If a Principal Applicant is self-employed and never did taxes in their life...

[SuiGeneris]

I just have a general question to ask.

Situation: If the Principal Applicant of a spousal sponsorship is self-employed, and it just so happens that he/she never did their taxes.

Is CIC likely to investigate the Principal Applicant's personal work history? If so, how likely?

If CIC finds out, would CIC reject the case? To what extent are the repercussions?

What would prompt CIC to investigate in the first place?

Thanks

 

[Ponga]

There's a pretty big difference between someone that never 'did' (filed) taxes and someone that never 'paid' taxes.

Which one does this person fall under?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Situation: If the Principal Applicant of a spousal sponsorship is self-employed, and it just so happens that he/she never did their taxes.

Yes, I'm sure it "just so happened" that he did not declare his self-employment income all his life and therefore avoided paying any income tax and CPP and EI...

 

[SuiGeneris]

Why judge on insufficient information canuck? You don't know the tribulation a person has. You don't know any person's backstory, you don't know what they've gone through. So please suspend the condescending tone.

Anyway,

Both - neither filed nor paid.

 

[keesio]

Who do you mean by principal applicant? You mean the person who is looking to become a PR or the person who will be the sponsor?

 

[Rob_TO]

I just have a general question to ask.

Situation: If the Principal Applicant of a spousal sponsorship is self-employed, and it just so happens that he/she never did their taxes.

Is CIC likely to investigate the Principal Applicant's personal work history? If so, how likely?

If CIC finds out, would CIC reject the case? To what extent are the repercussions?

What would prompt CIC to investigate in the first place?

Thanks

The principal applicant doesn't have to show any work, income or tax information. Whether they ever paid taxes in any country is irrelevant and CIC won't care about it.

 

[scylla]

The principal applicant doesn't have to show any work, income or tax information. Whether they ever paid taxes in any country is irrelevant and CIC won't care about it.

Agreed - it doesn't matter. Only the sponsor needs to show this type of info.

 

[Ponga]

The principal applicant doesn't have to show any work, income or tax information. Whether they ever paid taxes in any country is irrelevant and CIC won't care about it.

But if the person has evaded paying taxes on the income, couldn't that potentially make them inadmissible, since tax evasion IS a criminal offense?

 

[scylla]

But if the person has evaded paying taxes on the income, couldn't that potentially make them inadmissible, since tax evasion IS a criminal offense?

Potentially - but only if they were seriously charged and convicted. In this case it sounds like they haven't even been caught. And in most countries, when people are caught they face fines but not criminal convictions. So extremely unlikely this is going to cause any problems for an applicant.

 

[SuiGeneris]

Potentially - but only if they were seriously charged and convicted. In this case it sounds like they haven't even been caught. And in most countries, when people are caught they face fines but not criminal convictions. So extremely unlikely this is going to cause any problems for an applicant.

It also seems unlikely because they've also only made an extremely small sum of money in their lifetime.

 

[Ponga]

It also seems unlikely because they've also only made an extremely small sum of money in their lifetime.

Is your partner/spouse a U.S. citizen?

If so, he would have been required to file a Federal return if he earned more than $400 each/every year as a self employed worker. He would have a tax liability for anything over that $400 per year.

To make matters even worse...the U.S. requires all citizens to pay tax on their worldwide income...even if they're no longer a resident in the country.

Nice, huh?!

 

[shortyp2000]

The principal applicant doesn't have to show any work, income or tax information. Whether they ever paid taxes in any country is irrelevant and CIC won't care about it.

This answer above is true, they wont look into applicants tax info

 

[Rob_TO]

But if the person has evaded paying taxes on the income, couldn't that potentially make them inadmissible, since tax evasion IS a criminal offense?

Unless it shows up on a criminal/police record, it won't be an issue as CIC will never even know about it.

 

[SuiGeneris]

Is your partner/spouse a U.S. citizen?

If so, he would have been required to file a Federal return if he earned more than $400 each/every year as a self employed worker. He would have a tax liability for anything over that $400 per year.

To make matters even worse...the U.S. requires all citizens to pay tax on their worldwide income...even if they're no longer a resident in the country.

Nice, huh?!

He roughly made maybe 3,000/year

 

[scylla]

He roughly made maybe 3,000/year

If your friend happens to be from the US - that changes things somewhat (although not from an immigration perspective). The US takes a much more serious stance on taxes. Your friend needs to catch up on his taxes and continuing filing once he's in Canada (he has to file forever no matter where he's living unless he gives up US citizenship - and no, it doesn't matter how little he makes). It won't prevent immigration. However it could prevent passport renewal - and when they go after you for failing to file taxes as a non-resident, they don't just go after what you owe - they consider all assets. This is not a situation where it is smart to mess around. Again, no impact on immigrating to Canada. But potentially big impacts in other aspects of life. He needs to tread carefully. Hopefully he already has a valid passport.