visa. For the rest of the year she was without a SIN.

My question now: Do I need to include a SIN for her in the section 'Information about your spouse or common-law partner' when filing my taxes? Should I use the expired SIN or can I just leave it blank?

[greenish]

Just in case other people are also interested in the answer to my question:

I was on the phone with the CRA today and was advised to leave the box asking for the partners SIN blank. However, I should attach a note stating her worldly income and that she was not a resident at the time (and thus didn't have a SIN)

Cheers

[Alabaman]

Just in case other people are also interested in the answer to my question:

I was on the phone with the CRA today and was advised to leave the box asking for the partners SIN blank. However, I should attach a note stating her worldly income and that she was not a resident at the time (and thus didn't have a SIN)

Cheers

Interesting. So is CRA taxing her income too?

[greenish]

Interesting. So is CRA taxing her income too?

Well, she didn't have any income anyways, I'm just declaring her as my partner for the 2010 tax year to show CIC that we declared our relationship to other government bodies already as well. I'm no expert on anything tax related though and I don't know if CRA should/would/could tax her income if she had any.

[Jonboy]

There are several benefits that are based on family income.  The CRA need to know a spouse's income, even if it is not taxable in Canada, to calculate if you are eligible for these benefits.