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Hi Allan,
I am a canadian and Romania citizen very ill, on CPP Disability, left Canada în 2017 and from 2021 i was charged 15 percent treaty tax. I stilul have a bank account in Canada for safety, i Did not fill up the forms NR5 sincer 2021. I want to sens the form for 2026 that has to arrive before oct 31 2025 and want to sens the other forms sincer 2021. Will i be able to get my money back the 15 percent in full sincer then sending these forms și late? I am divorced, never worked sincer 2008 and my cpp Disability is very small 834cad from which they took 15 percent tax. In Romania If i have to pay tax under Romania rule i will probably not pay because they tac after 1000 cad the romanians.also wanted to ask You and i will ask the law office from treaty law office about GIC that is pillon 3 in Canada and in conformity with the treaty agreement on social security shouldn t affect You as a canadian that You moved to the other territory of the country of the treaty agreement. Also on the NR5 form that is for non residents they ask You If You get GIC. I Don t have anything in Canada, RRSP, house, anything. Will I ne able to get GIC consideri g that I have a very small pension they grave me 275 cad cpp after 15 years of work after they took 50 percent of income also I am divorced and I have no family. Thank You.
Hi Simona,
Thank you for your message and for sharing your situation.
If you did not file Form NR5 for the years 2021–2025, the 15% non-resident withholding tax that Service Canada deducted from your CPP Disability payments is considered final tax for those years. Unfortunately, submitting late NR5 applications will not allow you to retroactively recover that 15% tax.
However, you can apply for 2026 and future years by submitting a new Form NR5 before October 31, 2025. Once the CRA approves it, Service Canada will withhold a reduced rate (or no tax) beginning January 2026.
To recover any past taxes already withheld (2021–2025), the only option is to file Canadian non-resident income tax returns (Section 217 returns) for each year. This may allow a refund depending on your total income level and applicable credits.
Regarding the GIC question — if you are referring to the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) under Canada’s Old Age Security program, it is generally not available to non-residents, even if you have low income, because the program is designed for Canadian residents.