Foreign taxation of Canadians working outside of Canada poses a unique challenge to Human Resource Managers. Because taxation systems around the globe are diverse and dynamic, they can be difficult to navigate.
CompassPOINTS features information critical to Canadian companies sending employees outside of Canada. Published monthly, CompassPOINTS can provide current insight into the complex area of taxation of expatriate employees.
Previous issues
Assignment Glitches : Is Your International Relocation Planning Foolproof? Oct 2005
Complacency over the preparation of assignees for seemingly mundane relocation tasks carried out in the host country can result in reduced productivity. Assignees and multi-national employers share their experiences.
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Shattering Immigration Myths : Sending Canadian Assignees to the United States Oct 2005
Calgary immigration lawyer Veronica Choy debunks some common myths about sending Canadian assignees south of the border.
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Destination Mozambique: Sending Assignees to Obscure Places Sept 2005
Assignment managers often relocate employees to remote and far-off places, where information on host country taxation is difficult to obtain. Here we share our approach to gathering tax information for assignment planning in the context of a recent experience with a Canadian client's Mozambique business venture.
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Into the 21st Century: Assignment Documentation goes Online Sept 2005
Your company’s assignment documentation can now be made readily available to assignees anywhere in the world via the web. Imagine this. Expatriates can get immediate answers to international assignment-related questions, assignment policy is kept current through online updates, and assignment recruiting is aided by a corporate image of efficiency and organization.
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CRA to Pursue Canadian Multi-Nationals: Is Your Company Prepared for a Tax Audit? Sept 2005
A recent CRA announcement has Canadian multi-nationals wondering if they are ready for an inevitable tax audit, now that the CRA has a new mission to address aggressive international tax planning. Will your company's business practices for dealing with foreign subsidiaries stand up to the scrutiny of the CRA's planned Centres of Expertise?
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The Assignee Primary Residence: Tax May Drive the Decision to Sell or Rent June 2005
The primary residence is the single most important investment that most people make. Often, emotions are attached to the family home, and it is natural that impending international assignments should raise a certain amount of angst over the issue of selling versus renting. Personal goals, company policy and the housing market are always considerations, but often the decision comes down to the tax savings involved.
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Making the Right Selection: The Optimal Expatriate Personality Profile June 2005
A myriad of factors unique to international assignments complicate the selection process if the objective is to find truly suitable candidates. What do seasoned international workforce planners look for when sourcing assignments? And how do they achieve this?.
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"Don't Worry, We Will Do the Paperwork Later": The Unpublished Relocation Policy June 2005
Many companies misguidedly procrastinate on documenting relocation policy, but failure to make the publication of this document a priority can translate to wasted company time and frustrated assignees who can’t find answers to their assignment questions.
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Social Security Taxes –
Assignment Planning for Success May 2005
Social security tax is an oft-overlooked aspect of international assignment planning. Social security coverage in other parts of the world is expensive, yet maintaining ongoing CPP coverage can offer significant savings in assignment costs for both the assignee and the multi-national employer.
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Looking Back at the 2004 Tax Season
May 2005
April 30 has been torn from your desk calendar. Another Canadian tax deadline has passed. Did your assignees spend an inordinate amount of valuable company time trying to deal with and integrate their home and host country tax? Did you spend hours trying to answer difficult assignee tax questions? Can your assignment be made more attractive from a tax perspective to prospective assignees?
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Visiting Grandma –
Sending Assignees through the Electronic Curtain May 2005
Once upon a time in the pastoral kingdom of Utopia, there lived a happy engineer with legendary moat-building prowess, who frequently crossed into the neighbouring kingdom as an expatriate worker. This international assignment fairy tale will strike a chord with assignment managers whose assignees face possible border detainments.
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Defending your Assignees Against the Tax Audit –
Some Winning Strategies April 2005
The assignee tax audit can rear its head at any time during the year, as can a payroll tax audit. Anticipating and being prepared to defend against them can minimize stress, maintain productivity and contain assignment costs.
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Waving Goodbye to the CRA –
Becoming Non-Resident is Creating Problems for Canadian Assignees April 2005
There has been a growing trend for the CRA to not recognize non-residency claims, and this is causing widespread confusion. Many companies need to update their assignment tax policies to reflect this new CRA position.
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Sending Assignees to Brutopia –
CompassGUIDES HelpDesk Roadmap for one Assignment Manager April 2005
One assignment manager's question to the CompassGUIDES HelpDesk, and the assignment planning response that we provided to her.
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Bringing Foreign-Based Consultants to Canada –
Avoiding Tax Disputes March 2005
With the global marketplace currently a viable source for professional services, it is becoming increasingly common to find foreign-based consultants wandering the halls of Canadian companies.
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Flourishing Film Industry in BC –
Tax Considerations for Inbound Actors March 2005
International film producers love British Columbia, spurring a film industry that injected, for example, an astounding $1.18 billion into the province in 2001.
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Flourishing Film Industry in Alberta –
Tax Considerations for Inbound Actors March 2005
International film producers love Alberta, and no wonder. We offer sunny skies, spectacular vistas...
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Sending Employees Outside of Canada - The Tax Credit Mine Field That 80% of the Canadian income tax on the first $100,000 of wages earned can be eliminated is good news for internationally-assigned employees.
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Social Security Tax Nightmare Canada's new rules increase tax and assignment costs
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Tax Risk Management and International Assignments in the Post-Enron Business Environment
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Where to Start? December 2004
The International Assignment Planning Dilemma
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Taxpayer Identification Numbers December 2004
Important Changes to Application Processes For Those Working, Conducting Business or Investing in the United States
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Sending Employees Across Borders November 2004
2004 Year-End Tax Review for International Assignment Program Managers with Canadian Companies
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Temporary Forced Family Repatriation October 2004
Canadian Tax Implications for Assignees and Companies Sending Employees Outside Canada
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Check back regularly for more articles.
