Hello,
I'm a Canadian citizen who has been working in the UK for 1.5 years since July 2022 after studying in the UK (2020-2022) and I would appreciate help in determining my residency status for my 2023 return. I have sent in a NR73 form to the CRA but have yet to receive a response.
I originally finished my studies in the UK in Jan 2022, however returned to Canada to apply for a new work visa and officially departed Canada for work in July 2022. I worked full time in the UK from July 2022- present, been back to Canada to visit twice (3 weeks total in 2023) and did not seek employment while I was there. I did not realize departure returns existed for declaring non-residency status and I filed as I normally would have as a resident for the 2022 tax year. I do not own a home or have dependents in Canada. However, I have secondary ties which include TFSA, bank accounts, credit cards, and a new FHSA I opened when I was back visiting in 2023. The only Canadian income would have been from bank interest and government related tax credits that may have resulted as filing as a resident in 2022 (GST rebate, Climate action incentive payment, Canada Worker’s Benefit). I currently have a UK driver’s license and share ownership of a vehicle in the UK with my UK partner. Based on the time I have spent in the UK, I am considered a tax resident there for the 2022 and 2023 tax years. I intend to return to Canada permanently this year and just want to make sure I am taking the right steps when filing for 2023. So, my questions are:
1. Would I be considered a non-resident or resident?
2. If non-resident, would I need to refile 2022 prior to 2023? If not, what is the best course of action?
3. If resident, how would the foreign tax credit work? I have tuition education credits carried forward which seems to be applied on tax software before applying the foreign tax credit which reduced the benefit of the foreign tax credit and essentially wasting my tuition education credits for the future.
Many thanks for your help.