Olivier Wagner

The Canadian tax system is based on residency and not on citizenship, unlike its neighbor to the South. That means the main element of the tax system in Canada is your residency. It leads to the laws that those who are residents of Canada should declare their worldwide income. However, non-residents are only taxed on Canadian-sourced income. Hence you need to correctly determine your residency status to be aware of your Canadian tax liability.

Canadian Non-resident Vs. Resident For Tax Purposes

To find out if you are non-resident or resident for tax purposes, you need to take into consideration a few factors. Do you know what matters when you ascertain your residency status? That would be the following: reason and duration of your stay inside and outside Canada, the ties you form in another country, how frequently you visit Canada and residential ties you have with Canada. Based on these circumstances you can determine your residency status for tax purposes.

There are over 1,5 million Americans residing in Canada, either full-time or part-time. If you are one of them, you better be aware of Tax traps for U.S. citizens living and working in Canada. And besides a large number of Americans living in Canada, every year there are 300,000 new immigrants moving to Canada. We want to help each of you to understand the topic of Canadian tax residency and your tax obligations.

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