What makes professors & lecturers different from an ordinary filing?
Many treaties contain a professors-and-teachers article that exempts remuneration for a limited period from arrival — and the period does not restart for a second appointment in the same country. An ordinary preparer applies the general rule and stops there, which is how the relief in the specific provision goes unclaimed.
Can you work with my existing accountant?
That is how most of these engagements run. They keep the domestic file, we take the cross-border piece, and the boundary is agreed in writing so nothing is done twice or missed.
What relief do visiting academics most often miss?
The one written specifically for them. Many treaties carry a professors-and-teachers article exempting remuneration for teaching or research for a limited period from arrival, and it is missed because it sits apart from the employment article that everyone reads first. Payroll systems do not apply it on their own, so the relief has to be claimed rather than received. The second thing most often missed is relief for tax already paid to the other country, which is available even in the years the exemption does not cover.
Can I claim relief for tax already paid to my home country?
Where the same income has been taxed by both countries, relief is normally given by one of them rather than by both refusing to charge it. That relief has to be claimed on a return, with evidence of the foreign tax actually paid and a clear statement of which income it relates to. Academics lose it most often by treating the two returns as unconnected files prepared months apart. Preparing them together means the income reported in one is the income the relief is claimed against in the other.
Is my research grant treated differently from my teaching salary?
Often, yes, and the difference is worth establishing before the return is prepared. A grant may be characterised separately from employment income, it may fall under a different treaty article, and where a professors-and-teachers article exists its scope may cover teaching, or research, or research only where it serves a public interest rather than a private one. Where a single payslip mixes the two, the relief available may apply to part of it. Splitting the income correctly is what makes the claim stand up.
My employer did not apply the treaty, can I claim it myself?
Yes. Withholding at source is a payroll calculation, not an assessment of your treaty position, and an institution with no mechanism for applying an article will deduct as though it did not exist. The claim is then made on the return for the year, with the article identified and the facts that bring you within it set out. If tax was over-withheld, that is where it is recovered. Call +1 (416) 619-0068 with your appointment letter and we will tell you which years are still open.
Can I still claim a relief for a year already filed?
Usually, provided the year is still within the period the authority allows a return to be amended, which differs between countries and is the first thing to check. An amendment claiming a relief that was available but never taken is an ordinary piece of work, not an admission of anything. What makes it fail is claiming it in one country without adjusting the other, leaving two filings that describe the same income differently. We amend both sides together so the position reads the same wherever it is looked at.
Which country do I claim the relief from if both taxed me?
The order matters. One country generally has the primary right to tax a given item of income and the other gives relief for what the first charged, so the answer is dictated by the treaty rather than chosen for convenience. Claiming in the wrong direction produces a refusal in one country and no corresponding adjustment in the other, which is worse than not claiming at all. We establish which country is which for each item of income before either return is prepared.
I work remotely from another country for a company back home — who taxes me?
Usually the country you are physically in, because employment income is generally sourced where the work is done, with your residence country taxing it as well if you are resident there and giving credit. Three things follow: your employer may acquire withholding and social security obligations where you sit, a treaty tie-breaker may be needed if both countries call you resident, and a short trip that becomes a long stay can cross a residence threshold nobody was watching. See remote workers and digital nomads.
What is double taxation?
Double taxation means the same income being taxed by two authorities. It comes in two forms: juridical, where two countries each tax one person on one amount, and economic, where two different people are taxed on the same underlying profit — a company on its earnings and a shareholder on the dividend paid out of them. Relief comes from a treaty, a foreign tax credit, or an exemption, and which one applies depends on the income type. How to avoid double taxation sets out the routes.
