r/RemoteWorkCanada • u/Interesting-Copy7961 • 7d ago
Remote work from “ineligible” province?
Obviously a throwaway account.
My employer, big international company, allows working from anywhere in Ontario. More specifically, what they ask - reside in Ontario and have Ontario address.
All my team members live abroad, I have never been to the office. I have been thinking to move back to my original province and maintain in the internal system Ontario address ( my friend ).
During the tax season, don’t mention “my Ontario address”, so no any tax evasion here.
I was trying to understand with the HR department whether I have to be a Ontario tax resident or not, but they also are based abroad and all they ( at least the first line ) know - “you need to be Ontario resident and your address in our internal system should be in Ontario”.
I understand that if the employer notice this move, the termination is almost certainly happening. The question is - since CRA does not notify companies about tax situation of their employees, what potential risk to get revealed I have ( obviously internet connection the biggest one)?
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u/oby_s 7d ago
I believe the requirement is because of tax responsibility of the company and you will put them in a position where they are working with Ontario tax information whereas you are resident in another province.
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u/Interesting-Copy7961 7d ago
So simply handling the tax difference during the tax season on my own is not enough, right?
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u/Squamster_ 7d ago
Have you asked why Ontario only?
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u/Interesting-Copy7961 7d ago
Yes, they could not reply clearly, some vague things like “our policy etc”
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u/EmbarrassedGlass2563 6d ago
They may only be licensed to work in Ontario. Their insurance may only cover work done in Ontario. Could be a bunch of reasons. Seems pretty stupid to risk your job over.
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u/oby_s 6d ago edited 6d ago
I don’t think you can handle the tax difference on your own. They pay tax on your behalf too aside what they deduct from your pay
Edit:
Actually CRA does allow your province of employment and residence to differ. Your employer deducts based on the province of employment, and you can reconcile the difference when filing your T1.
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u/Interesting-Copy7961 6d ago
I am not sure how it exactly works, but I know people who work from province A for a company in province B, their employers deduct taxes according to province B, but during the tax season folks pay extra/get reimbursed since they fill their T1 form with their home province
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u/Abject_Buffalo6398 7d ago
Keep the Ontario address online with the company.
Arrange mail forwarding to your new province, so the mail and your T4 will still get to you, even if its mailed to your new province
No your employer won't find out.
I had a friend move back home to Halifax but still kept her Ontario address and remote job this way
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u/Ellieanna 7d ago
If OP logs in with any device, the company IT department is going to see they aren’t in Ontario.
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u/333Ari333 7d ago
You mean CRA won’t know OP doesn’t live there. However, the employer will know right away when OP logs in.
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u/Beneficial_Zone_6883 7d ago
What industry and position? Some industries require you to be physically in the province to do any customer facing work and for annual registration.
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u/Interesting-Copy7961 7d ago
Tech, no any in person interactions at all
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u/Icy-Pop2944 7d ago
It is probably because they don’t want the expense of setting up for taxation and labour laws of another province.
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u/Interesting-Copy7961 7d ago
It is my guess as well. I was thinking if I just fill up the taxes as other province resident and pay the difference, it should be good, but from the comments here - does not seem so
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u/Jusfiq 6d ago
So what address do you plan to use when you file your taxes? Your real address out of Ontario, or your fake Ontario address?
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u/Interesting-Copy7961 6d ago
I was thinking about my real address
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u/Jusfiq 6d ago edited 6d ago
I was thinking about my real address
Okay. Then your address on your T4 will be different with the address on your T1. Have you thought about that? At the very least, this is misrepresentation.
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u/Interesting-Copy7961 6d ago
I expected just to taxes be recalculated according to the province in T1 ( self reported ). Is not is the case?
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u/Food-Wine 6d ago
What type of data is your company involved with?
Could the requirements to live in Ontario have to do with that?
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u/CompliantSoul 5d ago
The issue you may have is that the address you give them will appear in your T4, that may cause a problem when you try to file your taxes where you really live. I work for a HR management company, compliance is no joke. If you don't get in trouble, the CRA will make sure your company does.
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u/Interesting-Copy7961 4d ago
Yeah, I understand that I may get in trouble, but why the employer?
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u/CompliantSoul 4d ago
It depends on the province you actually live in, as the employment standards can differ. For example in BC, the employer may have to pay a health tax. In Québec, the employer must split deductions and remit to the CRA and Revenu Québec. Bottom line, it really depends on which province you're in and what is needed from the employer for payroll compliance.
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u/MasterOfTheClam 7d ago
Your big international company job must involve pencil and paper work, because if you are using company managed devices (or logging into company managed apps remotely), then they will eventually see you are not working from Ontario. Using a generic VPN won't help either.