Do I still file a return if tax was already withheld?
It depends on whether the withholding was final or merely on account. For some categories of income the tax taken at source settles the liability, and there is nothing further to file and nothing to recover. For others the withheld amount is a payment towards a liability computed properly on a return, and that return is the only mechanism by which the difference comes back. So the first question about any payment is not how much was withheld but which of those two things the withholding was. Get it wrong in the optimistic direction and you have an unfiled return; get it wrong the other way and you leave money with the authority.
Why was tax taken from the gross payment and not the profit?
Because the payer cannot know your costs and is not asked to. Withholding is collected on the payment as it is made, at a rate applied to the gross amount, which is why it so often exceeds the tax that would be due on the profit inside that payment. The system is built for certainty of collection rather than accuracy, on the basis that anyone over-collected can come and claim. That last part is what to plan for: recovering the difference is a filing, made on the authority's timetable and to its evidential standard, not a request you can make by letter.
How do I recover tax withheld above the treaty rate?
There are two routes, and the cheap one runs before the payment. If you certify your residence to the payer in the form that country requires, and the treaty applies, the payer can apply the reduced rate when paying and nothing needs recovering. Once the payment has gone out with the full statutory rate deducted, the reduced rate is claimed by filing — a return or a refund claim for the period, supported by evidence of residence and of the amounts withheld. That is slower, and it depends on documents from the payer that grow harder to obtain as time passes. Certify early, and check the certification is current for each year.
Am I a non-resident just because I now live abroad?
Not automatically. Each country decides residence under its own rules, and those rules look at connections rather than at where you sleep most nights: a home kept available, family who remain, memberships, banking and investment arrangements, sometimes a count of days. Being taxed as a resident somewhere else does not settle it either, because both countries can reach the same conclusion about you at once, which is what treaty tie-breaking exists to resolve. Departure is a position that has to be evidenced from the date you say it happened. That evidence is easy to assemble at the time and awkward to reconstruct later.
Which of my income is taxable once I am non-resident?
Only income arising in that country — and the category it falls into matters more than the amount, because each category carries its own collection mechanism and its own treaty treatment. Rent, dividends, interest, employment income earned there, pensions and gains on certain property are each dealt with differently: some are collected finally at source, some are reported on a return, and some can be moved from one basis to the other by election. Work through the sources one at a time, establish the mechanism for each, then check what the treaty does to it. A schedule of payers and categories prevents most of the mistakes here.
Can I claim expenses against my rental income as a non-resident?
Not against the default collection. Rent paid to a non-resident is typically withheld on the gross amount, with no regard to mortgage interest, repairs, agent's commission or depreciation. Most systems offer an alternative: elect to be taxed on the net income and file a return, in which case the expenses come in and the withholding becomes a payment on account. The election usually has to be in place before the rents are paid, and it often requires someone in the country to undertake responsibility for remitting and filing. Left until the return is being prepared, the choice has usually already been made for you.
What is an ITIN and how do I get one?
An individual taxpayer identification number, for people who have a US filing or reporting reason but cannot obtain a Social Security number — a non-resident claiming a treaty rate or a refund, a foreign spouse on a joint return, a dependant, a foreign seller of US property. You apply on Form W-7 with certified evidence of identity and foreign status, normally submitted with the return that creates the need. It is a tax number only, and it confers no immigration or work status. See ITIN applications.
How long do I have to be out of the country to stop being resident?
There is no single period that settles it. Canada looks at whether your ties were actually severed, not at a day count; the United States taxes citizens regardless of where they live; India applies day-count thresholds with a second limb reaching back over earlier years. Time abroad is evidence, not a rule — what decides it is where your home, family and economic life sit. See tax residency.
