Revenue Canada

[winnipegger]

I'm curious to find out how other Canadians have dealt with taxation in Singapore.  I'm moving to Singapore in July, 2001 on a two year term.  What documentation needs to be filed with Revenue Canada?  Does a mid-year move present a problem?  Is owning (and renting out) a house in Canada a problem?  

[Nayls]

It depends on what you have in Canada.  I would strongly suggest you speak with a good tax lawyer who can walk you through Canadain tax laws overseas.  My understanding is that Taxation in Canada, like voting, is tied to residency.  If you own a house and are renting it out in your absence then it would be well worth it to speak with a lawyer as the Canadian government may be able to make a case that you have considerable assets in Canada and therefore are liable for Canadian taxes for income earned overseas.  
When I left Canada I was sure to sell all of my Canadian assets and I spoke with legal counsel.  The difference in taxes alone are worth it.

[Maple Leaf]

Hi, I've been here going on six years now. When I left Canada, I "severed ties" which is basically what the other poster was saying you need to do. This means club memberships (or taking up a non-resident status), not maintaining a residence such as cottage etc. Since I have been here we have bought some property back in Canada, but it is rented at arms length and we file NR-6 which is a declaration of rental revenue by a nonresident. You can get a lot of this information from Revenue Canada's website.

My employer put me in touch with a tax specialist who looks after filing my taxes here as well as in Canada (even though no income there) and it's all pretty clean.

If you have an RRSP you can leave it in place, but cannot make any contributions. The only benefit to collapsing it and moving it offshore would be if you are going to be here long enough to earn significant returns to compensate for the Canadian tax it would have attracted.