The Canadian tax system is based on residency, rather than citizenship. You can still be a Canadian citizen and not have to file a tax return. However, if you emigrated from Canada last year, you still need to file a tax return for the days you were in the country.
To complete your 2012 paperwork, you need to indicate your date of departure on your tax return and pro-rate personal amounts based on the number of days you were in Canada in 2012. For example, if you spent the first 120 days in Canada before leaving, your basic personal amount would be $3,558, rather than the full $10,822 if you had stayed the year. Proration is not required if 90 per cent or more of your world income for the period of non-residence is reported on your tax return.
Of course you should first determine whether or not you have become a non-resident for tax purposes. If you have very few ties to Canada and you do not own property, you will probably not be considered a resident by the CRA. Keeping your driver’s license and a bank account would not be enough to be considered a resident, especially if your permanent address is in a new country.
But if you do have residential ties like a home which you keep available for your occupation or your spouse is remaining in the country, then you may be required to complete a Canadian tax return as a factual resident and report your worldwide income. Canada has tax treaties with a large number of countries, so you should not face double taxation. If you are a factual resident, your personal amounts are not prorated. If you are not sure about your residency, you can ask the CRA for advice using Form NR74.
If you are living outside of the country, you cannot file using NETFILE and will need to mail your 2012 tax return to the International Tax Office. It will take longer to process than a regular return.
Moving to another country is exciting and you will have 1,000 things to take care of, but even though filing your tax return may not feel like a priority it is important to let the CRA know you have left.