Study permit holders — how much of this can I do myself?
Some of it, yes — and we will say so on the call if that is the honest answer. The parts that are worth paying for are the ones where a missed election, a missed deadline or an unverified threshold costs more than the fee: presence as a student may be excluded from residency day-counts in some systems, and treaty articles can exempt scholarship and limited employment income.
What if I have already filed and got it wrong?
That is a common starting point. We re-derive the position, identify whether an amendment or a disclosure route is the right vehicle, and tell you which one preserves the relief that is still available. The order matters more than the speed.
How long will it take?
It depends on the documents rather than on us. Once the pack is complete most filings turn around inside a fortnight; anything that needs a certificate from a tax authority runs on that authority's timetable, which we tell you at the start rather than at the end.
Do I have to file a tax return on a study permit?
It depends on which of three positions you are in, and a study permit alone does not settle it. A student can be a tax resident, a non-resident, or an individual whose student presence is excluded from the day-count a residency test runs on. Ties matter, days matter, and the treaty between the two countries matters. Each of those three routes leads to a different return, prepared on a different basis. The practical point is that the position is established by filing it. A student who files nothing has not established that they were outside the system; they have simply left the question open for someone else to answer later.
Is my scholarship taxable if I am studying on a student visa?
Scholarship and similar grant income is one of the categories treaties commonly address, and some articles exempt it for students who came to the country to study. Whether an article applies turns on the wording of the treaty between your home country and the country you are studying in, on what the payment actually is, and on where it comes from. The exemption is not automatic in the sense of being invisible. It is claimed on a return, with the article identified and the facts stated. If the payer has already withheld tax, the filing is also how the position gets reconciled against what was withheld.
Does time spent studying count towards residency day-counts?
In some systems it does not. Presence as a student can be excluded from the day-count that a mechanical residency test relies on, which means a student physically in the country for most of the year may still not meet that test. That exclusion is usually conditional and usually time-limited, and it does not displace the other route into residence, which looks at ties rather than days: where your home is, where your family is, what you have taken with you. Two students on identical permits can land on different answers because one kept a home abroad and the other did not.
I worked part-time on campus, which return should I file?
Start with the residency conclusion rather than the payslip. Employment income earned while studying is taxed under ordinary rules if you are a resident, and under the non-resident rules for income sourced in that country if you are not. Some treaties also exempt a limited amount of employment income earned by a student, which is a separate question again. Payroll departments generally withhold on a default assumption and are not deciding your residency for you. Where the withholding was calculated on one basis and your filing position is another, the return is what corrects it. Keep the permit, the offer letter and the payslips together before anyone prepares anything.
Will filing a return affect my benefit and credit payments?
Filing is usually the mechanism that protects them. Benefit and credit entitlements are commonly assessed from filed returns, including for years in which no tax was payable, and a student with little or no income often assumes there is nothing to file and loses the entitlement rather than the tax. The same applies to a spouse or partner whose own entitlement is calculated from household figures that come off both returns. If several years have gone unfiled, the entitlement question is a reason to bring them up to date even where the tax outcome is nil.
My spouse joined me on a work permit, does our position change?
It can change it substantially. Residency by ties looks at where your household is, so a spouse and children arriving to live with you is one of the strongest facts there is, and it can move a student from a non-resident position to a resident one from the date the family arrived rather than from the start of the tax year. A treaty exemption that applied to you as an arriving student may also stop fitting the facts. Where family members arrive on different permits and at different dates, each person's position is worked out separately and then the household is looked at as a whole.
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.
I have not filed for several years while living abroad — what are my options?
Both countries have routes back, and using one before they contact you is what preserves the relief. On the US side there are procedures aimed at taxpayers whose failure was not wilful, including one designed for people living outside the country, and separate procedures for late account reports and information returns alone. Canada has its voluntary disclosures programme and taxpayer relief for penalties and interest. Filing quietly and hoping is the one approach with no protection attached to it. See catch-up filing.
