Principal Issues: 1. General information on filing and the taxpayer's province of residence.
Position: 1. No position taken.
Reasons: 1. An individual's province of residence on December 31 is a question of fact.
February 28, 2014
XXXXXXXXXX
Dear XXXXXXXXXX:
The office of the Honourable Rona Ambrose, Minister of Health, sent me a copy of your correspondence, which I received on January 22, 2014, about the determination of your provincial residence status for the purposes of the Income Tax Act.
The General Income Tax and Benefit Guide explains on page 7 that to correctly calculate federal and provincial taxes and credits, you must use the tax package for your province or territory of residence. Your province or territory of residence is where you lived or of which you were considered to be a resident on December 31 of the tax year to be filed. You can also find more information on this subject in Income Tax Folio S5-F1-C1, Determining an Individual's Residence Status, available on the Canada Revenue Agency website at www.cra.gc.ca/tx/tchncl/ncmtx/fls/s5/f1.
If you filed your income tax and benefit return as a resident of Ontario for a tax year, but believe that you were a resident of Alberta, you can ask for a change to your income tax and benefit return by filling out Form T1-ADJ, T1 Adjustment Request, and sending it to your tax centre. You must include supporting documents that will help determine your province of residence.
As noted in Health Canada's letter, it is up to each province and territory to determine its own residence requirements regarding an individual's eligibility for benefits under the province's or territory's health insurance plan.
I trust the information I have provided is helpful.
Yours sincerely,
Kerry-Lynne D. Findlay, P.C., Q.C., M.P.
Robert Dubis
(905) 721-5191
2014-051948