Am I Liable for Canadian Taxes When Buying Property from a Non-Resident of Canada?

I’ve written before on the extremely dangerous issue of non-resident taxes on Canadian real estate. Real estate agents and real estate lawyers in Canada know about non-resident tax. To give buyers comfort that the seller is a legal resident, the classic way to get some protection is to get sellers to sign statutory declarations that say, “I am not a non-resident…” Buyers then rely on the statutory declarations to make a decision that they do not have to collect withholding tax and that there are no CRA non-resident tax issues. But what if that isn’t enough to protect yourself? Continue reading →