Government employees outside Canada

• Residency status
  • Factual residents
  • Deemed residents
  • What are residential ties?
• Your tax obligations
  • Which tax package?
  • Filing due date
• Canada Child Tax Benefit
• Canadian Forces overseas school staff
• For more information...
  • T4131, Canadian Residents Abroad
  • IT-221, Determination of an Individual's Residence Status

Residency status

Government employees posted outside Canada are usually factual residents of Canada or deemed residents of Canada for income tax purposes.

Factual residents

You may be a factual resident of Canada for tax purposes if you keep residential ties with Canada while living abroad.

• The term factual resident means that although you're not in Canada, you're still considered a resident of Canada for income tax purposes.

If you also establish residential ties in a country with which Canada has a tax treaty and you're considered to be a resident of that country for the purposes of the tax treaty, you may be considered a deemed non-resident of Canada for tax purposes.

Deemed residents

You may be a deemed resident of Canada for tax purposes if you've severed residential ties with Canada and you're a:

• member of the Canadian Forces at any time in the tax year
• member of the Canadian Forces overseas school staff and you choose to file an income tax return as a deemed resident of Canada (if you left Canada during the tax year, please read the section for overseas school staff)
• federal or provincial government employee, and you either lived in Canada just before being posted abroad or you received a representation allowance during the tax year
• person working under a Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) assistance program and you were a resident of Canada at any time during the three-month period just before you began your duties abroad
• dependent child of someone who falls into one of the categories described above and your net income in 2005 was not more than $8,648 ($8,012 in 2004$7,756 in 2003; $7,634 in 2002; $7,412 in 2001 $7,231 for 2000)
• person who, under a tax treaty, is exempt from tax in your new country of residence on 90% or more of your income from all sources because of your relationship to a resident -- including a deemed resident -- of Canada.

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Residential ties include:

• a home in Canada
• a spouse or common-law partner (see the definition in the General Income Tax and Benefit Guide) and dependants in Canada
• personal property in Canada, such as a car or furniture
• social ties in Canada.

Other ties that may be relevant include:

• a Canadian driver's licence
• a Canadian bank account or credit cards
• health insurance with a Canadian province or territory.

For more information, please see

• T4131, Canadian Residents Abroad
• IT-221, Determination of an Individual's Residence Status.

If you would like an opinion about your residency status, please complete and submit Form NR73, Determination of Residency Status (Leaving Canada).

Your tax obligations

As a factual resident, you'll continue to:

• report "world income" (income from all sources, both inside and outside Canada) for the entire tax year
• claim all deductions, non-refundable tax credits, and refundable federal, provincial, or territorial credits that apply to you
• pay federal tax and provincial or territorial tax for the province or territory where you keep residential ties
• be eligible to apply for the GST/HST credit (goods and services tax/harmonized sales tax) and the Canada Child Tax Benefit.

As a deemed resident, you:

• must report "world income" (income from all sources, both inside and outside Canada) for the entire tax year
• can claim all deductions and non-refundable tax credits that apply to you
• are subject to federal tax and instead of paying provincial or territorial tax you'll pay a federal surtax
• are eligible to apply for all federal tax credits, but you cannot claim provincial or territorial tax credits.

For more information, please see T4131, Canadian Residents Abroad.

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Which tax package?

For the tax year you leave Canada and for all following years that you're outside Canada as a factual resident:

• use the General Income Tax and Benefit Package and the forms book for the province or territory where you keep residential ties.

For the tax year you leave Canada and for all following years that you're outside Canada as a deemed resident:

• use the General Income Tax and Benefit Guide for Non-Residents and Deemed Residents of Canada.

Filing due date

Generally, your income tax return must be filed on or before:

• April 30 of the year after the tax year; or
• if you or your spouse or common-law partner carried on a business in Canada (other than a business whose expenditures are mainly in connection with a tax shelter), the return must be filed on or before June 15 of the year after the tax year.

Canada Child Tax Benefit

If you are eligible to receive the Canada Child Tax Benefit (CCTB), you will continue to receive the CCTB:

• You (and your spouse or common-law partner, if he or she is a deemed resident) must file income tax returns so your CCTB can be calculated.
• If your spouse or common-law partner is a non-resident, he or she will have to file Form CBT9, Canada Child Tax Benefit - Statement of Income.
• If you have a child while outside Canada, you can apply for the CCTB by sending us a completed Form RC66, Canada Child Tax Benefit Application.

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Canadian Forces overseas school staff

If you severed your residential ties with Canada, you became a non-resident of Canada for tax purposes on the date you left Canada.

• You should use the General Income Tax and Benefit Guide and the forms book for the province or territory where you lived on the date you left Canada.
• You should read pamphlet T4056, Emigrants and Income Tax for the special rules that apply to you.

However, you can choose to file your income tax return as a deemed resident of Canada while you're serving abroad. If you choose to do so:

• For the tax year that you left Canada, use the General Income Tax and Benefit Package and forms book for the province or territory where you lived on the date you left Canada.
• For all following years that you're outside Canada, you should use the tax package for non-residents and deemed residents.