Hi all,
If i live in Canada as a PR but work online for a UK employer and UK based clients, is it possible for me to be considered a UK resident for tax purposes whilst living in Canada and building up time to meet my residency obligations (and eventually citizenship obligations)?
Thanks
Usually I am the one who obfuscates the simple answer with tangential responses.
Short answer: Whether it is possible for you to be considered a UK resident for tax purposes depends on UK laws and rules. Nothing to do with your immigration status in Canada.
This forum, which is about Canadian immigration and related matters, is NOT a reliable source of advice about tax matters EVEN as to Canadian tax matters, let alone tax questions for other countries.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
But of course I cannot resist the tangential, and will offer a
By-The-Way observation: "
work online for a UK employer and UK based clients" may involve many variations.
I know nothing about UK tax filing, income reporting, tax paying obligations.
But in Canada, and in the U.S., there can be important distinctions between work done pursuant to a formal employee-employer relationship in contrast to work performed in other contexts or pursuant to other relationships (short or long-term contractual relationships for example that do not constitute a formal employer-employee relationship under the respective jurisdiction's laws and rules). And even though remote work, using telecommunications, has been around for several decades, including internationally (personally I have been doing it, almost exclusively, for two decades), the respective laws including tax-related rules are still evolving, still in the process of adapting.
When the individual doing the work and the entity hiring or employing the work are in different countries, such matters may invoke a wide range of implications, including those which are tax-related, reporting-related, regulation-related, licensing-related, matters related to regulating importation and exportation. Among others. The details matter.
But in any event, whether or not an individual is considered a "resident" of a particular country for tax-purposes depends on the laws and rules of that country.
In Canada, there are many factors to be considered in determining whether an individual is a resident for tax purposes. Immigration status can have some influence, but is a relatively small factor compared to many others and for sure is NOT what determines whether the individual is a resident for tax purposes or not.
And as emphasized elsewhere, tax filing and related reporting and paying obligations depend on much, much more than merely whether an individual is or is not a resident of Canada for tax purposes.