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My wife and I have been non residents of Canada for 7 years. We are contemplating returning to Canada in the next few years. Most of our financial assets were initially earned by myself. Can I gift assets to my wife while a non resident so that when we return the income from the assets is split between us ? Or, will the attribution rules apply after our return ?
Thanks very much for your help.
Good question. If the funds are gifted by you to your wife prior to becoming a resident of Canada, then I suspect that the CRA would not be able to impose the attribution rules for income-splitting. This is because the funds legally belonged to her prior to coming to Canada and the gift did not occur while you were both residing in Canada.