Can one of you Canadians give me a hand?

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Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2015 3:45 pm

I've already been all over Google but couldn't find what I needed, and I'm not even sure it exists.

My sister (we are in the US) is having a tax problem with Canada. Long story short, she's a contractor for a company that sent her to work in Toronto and they told her that the company pays Canadian taxes not her. Now, she's been slapped with a huge tax bill for Canada.

In the US there's a free advocate service to help with the IRS, do you know if Canada has something similar to that?

The US advocate won't even talk to her because they don't deal with foreign tax. The attorney she talked to won't even look at her case until she comes up with a $2,500 retainer. Is there anyplace in Canada that can help her with this? I've been all over Google and the only place that did come up didn't look legit at all so I thought I'd ask here.

Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2015 4:12 pm

Hope this helps:

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/menu-eng.html

Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2015 4:15 pm

Thanks oscar ... I sent her that link, but she's disputing the tax so we'll see how it pans out.

Thanks again!

Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2015 4:37 pm

^
Shouldn't her company accountants be sorting this out for her?

Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2015 5:21 pm

This page is probably applicable to her (assuming she wasn't in Canada over 183 days of the tax year) http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/nnrsdnts/ndvdls/nnrs-eng.html .

But she must know whether or not the company paid the tax - either her payslip will show it or she will have received less than she invoiced for (not familiar with the US/Canadian concept of contracting and it seems to vary in different countries).

Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2015 7:23 pm

I believe that Pastor Frank may be from Canada.

Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2015 10:39 pm

Quote:

Shouldn't her company accountants be sorting this out for her?

Yes, they should be but it's the accountants work for the company, not the employees.

Quote:

This page is probably applicable to her (assuming she wasn't in Canada over 183 days of the tax year) http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/nnrsdnts/ndvdls/nnrs-eng.html .

But she must know whether or not the company paid the tax - either her payslip will show it or she will have received less than she invoiced for (not familiar with the US/Canadian concept of contracting and it seems to vary in different countries).

Yes, that will help, thank youB8er.

To explain a little more, when she was offered the project in Toronto (she's a consultant, but employed through a well known agency out of India) her and her team specifically asked how the tax would be worked because through her last agency it was the agency that withheld taxes. The agency she works for now told her that they don't withhold taxes because of a corporate agreement with Canada. She even got it in writing before she started going back and forth to Canada. She spent 2 weeks a month in Toronto for almost 6 months.

Now, this month, she got a letter from the agency telling her and her team that they were misinformed and that they are required to pay the taxes themselves. She said if they had told her that last year, she wouldn't have traveled or if she did travel she would have withheld her own taxes to save for when she files. But since they told her the agency takes care of that, she didn't do anything.

So, now that they say she owes the taxes, she wants to contest it because she has the letter that says the agency has a corporate agreement with Canada and that there is no withholding. Since she's a US citizen but this is a Canadian tax, our tax advocates office here can't help her and she doesn't have the money for a lawyer (she's going through a divorce so all of her money is tied up there).

It's a mess and a long story, and I thank all who posted to help her. The quirker is that last year, she broke her ankle at the Toronto airport and had to go the hospital in an ambulance. When she got there, she was told that because she's not a Canadian taxpayer, she had to prepay $500 in order to receive services, which she paid. When she complained to her agency, they said they would take care of that also since she doesn't pay Canadian taxes. The agency still hasn't reimbursed her medical costs and they're not paying the taxes for her.

I won't give the agency's name, but I guess they are known for stuff like this. She was already looking for another job before this, but now she's REALLY looking for another job.

Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2015 3:26 am

metamit wrote:

a well known agency out of India

Having worked for one of the large Indian consultancy companies and had discussions about working for another, this doesn't surprise me

metamit wrote:

The agency she works for now told her that they don't withhold taxes because of a corporate agreement with Canada. She even got it in writing before she started going back and forth to Canada. She spent 2 weeks a month in Toronto for almost 6 months.

Now, this month, she got a letter from the agency telling her and her team that they were misinformed and that they are required to pay the taxes themselves.

This doesn't make sense - if they don't withhold taxes then that means that no taxes have been paid, so she's responsible for paying them at tax return time.

Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2015 8:55 pm

^^ Yes, that's why she's upset. She said if they had told her last year that it's up to the employees, she would have withheld it herself and had the money to pay a tax bill. But since she was "misinformed' as they are telling her now, she nothing set aside.

The links helped her a lot, though, so thank you much!!

Baiting Guru Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 12237

The Monsignor wrote:

I believe that Pastor Frank may be from Canada.

From what I understand US taxes are paid in US currency. Canadian taxes, on the other hand, are paid in metric weights of seal blubber and beaver pelts.

Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2015 1:55 am

^You Forgot Potash, Maple Syrup and Hockey Tape.

Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2015 8:27 pm

As a Native American, I may have a few beaver pelts in storage. Rolling Eyes

Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2015 8:46 pm

^^^ You guys crack me.

Update, it looks like the agency is working something out with my sister and her team, but they did make her aware that from now on beginning with this tax year, employees sent to Canada will have to withhold their own taxes for Canada.

I told her next time, make sure it's in her contract or something before she goes!!

Thanks again for all your help and how about lending some beaver pelts to her to go towards her tax?? Laughing

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