# Is there any Tax Amnesty available with CRA



## Anato (Mar 22, 2012)

I have been living outside of Canada as a non-resident and my tax returns are not in good shape, although no taxes due. Is there any Tax Amnesty available from CRA?


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

Here are some links to help:

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/gncy/nvstgtns/vdp-eng.html
http://www.taxamnestyaccountants.ca/tips_t_t.html
http://www.taxamnesty.ca/dangerous-cra-forms.html


Cheers


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## Charlie (May 20, 2011)

You state you've been living outside of Canada and that there are no taxes due. Possibly you don't have a problem. If you were a non-resident, you may not need to file a Canadian return (even if you're a citizen). If there are no taxes due there are typically no penalties assessed. Meet with an accountant and discuss your specifics. (I'd avoid the 'tax amnesty' lawyer/accountants at first until you're sure you need them. They tend to be very expensive and a bit scaremongerish).


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## OhGreatGuru (May 24, 2009)

I have heard however, that if you do find you have a significant tax liability, you should hire a lawyer to negotiate your settlement with CRA, because anything you tell the lawyer is privileged information, and they will protect you from making an admission of guilt until they have a settlement.


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## OhGreatGuru (May 24, 2009)

Anato said:


> I have been living outside of Canada as a non-resident and my tax returns are not in good shape, although no taxes due. ...


This doesn't quite make sense. If no taxes are due, how can your returns be in bad shape? Canada requires returns to be filed based on residency, not citizenship. (The US IRS has been causing a lot of US expatriots trouble lately because they require US citizens to file returns, even if they owe no taxes.) Talk to an accuntant first to find out if you are actually in any trouble.


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

OhGreatGuru said:


> This doesn't quite make sense. If no taxes are due, how can your returns be in bad shape? Canada requires returns to be filed based on residency, not citizenship. (The US IRS has been causing a lot of US expatriots trouble lately because they require US citizens to file returns, even if they owe no taxes.) Talk to an accuntant first to find out if you are actually in any trouble.


I'm assuming that he was behind in his filing while still in Canada. Or maybe he is assuming he needed to keep filing as a non-res?


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## Anato (Mar 22, 2012)

*Thanks for the good advice*

Thanks for all folks' advice. While away from Canada, I have been buying and selling investment properties. The original property I owned, was managed through proper representation and filing of tax forms (although it was a negative revenue investment, i.e. small annual loss after expenses). Then my representative and accountant both became greedy and hiked their charges 10 times within a year. Therefore, I sold the property. Later I bought another condo which is not rented and kept vacant for my own use. In the meanwhile I found a local accountant who suddenly died and I have been lazy to look for another one, so no tax forms have been filed for several years. If we look at the net payables to CRA, there is none as the investments are negative revenue. Its a good idea to consult with a Tax Lawyer.


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## MoneyGal (Apr 24, 2009)

Anato said:


> If we look at the net payables to CRA, *there is none as the investments are negative revenue*.


You are unable to say what is due or not due to the CRA; the purpose of the tax assessment is to assess tax owing or to be refunded. The taxpayer does not assess tax owing or to be refunded, the taxpayer presents his complete information to CRA, who determines what the tax liability (negative or positive) is. CRA might disallow some or all of your expenses; you may be due credits of which you are unaware.


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## Charlie (May 20, 2011)

I'm guessing you filed the proper forms when you sold the first condo. It's tough to sell without doing that -- I think the buyer would be required to withhold on your behalf, and that there are processes in place to ensure that's done.

So then it seems your Cdn exposure is the condo you bought and did not rent out? There are no income tax forms to fill out for a personal use property. And no reporting needed if you never rented it out. Possibly you registered for GST/HST if you bought new in which case a bunch of NIL returns are due and there may be some wiggling to make it a personal condo again if that's your plan. This would generally only apply if you bought one of those 'hotel-type' condos or a commercial residential hybrid of some sort. It would be rare for this to be the case if it's a basic condo that wasn't part of any rental pool.

None of this sounds like lawyerly stuff. Seems any decent accountant should be able to sort this stuff out or confirm if you have an issue at all. They'd just need to confirm the sale was OK and the details of the new place.


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## Charlie (May 20, 2011)

You may also want to call CRA directly and see what's up. You can talk to them on a hypothetical basis and they may be able to confirm if you've (potentially) an issue at all. There's a non-resident number on the web site. They're pretty helpful overall -- and you don't have to identify yourself if you choose not to.


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