Hello I am Romanian and Canadian citizen, in the process of relocating back to Romania permanently. I have resided and worked in Canada since before 2000, and I have decided it is time to go back to my home country. of Romania and take care of my old folks
My problematic situation comes from the fact that my first attempts to relocate to Romania have been made two years ago (back in 2021), but, due to COVID I have had to postpone my actual move several times.
The issue consists of the fact over the last two years I have taken specific steps to relocate to Romania, and that these steps might be misinterpreted by local Romanian authorities (ie ANAF), in a manner detrimental to my finances. In short, I do not want to be mistakenly declared a 2021 or 2022 tax resident of Romania and end up, paying taxes to Romanian authorities for these two years.
I will summarize my status and relevant actions:
1.
From 2000 to current time, I have been living in Canada, where I worked and paid taxes.
2.
In 2021 a for the first time in over 10 years, I travelled to Romani, with the intent of paving the way for a soon to follow Romanian repatriation. During my stay I got an Identity Card (CI), thus establishing my domicile at my patents place back in Romania, and also replaced my old Romanian passport with a new one.
Two notes:
--Prior to 2021 I have not had a buletin/ Identity Card since well before 2000
--While my old expired Romanian passport was listing me as resident in Canada, the new passport, however, has me as domiciled in Romania
All in all, in 2021 I resided in Romania just under two months.
3.
Fast forward now to 2022, the year I planned to relocate to Romania.
Unfortunately, my plans to repatriate failed! In 2022 I managed just one visit, for about a month.
4.
Finally it is now 2023 and I am 100% I will be able to relocate to Romania.
However, here come the bad news! It turns out, that there is a specific procedure and specific criteria for becoming a tax resident of a Romania and that if a person has rsidency in both countries then there are tie breaking rules for determining the residency.
Here however what the law says, as per the Canada-Romania tax treaty:
Sometimes an individual is considered to be a resident of both Canada and of another country under that country's domestic tax laws. In these cases, to eliminate any conflicts and the double taxation that might otherwise result, Canada's tax treaties often provide special residency 'tie-breaker' rules for determining residency. Normally, under Canadian law and the residency provisions of most tax treaties, an individual is considered resident in the jurisdiction to which the individual has closer personal and economic ties, although other factors may influence this conclusion. The tie-breaker rules override the general residency tests applied under Canadian domestic law
Now, keep in mind that, being that I have been living and paying taxes in Canada since before 2000, I am entitled to get a tax residency certificate from CRA. I will indeed do so.
My fear is that, in a worse case scenario, getting this certificate might not be enough to convince ANAF that I have not been a resident of Romania and I should not pay taxes in Romania foe either 2021 or 2022.
That is, the nightmare scenario I would like to avoid is that of ANAF considering me tax resident of Romania (for both 2021 and 2022)_, in virtue of my Romanian domicile established in 2021, and of my Romanian passport, also established in 2021, both stating that I am a resident of Romania.
So the question to this form is: how do I prove to ANAF that for the last two years my "personal and economic ties" have been in Canada?
I need a solid and straightforward way of proving that the "center of my vital interests" has been in Canada, a proof that even an ANAF functionary cannot question.
How do I do that? I have at my disposal the following documentation: Canadian bank statements, Canadian phone bills, Canadian drivers license, Canadian health card, taxes, etc...
I do not feel that the above documents are enough: I cannot just wave my Canadian bank statement in front of an ANAF functionary and hope to convince him.
Thank you!
O.P.
