Canadian Just Moved to HK

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  1. #1

    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Posts
    6

    Lightbulb Canadian Just Moved to HK

    Hi all, first post!

    Just moved to HK 4 days ago looking for some advice with tax and such. I plan to be in HK for at least a few years or permanently settle down.

    I been working in Toronto for the last 5 years. I own a condo in which I am getting monthly income and have a mortgage. My parents still live in Canada. I have TFSA with questrade and RRSP with TD mutual fund. Also have few credit cards and bank account in Canada.

    I'm currently getting place/bank account and everything setup in HK. What do I need to do on the Canada side to close ties with CRA? I am going to declare as non-residence and file withholding tax 25% of my rental income.

    Also am I able to reclaim CPP or EI contribution in the past..?

    Let me know what are the list of things I need to think about .. any advice is welcome, thanks.


  2. #2

    a) I think your biggest tie will be your flat or immediate family like spouse and kids living in Canada. I'm not sure about the flat of whether you have to make any declaration that it's no longer used as a primary residence. Maybe someone else can comment on that.

    b) Next comes big assets registered under your name like a car. I suggest you sell them.

    c) The remaining ties are things like healthcare, credit, bank accounts, and driver's license. These are minor ties.

    For the healthcare, please notify your healthcare provider that you're leaving permanently. Close your bank accounts once you've set one up over here. Selling your RRSP is not required. Close your credit cards if you can. If you can't I suggest keep spending to a bare minimum. For your driver's license, if it's your only tie left, just keep it. If it's not, you can trade it in for a Hong Kong license, which you can directly without a test if you've had a Canadian license for more than 5 years. If you ever return to Canada from Hong Kong, you can swap your Hong Kong license for a Canadian one.

    d) Sometimes you can also be considered a deemed resident, depending on your job. It depends whether it's a temporary job contract or you work for a Canadian institution.


  3. #3

    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Posts
    6

    Thanks for the quick response.
    I don't have kids, just wife who is Hong Kong citizen, my main reason for moving to HK. She also signed me a dependent visa.
    Don't have car and driver license is expired and I don't plan to drive in HK.
    Healthcare.. I think I am part of the Ontario Health program.. I'll call them to cancel, TY
    Credit cards, do I definitely need to cancel these?
    Bank accounts, I am still getting CAD income into the bank account to pay my mortgage, do I need to close these..?

    I work for a rather small company so I don't think d) would apply. 40 employee worldwide doing around a few million CAD in revenue. I'm pretty flexible in terms of how I should legally setup the operation.. I sell a product from UK to individual consumers - direct sales on commission. Shipping and getting products into the country is taken care of by the UK company side.


  4. #4

    I think you should be good then. Credit card and bank account can be kept I think, but keep transactions to a minimum.


  5. #5

    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Posts
    6

    A few things I need to setup

    1. Mobile phone plan, already have phone. Need over 3000 minutes with 2-3gb of data a month, 4G would be good.. any recommendations..? Smartone?

    2. Home WIFI internet.. any recommendations?

    3. Bank personal account with good online banking features and english speaking service - I heard Standard Charter is good..?

    4. Credit Card - I currently use Capital One Aspire World Elite it gives 2% cash back with 9 different insurance for flights and purchases. I don't think HK has anything that's as good... but I'm paying 2.5% foreign exchange fee so actually a 0.5% premium. My income is over 600k HKD.

    Thank you for your recommendations and help.


  6. #6

    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Hong Kong
    Posts
    6,317
    Quote Originally Posted by ChendaL:
    A few things I need to setup

    1. Mobile phone plan, already have phone. Need over 3000 minutes with 2-3gb of data a month, 4G would be good.. any recommendations..? Smartone?

    2. Home WIFI internet.. any recommendations?

    3. Bank personal account with good online banking features and english speaking service - I heard Standard Charter is good..?

    4. Credit Card - I currently use Capital One Aspire World Elite it gives 2% cash back with 9 different insurance for flights and purchases. I don't think HK has anything that's as good... but I'm paying 2.5% foreign exchange fee so actually a 0.5% premium. My income is over 600k HKD.

    Thank you for your recommendations and help.
    1. Carriers and prices roughly the same. I recommend a prepaid at 7eleven until you decide you want a 2 year contract. Do you need fast speeds? If just WhatsApp and Gmail at slow speeds there are HK$88+12 plans unlimited data. Cheap

    2. Home internet. Depends where you live. There will be people selling internet at your estate.

    3. All banks are the same, horrible.

    4. Cathay amex card is good. There are some with better offers maybe the DBS card but most people have the Cathay card.

    Welcome to HK.

  7. #7

    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Posts
    6

    Thanks, what does +12 mean? Is that fast enough to stream spotify music..? I'm use to paying HK$ 300+, Canada providers are a total rip. 88 is really cheap.


  8. #8

    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Tai Kok Tsui
    Posts
    33
    Quote Originally Posted by ChendaL:
    Thanks for the quick response.

    Don't have car and driver license is expired and I don't plan to drive in HK.
    Credit cards, do I definitely need to cancel these?
    Bank accounts, I am still getting CAD income into the bank account to pay my mortgage, do I need to close these..?
    - If your license hasn't been expired too long, renew it here: you can just transfer it and it's good for 10 years and will cost you about $100 CAD. Even if you don't drive now, the day you want/have to again, it'll spare you the whole driving course ordeal.

    - Mortgage, property and all leaves you on the hook in Canada for the taxman but i'll let people who are better experts at this to answer on how to work that out.

  9. #9

    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Tai Kok Tsui
    Posts
    33
    Quote Originally Posted by ChendaL:
    Thanks, what does +12 mean? Is that fast enough to stream spotify music..? I'm use to paying HK$ 300+, Canada providers are a total rip. 88 is really cheap.
    Welcome to the free world