What form for Personal Tax income please ?

[kiwi1959]

Hello,

- We (myself, mywife and 2 child) are Ontario PRs since couple of years, but we've been leaving outside Canada.
- I am still working outside Canada to support financilay my family in Canada.
- My wife and 2 childs (below 18 years) settled down in Ontario this summer. Wife is still jobless.
- For the 2 past years, we declared NIL income despite being outside Canada through a private accountant who left Canada and he's not reachable anymore, but we received our Notice of Assessment letter for 2010 and 2011.

Q1: in your opinion, what was the Income Tax form he used to fill on our behalf for the past couple of years ?
Q2: What Personal Income Tax form from now on, we should use to declare our income in Ontario ?
Must be same profile as the previous one which I ignore.
Q3: Now that my childs are attending university and secondary school in Ontario,
- What's the Web link for the "Child benefit" form to use ?
- How to fill it ? I found one in Canada revenue Website, but it's a bit confusing.

Thank you

 

[kiwi1959]

Seton

I would appreciate if you could help answering my questions.

Thank you

 

[steaky]

It's difficult to tell which tax returns you file in the past years. It could the non residents return or one of the provinces of Canada. Have you call the International Tax Office or the CRA hotline for clarifications? You can ask them what tax return you should file and how to filling the Child Tax benefit form.

I also used a private accountant, but they gave me the hard copies and soft copies of those returns.

 

[seton]

Hello,

- We (myself, mywife and 2 child) are Ontario PRs since couple of years, but we've been leaving outside Canada.
- I am still working outside Canada to support financilay my family in Canada.
- My wife and 2 childs (below 18 years) settled down in Ontario this summer. Wife is still jobless.
- For the 2 past years, we declared NIL income despite being outside Canada through a private accountant who left Canada and he's not reachable anymore, but we received our Notice of Assessment letter for 2010 and 2011.

Q1: in your opinion, what was the Income Tax form he used to fill on our behalf for the past couple of years ?
Q2: What Personal Income Tax form from now on, we should use to declare our income in Ontario ?
Must be same profile as the previous one which I ignore.
Q3: Now that my childs are attending university and secondary school in Ontario,
- What's the Web link for the "Child benefit" form to use ?
- How to fill it ? I found one in Canada revenue Website, but it's a bit confusing.

Thank you

I really can't answer Q1. Everyone generally uses the same tax forms (T1s), and your income is generally declared on your Schedule 1s. The accountant could have used an Electing to File form under section 216 which is really meant for rental income as a non-resident, or under section 217 for other income like RRSP, OAS, etc. If you said he filed a return for you with no income, then I'm assuming he filed you as a non-resident of Canada. Your notice of assessment would include your residency status in the CRA's assessment (i.e. making you ineligible for income tested credits like the GST/HST credit, etc.).

As for Q2, assuming you are a non-resident as you're still residing, then your wife and any working children (summer jobs or otherwise) will file a normal return. As per above, tax forms are in the T1 package. You file a federal and provincial component (specific to your province).

As for the Child Benefit, this can generally be done online (through your MyAccount) or an RC66 form. However, because your wife will be returning to Canada as a resident, you will need to file a RC66SH (Status in Canada) form to update your current status with the CRA.

To be honest, I'm making a lot of assumptions here as I don't know how your accountant managed your returns. I also don't fully know your residency status, as you can be deemed a resident even if you spent most of the year abroad. I would highly recommend enlisting the help of a trained accountant to assist in making your transition back to Canada - usually there are free services affiliated with immigration settlement offices in any city, especially geared to persons with residency complexities. I would suggest carrying your notice of assessments and any other information from your accountant with you. You can also setup a CRA MyAccount to get access to your previously filed returns yourself by printing them from the website.

 

[kiwi1959]

Thank you Steaky & Seton.

Yes Seton, you're right. I wasn't clear enough in my description. Let me reformulate it:

- Myself, mywife and 2 childs are Ontario PRs since couple of years, but we've been leaving outside Canada until
this summer when my wife and 2 childs settled down in Ontario for real.
- I still have to keep working outside Canada to support financialy my family from now on.
- My kids are students below 18 years, so we are entitled of Child benefit I assume.
- My wife is currently doing part time jobs
- During the 2 past years (when we were all of us outside Canada), a private accountant filed income Tax
2010 ($16,000) and 2011 ($15,000) for me as if I were resident with little income.
For my wife he filed income Tax= NIL as she was resident and jobless.
- Both, we received our Notice of Assessment letter for 2010 and 2011.

Q1: in your opinion, what was the Income Tax form he used to file income tax on our behalf for the past couple of years ? especially for me.

Q2: Now that my wife started some part time jobs, what Income Tax form she should fill from now on ?

Q3: For child benefit, she is the main appliquant, no me, right ?

Q4: Now that my childs are attending university and secondary school in Ontario,
What form she has to use for the Child benefit

Thank you again

 

[seton]

If he filed you as a resident, then it would be on your T1s likely. If you were a resident, then your CRA return should have included your worldwide income (including the money you earned abroad). Your wife's income from her part-time jobs in Canada as a resident will be on her T1 return.

Again, I recommend seeking a trained accountant. There is simply not enough information to advise you, and additionally, if there were mistakes made be your accountant, you could liable for penalties and interest if your residency is reassessed. The CRA regularly reassess going back 3 years (so they can reassess your 2010 and 2011 returns). They can also reassess if you misrepresented on your return (claiming residency as a non-resident, for example).

 

[kiwi1959]

Thank you seton for the hints.

In fact, what happened is that, this accountant used to maintain my banking transactions, grocery purchases ... to keep mouvements in my bank account, as I was planning to comeback after a year from landing by job finding forced my to stay longer outside, till now and things were going so for 2010 and 2011.
Yes, I received small amount from the CRA as he filed below 18 $K for 2010 & 2011. He used this money not me.
When I landed, from Day-1, I asked him not to file for Child benefit as I did not want to cheat the CRA, and he did not file for that, OK.
Now my concern is how to repair this and return that amount (3 $K)to CRA in a clean / discrete way without soiling my PR status nor my CRA profile ?

Thanks

 

[seton]

All you need to do is refile your returns for 2010 and 2011 with the correct residency (or lack thereof). Have an accountant prepare them and send them in. The CRA will reassess the returns and inform you of what you owe (regardless of who used the funds, it was paid to you) as well as any penalties/interest. You can file to have your interest/penalties waived - they're fairly reasonable especially if you voluntarily disclose any prior mistakes (rather than them finding it). Your accountant should be able to advise you of this.

You don't have to worry about affecting your PR status as this has no bearing. The best way to address this is to refile/adjust your returns.

 

[kiwi1959]

Thank you so much seton.