CRA marital status

[zibi762]

I never updated my status with CRA when my boyfriend and I officially became common law (never even occurred to me) - is it going to state single on my option C printout? If I update my status with the CRA, how long will it take for it to show up on my option C? If it says single will that severely negatively impact our application? We have our official document from we filed as domestic partners at City Hall. Thanks!

 

[OhCanadiana]

I never updated my status with CRA when my boyfriend and I officially became common law (never even occurred to me) - is it going to state single on my option C printout? If I update my status with the CRA, how long will it take for it to show up on my option C? If it says single will that severely negatively impact our application? We have our official document from we filed as domestic partners at City Hall. Thanks!

It's probably in your best interest to proactively correct your returns anyway. Take a look at http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/changereturn/.

 

[zibi762]

I was planning on updating it anyway - it won't make any difference for me tax wise, I'm just wondering how long it will take to show up on my assessment?

 

[justagirrl]

If you update it online through "My Account" it is pretty much immediate. If you have to call them to do it, I would give them a couple days and then order your Option C.

 

[Rob_TO]

We have our official document from we filed as domestic partners at City Hall.

What does this mean? Do you mean the stat declaration of common-law form? There is really no formal step like this required when you become common-law.

Right now you have 2 issues:
1. With CIC. They may question why you are claiming common-law on your PR app, but filed taxes as single. It may not be a big deal, or it may cause them to scrutinize your app more. Nobody can really say for sure.
2. With CRA. By filing taxes as single when you were in fact common-law, you have actually committed tax fraud. I would suggest to do a re-assessment of your taxes for that year as common-law. If you weren't getting any benefits as single that you wouldn't get as common-law, or you aren't claiming your partner in the spouse/common-law amount, then the net difference will be zero. But it's still important to do.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

If it says single will that severely negatively impact our application?

It won't have any effect on your PR app.

 

[zibi762]

What does this mean? Do you mean the stat declaration of common-law form? There is really no formal step like this required when you become common-law.

Right now you have 2 issues:
1. With CIC. They may question why you are claiming common-law on your PR app, but filed taxes as single. It may not be a big deal, or it may cause them to scrutinize your app more. Nobody can really say for sure.
2. With CRA. By filing taxes as single when you were in fact common-law, you have actually committed tax fraud. I would suggest to do a re-assessment of your taxes for that year as common-law. If you weren't getting any benefits as single that you wouldn't get as common-law, or you aren't claiming your partner in the spouse/common-law amount, then the net difference will be zero. But it's still important to do.

Thanks, I updated my status online!
I actually haven't lived in Canada since I was 17 - I moved to New York for university which is where my boyfriend and I ended up officially filing as domestic partners. We figured we would include this certificate in our application, assuming it can only help show proof of our relationship. I had just assumed since my boyfriend's not Canadian, I didn't need to update my filing status, and proceeded to file as a single, the same way one can do in the US. In any case, I haven't ever made enough money to require paying any taxes in Canada, nor would my boyfriend's income have changed my tax status, so I certainly wasn't trying to evade the system and get extra benefits. I'm mostly just nervous about having anything that will affect our application.

 

[zibi762]

Oy, well I thought I updated my status online, but apparently since my status changed over 3 three years ago, I can no longer update online. Ugh - guess a phone call to CRA is in order.

 

[OhCanadiana]

Oy, well I thought I updated my status online, but apparently since my status changed over 3 three years ago, I can no longer update online. Ugh - guess a phone call to CRA is in order.

The link I posted above outlines the procedure to update returns for the last 10 years. However, this is only relevant if you have submitted returns. Curious: given that you've been living abroad (and thus may not be a Canadian resident for tax purposes), have you been submitting returns?

 

[Rob_TO]

Ya if you've been a non-resident for tax purposes, so haven't submitted tax returns and haven't been receiving any regular benefit/credit payments, then really it won't be an issue.

You should clarify:
- on what date did you reach 12 months of cohabitation?
- have you been filing CRA tax returns every year while in NY? Or are you declared a non-resident of Canada so aren't doing CRA returns?

If you haven't been receiving any benefit/credit payments from the Canadian government, then even if you went back and re-assessed any previous years Canadian taxes as common-law, it shouldn't have any financial impact to you.