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Revenue Canada - "Separated"

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  • Revenue Canada - "Separated"

    So Revenue Canada has a stupid rule that you cannot file as "Separated" unless you live in separate residences. Or the residence you live in has separate living spaces. Separation date is Aug 7th, 2011. Filed married last year and got screwed tax wise. My next court date is May, so it's not going to change before then.

    Two questions.

    Has anyone had any luck filing their taxes as separated while still having the same address as their ex. Would sending in my divorce application make any difference to Revenue Canada. I'm tired of being screwed tax wise and not being able to claim any of the money I'm paying for daycare etc.

    Should I change my address to be my current address and add "unit 2" or "apt 2". Our house does not have two kitchens and many of the items are still shared. I've heard that CRA almost always audits taxes once a separation occurs.

    Another option is to change my address to my mom's house although I'm not sure what defines "residence" to CRA. I do not want to get myself into trouble, but feel I should be treated as Separated since I AM separated.

    Thanks for your advice and feedback.

  • #2
    If you have a lawyer they can write you a letter to send to CRA,

    I had a hard time with CRA, even though the x and I lived thousands of miles apart, they had sent the x a package to be filled out and he wouldn't, so I had my lawyer write a letter and CRA accepted that as proof that we are separated and heading for divorce.

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    • #3
      Originally posted by hemademesingle View Post
      If you have a lawyer they can write you a letter to send to CRA,

      I had a hard time with CRA, even though the x and I lived thousands of miles apart, they had sent the x a package to be filled out and he wouldn't, so I had my lawyer write a letter and CRA accepted that as proof that we are separated and heading for divorce.
      Thanks but I think our situation may be different. We still live together as pretty much everything is heading to court.

      Unless this was your situation, can you please confirm.

      Thanks

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      • #4
        We were not living together, hadn't for a few years, CRA changed my marital status many times from separated to married back to separated, it was a big nightmare.

        Do you have a lawyer?

        My understanding is that if you have legal counsel, and are going through a divorce then you are separated, I would consult a lawyer.

        CRA sent both of us packages to be filled out when I first filed separate, I filled out mine, but the x would not fill out his, infact one year they tried to add his income to mine, it was a big mess that took over a year to get resolved
        Last edited by hemademesingle; 12-12-2012, 12:59 PM. Reason: add more info

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        • #5
          Hi there, after one year of separated in the same house(with basement) I made a change of status to Revenue Canada and filed separately which was quite advantageous. I informed the ex of what I was doing. This was 2011. They have already come back to ask for proof of legal fees deduction. But nothing else. I am holding my breath and crossing my fingers.

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          • #6
            PS Lawyer was very unclear about this.He asked an accountant. WHo was also unclear. But the bill I received for asking and them providing an unclear answer was very clear!

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            • #7
              I've talked to my lawyer and told me to talk to a tax lawyer. The accountant I talked to last year said to file "married". I think I'm going to file separated and mail it in with my divorce application.

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              • #8
                I would ask my lawyer to write me a letter to go with the divorce filing(get it notarized, your lawyer should be able to do that too) my letter was only $25.00, well worth it. In the letter my lawyer stated that she was my legal counsel, that divorce had been filed, really not much other than that, dated and signed.

                I would call CRA, I know what a pain to get to talk someone, and ask if you should send in the documents before filing your income tax, this way you are prepared and so are they

                CRA asked me to provide proof that the bills were in my name, I sent them copies of bills, the letter and a copy of the divorce filing, since then they have left me as separated.

                There are so many departments within CRA, like GST, child tax, all departments have to be on the same page with your marital status, filing separate may mean that you now qualify for a benefits that you wouldn't if filed as married

                I think that the waters are muddied because you both are at the same address, when will you be living separate?

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                • #9
                  here is my take going through it - The CRA would not care if you sent your God to plead your case - the law is set in the income tax act I believe. The CRA stance is as long as you are under the same roof you will never be divorced in their eyes unless you produce the document. Once you do they would not care where or with whom you slept with.

                  So you are in the same house under the same roof, you can be considered as seperated when you leave that residence. Until then you are married under CRA rules - they do not care who you are fighting with (Ha that would be most of our ex's). So you are married and you file your taxes as married (your SIN #'s are attached until you are divoced so the CRA still tries to process both you and your ex as still married (this would be reflected in the posts above).

                  The key is how do you get through your taxes? We made the decision to file our taxes in the fashion that for us produced the biggest return of our taxes and that was MARRIED. My return was NIL (I am on disability) and th eentire refund including my transfered tax credits went to my ex. We knew what it was going to give us when we efiled and we agreed to put into the divorce pot but she decided to just take half - I took half. DONE see you next year.

                  MY Reality - my first 9 months under the same roof my ex tried everything to wipe out my existence, reverting to her maiden name (that is ok I think) and finally she tried her best to update all her profiles etc. - anything to be called Divorced. I recieved not 1, 2, 3 but 4 seperate requests in writing to confirm what the H_LL was going on in this house?? I also got 2 phone calls for the same reason. I did finally get annoyed and demanded to speak with a manager and you now know what I was told!! (Oh and another set of red flags were attached to HER file as being (sorry - is this right, Highly Conflicted?, Problematic Individual?). What it did do was put a red flag on my ex's CRA file for the problems she was causing and that would stop my being harrassed it did. Reminds me my ex did the same thing with the bank, plus tried anyway she could to draw money through overdrafts, the line of credit which I had frozen..... but after the bank also put a red flag on her Banking Profile so every screen actually brought up a warning to the bank employee - I have not had a problem since, for me at least, the flagging system out there works!

                  I was changed to seperated status when my wife decided to attack me the day after Christmas which I then had the pleasure of finding out how cold and hard a concrete ledge/bed really is in the police station holding cells. (at least they were private but it was really disturbing when one of the fellows must have spent 4 hours screaming for toliet paper so he could do the obvious.... Apparantly, toliet paper is considered an extra!!). For some reason, that move put our relationship on a new low - good thing the CRA at least let me consider her as Seperated as of Dec 26, 2011. - Sorry got gabby again, ---- Hope this info helps you get to a better understanding of our wonderful Tax People!!)

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                  • #10
                    CRA asked me to provide proof that the bills were in my name, I sent them copies of bills, the letter and a copy of the divorce filing, since then they have left me as separated.
                    I had the same problem and ended up with a giant tax bill during my in-home separation.

                    My understanding is that you can try to fight it, however, they require you to have SEPARATE bills and SEPARATE space inside the same residence as the post above specifies. I was told when I first called that if you're paying the electric bill and stbx is paying the mortgage..those are NOT considered separate bills..even though that was our agreement per the CC. So I had to re-file married and incur the associated penalities...nightmare. I also didn't qualify for the CCTB and HST credit until after I moved out + 90 days. I had to file with our joint income.

                    This means that if your spouse is paying the mortgage and you're paying the electric bill...you're going to have a difficult road.

                    It sounds like some posters have had success but its chance rather than a clear rule because their clear rule is that in-home separations aren't valid.

                    I've already now established a separation date based on finally moving out of my marital residence but I have considered giving CRA a call to find out if there was anything I could do about the previous year's bill. I'm not sure if its worth trying to open a kettle of worms.
                    Last edited by Pursuinghappiness; 12-12-2012, 04:01 PM.

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Pursuinghappiness View Post
                      I had the same problem and ended up with a giant tax bill during my in-home separation.

                      My understanding is that you can try to fight it, however, they require you to have SEPARATE bills and SEPARATE space inside the same residence as the post above specifies. I was told when I first called that if you're paying the electric bill and stbx is paying the mortgage..those are NOT considered separate bills..even though that was our agreement per the CC. So I had to re-file married and incur the associated penalities...nightmare. I also didn't qualify for the CCTB and HST credit until after I moved out + 90 days. I had to file with our joint income.

                      This means that if your spouse is paying the mortgage and you're paying the electric bill...you're going to have a difficult road.

                      It sounds like some posters have had success but its chance rather than a clear rule because their clear rule is that in-home separations aren't valid.

                      I've already now established a separation date based on finally moving out of my marital residence but I have considered giving CRA a call to find out if there was anything I could do about the previous year's bill. I'm not sure if its worth trying to open a kettle of worms.
                      This is interesting because some people have to pay bills in houses they don't even live in because they still own them.

                      Sounds like I might be out of luck.

                      They (Our Lawyers) prorated our tax refund last year as we separated in Aug. So we shared 7/12 of each other refunds on our NFP's. There is no chance in hell I am going to get her to agree to anything. This means she gets to claim ALL of the childcare expenses even though I have paid 56.5% of it. I know that is I'm only supposed to pay the NET but we haven't even gotten into that yet. It's just one big f*in mess.

                      The stupid thing is the whole reason CRA has this rule is so that Married people don't claim they are separated indefinitely to get better tax results and in the end it screws the "real" separated people.

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                      • #12
                        FB_

                        If its any consolation, my lawyer said that she's had people successfully argue for separated status during in-home separations.

                        She told me that I should try again but I had already submitted the marital status change form for after I moved out...so I just decided to forget about it and take the financial hit. It truly sucked, I had to make payment plan arrangements to get through it.

                        I think you're right though. If you have an ex that would cooperate when the forms get sent out from revenue canada...you probably have a better chance of arguing it. My ex isn't reasonable in that regard.

                        I really think some reform needs to happen because believe me, it wasn't my choice to have an in-home separation. My ex wanted me living there as long as possible and I wasn't able to get out until after a CC and motion. The tax laws should match the family court laws, in my opinion because so many people file incorrectly and get screwed later with interest penalities.

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                        • #13
                          Same happened to me but that we had lived separate and apart,status just separated but all financials dealt with, i bought him out of MAT home and asked for nothing but CS, and I foolishly let him rent the basement for a year or so in my next home, while he had financial trouble.CRA matched the address, attached his income to mine and all of a sudden I had a huge bill to repay CRA, this help I gave him also bit me in the ass because when he finally filed for a divorce he claimed we were reconciled and came after my second home, I was victorious on that as he didn't have a leg to stand on, but that story is for another time. Because he was after the second home he did not help me at all in my appeal. I sent an appeal and provided documents that everything bills etc was in my name, I paid them solely by myself and he paid me rent in addition to CS.Bank accounts, car insurance all that too was separate. they also asked if he had his own ling quarters and washroom which he did.So maybe that is the advise separate everything form each other and one pay rent to the other for now....

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                          • #14
                            Pursuing Happiness, how long did it take Revenue Canada to audit and ask you for the money? I am wondering if there is a time limit after which I am safe'safe' or if I should start saving the money.....

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                            • #15
                              Separation Anxiety

                              Might be of interest to many on this thread

                              Comment

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