Urgent guidance needed: Declaring savings at the time of landing

[manlec]

I am landing on 30 July with family, will stay there for 1 month and return back. I wil be permanently moving to Toronto in 1 year time.

In addition to the 2 lists of declaring the "goods accompanied" and "goods to follow" that we will have to submit at the time of landing, some people have advised me to also declare all my savings (bank balance, investment finds, cash, property etc) so that when I move permantly and transfer all that money to canada, I will not be taxed on that money.

Can you please tell me how to delcare those savings as the Form B4 E simply asks us to declare "goods" not funds/savings.

Moreover, will I be asked to provide a proof of all the savings that I declare e.g. bank balance, investment funds, property etc?

Thanks a lot

 

[PMM]

Hi

I am landing on 30 July with family, will stay there for 1 month and return back. I wil be permanently moving to Toronto in 1 year time.

In addition to the 2 lists of declaring the "goods accompanied" and "goods to follow" that we will have to submit at the time of landing, some people have advised me to also declare all my savings (bank balance, investment finds, cash, property etc) so that when I move permantly and transfer all that money to canada, I will not be taxed on that money.

Can you please tell me how to delcare those savings as the Form B4 E simply asks us to declare "goods" not funds/savings.

Moreover, will I be asked to provide a proof of all the savings that I declare e.g. bank balance, investment funds, property etc?

Thanks a lot

"some people" don't know what they are talking about. There is no need to declare your savings and assets overseas when you "land". You have to declare on entry, if you are carrying over $10K. There is no tax/duty on money transferred to Canada. When you are resident in Canada, you have to declare assets over $100K outside Canada on your 1st Income tax.

 

[manlec]

Thanks PMM for your reply.

Actually, those "some people" idea is that Canada does not impose taxes for whatever you own and bring to Canada initially as a permenant resident therefore they ask for all the goods that you bring with you as well as what would be coming later. So they told that same applies to the savings and assets also. Whatever you own now will not be taxable but after becoming PR, if you earn anything even outside Canada, will be taxable. So if the Canadian government doesn't know how much money/assets I have now and later I transfer that amount to Canada they may assume it as my earnings and would tax me on that when I file my tax returns.

Can you kindly comment/clarify/correct more on this?

So should I assume that I can bring/transfer any amount of money to Canada when I come to permenantly settle in Canada and I will not be charged any income tax etc on that at the time of bank transfer (and even at the end of the year at the time of filing tax returns)?

Thanks in advance.

 

[PMM]

Hi

Thanks PMM for your reply.

Actually, those "some people" idea is that Canada does not impose taxes for whatever you own and bring to Canada initially as a permenant resident therefore they ask for all the goods that you bring with you as well as what would be coming later. So they told that same applies to the savings and assets also. Whatever you own now will not be taxable but after becoming PR, if you earn anything even outside Canada, will be taxable. So if the Canadian government doesn't know how much money/assets I have now and later I transfer that amount to Canada they may assume it as my earnings and would tax me on that when I file my tax returns.

Can you kindly comment/clarify/correct more on this?

So should I assume that I can bring/transfer any amount of money to Canada when I come to permenantly settle in Canada and I will not be charged any income tax etc on that at the time of bank transfer (and even at the end of the year at the time of filing tax returns)?

Thanks in advance.

No it doesn't apply to savings and assets per se. Once you become a tax resident in Canada, you have to declare your world wide income. For example if you had $100K overseas in a bank account and it earned interest, you have to declare that interest on your tax return. If you paid taxes overseas on that interest (depending on the country) you would get a tax credit for the taxes paid on your Canadian tax return. If you owned a house overseas, you should have an evaluation of it when become a tax residence, for if you sell it in the future, the difference between the value on "landing" and the value on sale would be taxed as capital gains in Canada.