Question about tax return requirement for spouse sponsorship outside Canada

[valtonia]

Hello all,

My wife is a Canadian citizen living in the UK for the last 18 years. We are looking to move to Canada and are at the point of submitting my residency application via our lawyers in Canada. My wife is currently unemployed and was previously self-employed. We've sent our most recent tax return (2013-2014) along with a letter from HMRC stating that she is not required to submit a tax return for 2015.
Our lawyers are saying that our application might be refused because my wife has not submitted a return for 2015. As there is no such thing as a "no earnings tax return" here in the UK, they are suggesting that she should submit one in Canada. This makes no sense to me.
I've done some reading about how someones residence status for tax might be decided and I don't see how CIC could think that my wife should be classed as resident in Canada for tax purposes - and therefore require a 2015 tax return.

Does anyone have experience of this? Are our lawyers just being overcautious?

Many thanks,
Alan.

 

[CDNPR2014]

send what you have and submit a letter of explanation. that is all that is needed. your wife does not need to file Canadian taxes or provide any sort of tax paperwork from canada for 2015, since she is not a resident for tax purposes. There are many people who live outside of canada who are successfully approved as sponsors without having to send in tax information for the most recent year. I believe the application itself says "the most recent tax assessment available". If you provide the letter that states one for 2015 is not available, then i think you'll be fine. There are many people who are approved as sponsors and can't submit the most current tax information for whatever reason.

The sponsor application is not going to be outrightly rejected because you don't submit tax information for 2015, that is a ridiculous assumption IMO. if anything, they would just require additional supporting documentation. there is a very low chance that would happen, since you are essentially providing them with enough proof of why it's not available. generally, the only things that cause a rejection of a sponsor are: bankruptcy, taking welfare, and domestic violence charges/conviction. nowhere is it written a sponsor will not be approved because they did not submit the most recent year tax return, that i am aware of.

If your lawyer doesn't know this, then get rid of them and do the application yourself. i'd recommend this anyway, assuming there aren't other major issues in the application (criminal or dependent related issues). there is no need to throw money at an attorney to give you bad advice and essentially send in your paperwork for you. for the most part, people are much better off doing it themselves with advice from this forum.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Our lawyers are saying that our application might be refused because my wife has not submitted a return for 2015. As there is no such thing as a "no earnings tax return" here in the UK, they are suggesting that she should submit one in Canada.

The app will not be refused because she hasn't submitted a 2015 return. Advising her to file a return in Canada when she has been a non-resident for 18 years is beyond stupid; it would do nothing for the app.

Submit her latest UK return and a letter of explanation.

I suggest you ditch the lawyers.

 

[valtonia]

Thanks for the responses!

I was sure that what we've provided would be ok and your help here reassures me. Many thanks.

 

[mad_hatter]

Section 18 & 19 of the Sponsor Document Checklist detailed the document you need to provide if you do not have Notice of Assessment.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Section 18 & 19 of the Sponsor Document Checklist detailed the document you need to provide if you do not have Notice of Assessment.

No, they don't. Those sections are for different things, not replacements for 17.

As stated in point 17, if the printout cannot be provided, a letter of explanation is required in place of it.

 

[mad_hatter]

The sponsor live exclusively outside Canada and is not require to file Canadian tax return. I would think a simple statement to this fact would suffice. Obviously, a long explanation would not hurt either.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

The sponsor live exclusively outside Canada and is not require to file Canadian tax return. I would think a simple statement to this fact would suffice. Obviously, a long explanation would not hurt either.

??

Which is exactly what we already told OP before you posted incorrect information...

 

[mad_hatter]

I don't mean to provide incorrect info. All I am saying is that if Notice of Assessment is not available, OP should provide section 18 & 19 document to demonstrate that the family has money to live on when relocated in Canada.