At some point in their careers, healthcare professionals may consider working abroad. One of the main advantages of working abroad is that many foreign posts offer high paying US dollar positions. And some positions promote themselves as being either in low tax or tax free jurisdictions. Healthcare professionals should be very careful as to what this means. The income tax may be low or nonexistent in the country in which they are going to work, but they must also consider how they will be taxed on this income in Canada.

Determining what the tax consequences are of moving to another country, either permanently or temporarily, requires some foresight. If an individual severs Canadian residency for tax purposes, a final "departure tax return" should be filed in Canada.

Since many other countries around the world have lower individual income tax rates than Canada, an individual may want to sever Canadian residency in order to be in a situation where they will no longer be taxed on their worldwide income in Canada. It is important that before this decision is made, the individual first determines if they are even in a position to be able to sever their Canadian residency for tax purposes given the facts of their situation.

Determining if you are a resident of Canada for tax purposes depends on your intention at the time you leave Canada. There is no specific time period after which you will be seen to be a non-resident of Canada, so it is important that the steps you take to prove your intention to be a non-resident are followed carefully.

Two examples of the various things that one should do to indicate that one is a non-resident include selling or renting one's house to a third party and selling one's vehicle or taking it to the new country of residence.

If you become a non-resident of Canada for tax purposes, you must file a final departure tax return, which is due April 30 after the year in which you sever your residential ties with Canada. There are various tax implications that could arise in this final return. The most common example is the deemed disposition of certain assets you own, based on their fair market value at the time of your departure. The pro-ration of personal tax credits for your period of residency is another example of many. Apart from the departure tax return, rental properties owned by non-residents have specific filing requirements in Canada on an annual basis. Depending on the procedures you follow to either sell or rent your home, this could continue to be seen as a significant residential tie to Canada, and may hamper your ability to sever residency.

This is just a sample of some of the issues that should be considered on your departure from Canada. It is important that you seek professional advice to en