Under the table work.. ?

[CaroM8]

Hello again!

I am Canadian Citizen and have been living with my husband and working in Guatemala for almost 2 years now. I work in a small hostel and am paid in local wages which is not much if you convert to CAD$. I am paid in cash and have not declared this income on my last tax return as it is so minimal and honestly I just didn't think it was worth mentioning.
I live off this money which is more than enough here in Guatemala, and have substantial savings to fall back on in case of emergency.

How do I fit all of this into our application? In the Document checklist it asks for proof of income.. Pay stubs are not a thing here. My employer could write a letter.. But since this is all under the table work, I don't want to get them in trouble. What do I do?

 

[mad_hatter]

I am Canadian Citizen and have been living with my husband and working in Guatemala for almost 2 years now. I work in a small hostel and am paid in local wages which is not much if you convert to CAD$. I am paid in cash and have not declared this income on my last tax return as it is so minimal and honestly I just didn't think it was worth mentioning.
I live off this money which is more than enough here in Guatemala, and have substantial savings to fall back on in case of emergency.

How do I fit all of this into our application? In the Document checklist it asks for proof of income.. Pay stubs are not a thing here. My employer could write a letter.. But since this is all under the table work, I don't want to get them in trouble. What do I do?

I have a similar situation, I have not had a paycheck for years. What I did was to attach a note stating that my income comes from earned interest. I also included a copy of bank statement.

I think you can safely ask your employer for a letter. My understanding is that CIC cannot disclose this information to the Guatemala authority, therefore you will not get your employer into trouble.

 

[CaroM8]

Thank you for your answer!

I'm just worried at how it will look for me as the sponsor, the fact that I am basically working illegally here in Guatemala and forgot to claim this income on my taxes. I thought about just saying that I am working as a volunteer and do not get paid. But once they see my bank statement showing that I pretty much never withdraw money from that account they might question how I am surviving here. I just don't want to lie on the application... But I am worried they will deny me as a sponsor... Could I get in trouble for not declaring this income, minimal as it is?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

But I am worried they will deny me as a sponsor... Could I get in trouble for not declaring this income, minimal as it is?

You can't be refused for this. The only trouble you could be in is with CRA, depending on how much you earned, but this has nothing to do with IRCC.

 

[CaroM8]

You can't be refused for this. The only trouble you could be in is with CRA, depending on how much you earned, but this has nothing to do with IRCC.

Thank you for the clarification!

I was getting really anxious that my own carelessness would harm our application for my husband. I am totally prepared to take the heat from CRA, as long as it doesn't directly affect our PR app.

 

[Rob_TO]

Thank you for the clarification!

I was getting really anxious that my own carelessness would harm our application for my husband. I am totally prepared to take the heat from CRA, as long as it doesn't directly affect our PR app.

As mentioned it will have no effect at all on PR app.

For CRA, wouldn't you be considered a non-resident anyways for tax purposes?
Or if the income is minimal (like around $11,000 CAD or so per year) it would fall under the personal exemption and you wouldn't owe taxes on it anyways to CRA even if you did file a Canadian tax return.

 

[CaroM8]

As mentioned it will have no effect at all on PR app.

For CRA, wouldn't you be considered a non-resident anyways for tax purposes?
Or if the income is minimal (like around $11,000 CAD or so per year) it would fall under the personal exemption and you wouldn't owe taxes on it anyways to CRA even if you did file a Canadian tax return.

In 2015 (the tax year I am worried about at the moment!), my husband and I did visit Canada for about 5 months and I was employed during that time and reported it on my taxes with a T4. The rest of the year we were in Guatemala and I was working. But we are talking very minimal money; I am paid in local wages which adds up to about 350$CAD per month. Let's say I worked about 6 months in Guatemala, that would be a total of roughly 2,100$CAD. If somehow CRA gets wind of this I'm totally prepared to pay a fine or whatever it is.. But since it's so little income I'm hoping it won't be an issue.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

In 2015 (the tax year I am worried about at the moment!), my husband and I did visit Canada for about 5 months and I was employed during that time and reported it on my taxes with a T4. The rest of the year we were in Guatemala and I was working. But we are talking very minimal money; I am paid in local wages which adds up to about 350$CAD per month. Let's say I worked about 6 months in Guatemala, that would be a total of roughly 2,100$CAD. If somehow CRA gets wind of this I'm totally prepared to pay a fine or whatever it is.. But since it's so little income I'm hoping it won't be an issue.

Just make things easier on yourself and submit an amendment to your 2015 taxes to declare it. There wont be any fines or anything if you do it now and there won't be much tax to pay. Then you will know you won't have any trouble with CRA.

 

[mad_hatter]

As mentioned it will have no effect at all on PR app.

For CRA, wouldn't you be considered a non-resident anyways for tax purposes?
Or if the income is minimal (like around $11,000 CAD or so per year) it would fall under the personal exemption and you wouldn't owe taxes on it anyways to CRA even if you did file a Canadian tax return.

It is not easy to escape the Canada's tax net. One does not automatically become a non-resident for tax purposes just by living abroad. One must sever ties with Canada.

Submit an amendment to CRA will be the best cause of action.

 

[CaroM8]

Thanks for the replies!

I know that I definitely do not qualify as a non-resident as I still have an address and all my stuff in Canada. I will submit an amendment to CRA, and hopefully CIC doesn't judge me too harshly on this!