Do I have to report money I send to family in the Philippines?
Not as income. A remittance is a transfer of money you have already earned and already been taxed on, so sending it home creates no second charge for you and nothing to declare as income on either return. Two things around it do matter. If the money leaves from an account held abroad, that account may itself be reportable in Canada, separately from anything it earns. And if a relative buys property in your name with money you have sent, you have acquired a foreign asset from that moment, so the reporting starts at the purchase rather than the first time you visit it.
Is my house in the Philippines reportable on my Canadian return?
Usually, and it is the most common gap in files from this corridor. Canadian reporting of foreign holdings turns on what you own, not on whether it pays you anything, so a Philippine house can sit entirely outside the income pages of your return and still belong on the foreign property statement, the T1135. The test is ownership and cost, not rent received. Property kept for the family's own use is treated differently from property held to earn income, so the first question is what the house is actually used for, and the second is what it cost in Canadian dollars rather than what it would fetch today.
Do Philippine bank and time deposit accounts count as foreign property?
Deposits held in your name abroad are part of the same picture as the house, and they are the part people forget because a passbook does not feel like an asset. Interest credited to a Philippine account is your income in the year it is credited, even if it never leaves the country and is simply rolled into the next term. Philippine tax taken at source on that interest is relieved by credit against Canadian tax on the same interest; it is not a reason to leave the interest out. Dormant and joint accounts still need to be listed and reconciled before anything is filed.
The land is in my mother's name but I paid for it — who reports it?
This comes up constantly here, and the answer is that Canadian reporting follows who really owns the property rather than whose name is on the title. If you provided the money and hold the benefit of the land, it is likely your asset for Canadian purposes even though a relative holds the paper. If instead you made a gift to your mother and she owns it outright, it is hers and not yours to report. The difficulty is proving which happened years later, so the work is documentary: transfers, any written arrangement, who receives the rent, who pays the taxes and dues.
Do I still have to file a Philippine return after moving to Canada?
That depends on what still arises there, not on where you now live. A Philippine filing obligation attaches to income sourced in the Philippines and to your status under Philippine rules, so rent from a condominium, a share of business profits or a local employment can keep a return alive after you leave. Your Canadian return is the opposite in scope: it reports worldwide income regardless of where it arose. The two are not alternatives. The Philippine filing establishes what was paid there, and that figure is what your Canadian credit claim is built on, which is why it should be settled first.
I own a share of a family business in the Philippines — what do I file?
Two separate things. The interest itself is a foreign holding, reportable on the same statement as property and accounts, valued on what it cost you rather than what the family thinks it is worth. Then there is the income. Whether you are taxed only on what is actually distributed to you, or on the company's profits before any distribution, depends on how the company is controlled and what it earns. That question has to be answered before the return is prepared, not after, because it decides whether there is anything to report in a year when no money came out at all.
How much foreign income is tax-free in Canada?
None of it is tax-free for being foreign. A Canadian resident is taxed on worldwide income, so foreign salary, interest, dividends, rent and gains all go on the return, converted to Canadian dollars. What genuinely reduces the bill is the basic personal amount, the credit for foreign tax already paid, and any treaty article that exempts a specific type of income. The reporting thresholds people have in mind — the foreign property statement, for one — govern reporting, not exemption. See the foreign tax credit.
Do I have to file in both countries?
Frequently yes, and the two filings do different jobs. The country where the income arises taxes it at source; the country where you are resident taxes your worldwide income and then gives credit for the tax already paid. Filing only one side is what leaves relief unclaimed — the credit has to be asked for on a return. We prepare both sides so the numbers agree. See dual filing.
