non-resident canadian husband, permanent resident wife - husband has to pay tax?

[genevive]

Hi..can you please advise
1) The husband is a Canadian Citizen
2) The wife is a permanent resident since 1980s but maintains her permanent residency status only by virtue of being married to a Canadian Citizen for over 20 yrs. Wife does not have a Permanent Resident card but holds a Permanent residency document when she applied for residency status in the late 1980s.
3) They have 2 daughters: an 18 yrs old and a 16 yrs old. Both are Canadians due to their Canadian father. Both hold Canadian Passports and Philippine passports. Both were born in the Philippines and are currently studying in the Philippines. The older daughter is a 1st year University student. The younger one is a 3rd yr High School student.
4) All 4 currently reside in the Philippines.
5) Both children plan to continue and finish their studies in Canada in high school and in college.
6) The husband does not have any intention to reside in Canada due to his age and fear of cold.
7) The wife and the 2 girls plan to move to Canada by August 2011.
8) The husband intends to be in Canada only from June to September every year. He does not intend to establish any residency ties in Canada such as re-acquiring a Canadian Driver's License, OHIP, re-purchase a house, etc.
9) The husband co-owns a resort with a Filipino partner in the Philippines and lives in the resort - sort of a semi-retired state. The wife doesn't work and plans to take care of the girls in Canada until both students finish their college education. She plans to rejoin her husband in the Philippines after the girls graduate. At this time, it appears that there is a strong chance that the girls will eventually build their future in Canada.
10) The husband will be sending money abroad to support the wife and girls financially for the duration of their stay -approximately 6 yrs

Questions:
1) Does the husband have to file taxes in Canada? Why? Why not?
2) Does the wife have to file taxes in Canada considering that she will not have any income while in Canada? The only source of her funding will be the money remitted to her by the husband from the Philippines - money from savings, etc.
3) In relation to this, is there any sort of withholding taxes that the government charges for these remittances?
Thank you...

 

[toby]

Questions:
1) Does the husband have to file taxes in Canada? Why? Why not?

Having a dependant in Canada (in this case you and the daughters while they are in university) is a major factor in determining residency. So yes, your husband will be deemed a resident for taxpaying purposes. Ditto because he will have a residence available to him all year (your residence, even though he doesn't actually stay there full time). If he also pays taxes in the Philippines, and IF there is a tax treaty between the two countries, then he can deduct the Philippine taxes paid from the taxes payable to Canada.

2) Does the wife have to file taxes in Canada considering that she will not have any income while in Canada? The only source of her funding will be the money remitted to her by the husband from the Philippines - money from savings, etc.

Every resident must file a tax return, even though in your case you won't have taxes to pay, since the remittances from husband are a gift (gifts are not taxable).


3) In relation to this, is there any sort of withholding taxes that the government charges for these remittances?
Thank you...

No.

 

[genevive]

thank you for your response.

 

[Jonboy]

I agree with Toby that the husband will likely be considered a tax resident of Canada if his wife and dependent children live here and he has a home available to him here.

However, the ability to deduct foreign taxes paid is not dependent on there being a tax treaty.

Also, you do not HAVE to file a tax return if you do not owe tax (or have made a capital gain) unless the CRA ask you to. That said, it is usually desirable to file a tax return regardless because many benefits are only available to you if you are up to date with your tax affairs.

 

[genevive]

thank you for your response.