A J Frost:—This is an appeal from a reassessment dated August 5, 1970 wherein the Minister of National Revenue adjusted the appellant’s income for the 1968 taxation year by including estimated United States earnings from September 15, 1968 to December 15, 1968 and levied tax thereon, on the ground that the taxpayer was a resident of Canada until December 31, 1968. The appeal was heard at Toronto on October 25, 1971 by the Tax Appeal Board as it was then constituted.
The appellant, a professional engineer, had resided for a number of years with his family at Scarborough, Ontario. On September 15, 1968 he moved to the United States to accept employment with Gibbs & Hill, Inc, of New York, which company had offered him the position of mechanical engineer effective on completion of United States visa formalities. Prior to finalization of the said formalities, his prospective employer suggested an interim per diem arrangement and agreed to pay the appellant’s moving expenses, weekend transportation costs between New York and Scarborough, and the living expenses of the appellant’s wife in respect of a house-hunting trip to New York City.
The job did not turn out as the appellant expected and, in 1969, he found other employment. Failure to sell the house in. Scarborough also caused some difficulty and delayed the appellant’s move to the United States. In the meantime the family’s visa expired and the appellant obtained a second visa. The appellant visited his family in Scarborough several times.
When the appellant left Canada, he thought he had found a position to his liking, and when it did not turn out as expected, he found another position. The appellant’s roots had been in Canada for some years but he did not feel that he had found job security in this country. Within five weeks of arriving in the United States, the appellant wrote to the Board of Examiners of Professional Engineers to obtain a licence as a Professional Engineer in New York State.
There is no doubt in my mind that, when the appellant accepted the offer of Gibbs & Hill, Inc, he intended to live permanently in the United States, and would have moved his family immediately if he could have sold his house in Scarborough. He listed his house in Canada and made arrangements for his wife to house-hunt in New York at the company’s expense. In my opinion, a taxpayer cannot be considered to have two established residences for income tax purposes when one is unwanted and the taxpayer himself is physically out of the country on a full-time job.
For this reason, I find that the appellant had only one permanent residence for tax purposes from September 15, 1968 to December 31, 1968 and that this permanent residence was in the United States. He had no intention whatsoever of returning to Canada. I find that section 29 of the Income Tax Act has an application to the appellant’s 1968 taxation year, and I allow the appeal in full and refer the assessment back to the Minister for reconsideration and reassessment.
Appeal allowed.