# Maintaining Canadian residency while moving to UK to work temporarily?



## Veebu (Jul 14, 2016)

Hi all,

I'm planning to move to the UK temporarily (let's say 1-3 years) and eventually move back to Canada. I will be working full-time in the UK during that time.

I have a fairly large unrealized capital gain on a company share that I don't have to funds to pay (nor can I liquidate it for some time), so I have a pretty big concern about keeping my tax residency in Canada.

Has anyone had any success in working in the UK for such amount of time and maintaining Canadian tax residency? I will have RRSP, TFSA etc... still maintained in Canada, and I would even continue to contribute to them if possible. I do not have a spouse, dependents or a house.

Any similar experiences out there on this?


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

I have moved your post to the tax forum.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

It's just a guess on my part, but I suspect you won't be able to maintain Canadian residency if you're planning on being in the UK - especially if you're working there - for a year or more.

There may be some arrangement whereby you could opt out of paying UK social insurances if your employer will back you in saying that you are on a "temporary" transfer (usually up to about 5 years), but that doesn't get you out of paying UK income taxes for the time that you are resident in the UK.
Cheers,
Bev


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## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

If you leave Canada, you actually need to apply for non-residency by filling out various forms and demonstrating that you've severed your ties etc. It's not straightforward, and the assumption is that you're a resident until you prove otherwise. Ergo, maintaining residency is very easy - you do nothing. Pretend that you're still in Canada, and set up a mailing address that will forward to you. 

On the tax front, there are two ways to approach this, complex and simple. The complex approach: file Canadian and UK tax returns on worldwide income and use tax credits or whatever else to ensure that you're not double-taxed, etc. The simple approach: file a Canadian return with a Canadian address for anything Canadian, and a UK return with a UK address for anything UK, and never the twain shall meet. 

Strictly speaking the simple approach probably isn't 100 percent legal, but for one to three years I doubt it's going to be a problem - particularly as the UK might have become England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland by the time you leave!


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## Veebu (Jul 14, 2016)

Thanks for the replies.

I didn't realize I could just be a tax resident of both countries. It seemed the tax treaty between the 2 required you to be one or the other. That definitely adds some flexibility to the situation.

I talked to the CRA and it appears they have some flexibility as well in how they would handle the situation.

Nonetheless, should have an accountant soon to put the final say on things, was just looking to understand the situation ahead of time to put my mind to rest on a few things.

Thanks again!


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## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

Depending on your risk tolerance, if it's only for a year or two you could easily skip the whole accountant business and just file completely separate returns, keeping one country ignorant of the other.


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