Tax return query for Citizenship application

[maplezone]

Hi everyone,

I want to inquire about two confusions regarding the requirement to apply for the citizenship application, mentioned below:

1. "You must have filed at least 3 tax returns in the last 5 years from the date you sign your citizenship application. Exceptions apply for very few people. "

In my case, I filed the tax for the year 2018. lived in Canada for around 4 months and 20 days and I did not earn in Canada in the year 2018 but since I filed the tax so I have the NOA for 2018). Does that count towards the above mentioned requirement for the citizenship application? Will the NOA for 2018 will be accepted along with the NOA for 2019 and 2020?

2. Q12 (b): Tell us when you filed your income taxes in the last five (5) years using the chart below.
* Enter the tax year and indicate:
* If you were required to file for the particular year AND
* If you actually filed the taxes

The above question is from the citizenship application, what does this part mean "If you were required to file for the particular year" ? In my case, for the year 2018 what should be entered?

Any suggestion would be highly appreciated.
Thanks,

 

[smash1984]

Hi everyone,

I want to inquire about two confusions regarding the requirement to apply for the citizenship application, mentioned below:

1. "You must have filed at least 3 tax returns in the last 5 years from the date you sign your citizenship application. Exceptions apply for very few people. "

In my case, I filed the tax for the year 2018. lived in Canada for around 4 months and 20 days and I did not earn in Canada in the year 2018 but since I filed the tax so I have the NOA for 2018). Does that count towards the above mentioned requirement for the citizenship application? Will the NOA for 2018 will be accepted along with the NOA for 2019 and 2020?

2. Q12 (b): Tell us when you filed your income taxes in the last five (5) years using the chart below.
* Enter the tax year and indicate:
* If you were required to file for the particular year AND
* If you actually filed the taxes

The above question is from the citizenship application, what does this part mean "If you were required to file for the particular year" ? In my case, for the year 2018 what should be entered?

Any suggestion would be highly appreciated.
Thanks,

1) My situation is slightly different to yours. I also came to Canada in Sept 2018, just submitted my application a couple of hours ago. But i earned income in Canada in 2018 so I was required to file taxes. If you earn income in Canada, you are required to file taxes in Canada. My understanding is that since you were not required to file taxes, you didn't have to, but you did. Taxes can be filed to claim refunds on tax, or to claim benefits. So regardless of your motivations, you still DID file taxes so that SHOULD count towards your requirement.

2) For this you should write, for 2018: Required to File: No, Filed Taxes: Yes

 

[maplezone]

1) My situation is slightly different to yours. I also came to Canada in Sept 2018, just submitted my application a couple of hours ago. But i earned income in Canada in 2018 so I was required to file taxes. If you earn income in Canada, you are required to file taxes in Canada. My understanding is that since you were not required to file taxes, you didn't have to, but you did. Taxes can be filed to claim refunds on tax, or to claim benefits. So regardless of your motivations, you still DID file taxes so that SHOULD count towards your requirement.

2) For this you should write, for 2018: Required to File: No, Filed Taxes: Yes

Thank you for responding Smash, don't you think that one is supposed to file tax if he/she has lived in Canada for more than 3 months or something like that?

 

[smash1984]

Thank you for responding Smash, don't you think that one is supposed to file tax if he/she has lived in Canada for more than 3 months or something like that?

My understanding is that if you earn income in Canada, you're required to file taxes.

I am not a tax expert but I haven't seen a 3 month requirement. In fact there's a CRA page for newcomers, you can check that out. If you filed a tax return even if you were present on Canada for one week, it should be valid IMO.

 

[smash1984]

I also found this post interesting

https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/help-income-tax-filing-requirement-for-canadian-citizenship-application.608635/post-7548071