New Pr w/o job. Do i file taxes?

[Heather chaney]

So if i am a new permanent resident and i am not able to find work for the taxation year...Do i still have to file for incometax? i heard it is an pr obligation and if you don't you won't be eligible for citizenship. So anyways...if i do still have to file incometax..what forms do i use? And what do i put on it? And if i dont have to file for it...am i supposed to do anything else or just do nothing? I i truly have never understood incometax (even in USA where im from) please help. Also..what if i am unable to find work? Will that cause trouble with my PR obligations to be eligible for citizenship?

 

[spyfy]

So if i am a new permanent resident and i am not able to find work for the taxation year...Do i still have to file for incometax? i heard it is an pr obligation and if you don't you won't be eligible for citizenship. So anyways...if i do still have to file incometax..what forms do i use? And what do i put on it? And if i dont have to file for it...am i supposed to do anything else or just do nothing? I i truly have never understood incometax (even in USA where im from) please help. Also..what if i am unable to find work? Will that cause trouble with my PR obligations to be eligible for citizenship?

It's not a question if you have to file taxes, you actually want to file taxes. Since you have no income, you will actually GET money when you file your taxes, in particular the GST/HST credit.

I don't think this forum is the right place to start understand the tax system generally. There are a lot of community services that offer free help with filing taxes during the filing season (January to April of each year). I am sure you can find one in your area. They can help you much more than this forum, which is more for a specific question than for getting a general overview.

 

[steaky]

There are unemployed PR eligible for applying citizenship out there.

 

[lusafaty]

Just to build on the points raised, if you stay in Canada for more than 183 days in a year, you are required to file your personal tax return.

 

[Rob_TO]

So if i am a new permanent resident and i am not able to find work for the taxation year...Do i still have to file for incometax? i heard it is an pr obligation and if you don't you won't be eligible for citizenship. So anyways...if i do still have to file incometax..what forms do i use? And what do i put on it? And if i dont have to file for it...am i supposed to do anything else or just do nothing? I i truly have never understood incometax (even in USA where im from) please help. Also..what if i am unable to find work? Will that cause trouble with my PR obligations to be eligible for citizenship?

If you are a resident for tax purposes, then you need to file taxes even if income was zero.

Also if you're from USA, you will need to continue filling USA taxes as well.

 

[Heather chaney]

thank you everyone for your adivce

 

[pie_vancouver]

You don't have to file if you have no income, BUT, if you want to claim GST/HST credit or CCB, then file zero income.

 

[Rob_TO]

You don't have to file if you have no income, BUT, if you want to claim GST/HST credit or CCB, then file zero income.

Note that IRCC uses tax returns when assessing PR card renewals and for future citizenship applications, so while not technically mandatory with zero income it's extremely recommended a PR always files a tax return regardless of income or not.

 

[picklee]

Just to build on the points raised, if you stay in Canada for more than 183 days in a year, you are required to file your personal tax return.

This is not exactly true and misleading in the context of this thread. You are considered a tax resident of Canada if you live in Canada for 183 days or more, but this fact alone does not mean you need to file a tax return.

https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/about-your-tax-return/you-have-file-a-return.html