Messages by Asif

i could send upto $1500 a month home from my $2000 salary after local tax deductions as cost of living is low even in korea, but what will drain your cash is if you start travelling in asia and doing trips back home.

I spent $6000 during my aug/sept vacations for two trips to china and a trip back home. In winter break I went to japan and back home again so that all keeps draining cash

luckily i cashed in my airmiles to pay for two winter 2012 trips in asia so it balances out!!

i found my old post from a year ago

there was a lot of wrong information being passed around when i was looking into it but if you look at my post above it hopefully explains it a bit clearer

i was declared non resident as of the date i left canada in aug/10 so i did not have to file a tax return upto dec 31. as a result i had overpaid taxes up till august as i was being taxed on an annual rate so i ended up with a big tax refund

now when i visit i have no Ohip Health Insurance so I just buy a two weeks visitors insurance policy before i come

same as you, i had a professional career, good salary, professional designations, owned my own place. but got tired of the workloads, lack of recognition, politics, needed a change and something more meaningful in my life.

i love to travel and experience new cultures so i am seeing this as a one year paid vacation. been teaching in korea for two weeks now and love being able to immerse yourself in the culture and meet the locals which i couldnt do in my regular vacations which were just rushed sightseeing.

i would say i'm B trying to become A with this as my new lifestyle/career changing contracts from country to country
i really enjoy teaching and love kids, was doing a lot of corporate training before so its been an easy switch so far. i do not want to go back to my old profession if it can be helped! :)

thanks for info, i was with a tour group in china with a set 8 day itinerary so not so much time to wonder around and look for internet cafes, so reliant on hotel internet access.

we only had a problem in the shanghai hotel although people were saying in beijing/xian that they could only get into facebook thru their blackberry.

i guess it depends on where and when you are. we were shortly before the shanghai expo so maybe they were clamping down.

internet access, low pay, and cold schools were the reasons i passed on china for this year, although i really loved it there and would like to go there later

good to know... i always wondered how those postings never distinguished between a new teacher and experienced teacher and offered the same base salary

i'm mid 30s, just got my tesol, no formal teaching background, and had no problems getting lots of responses from korea with a BA and Cdn passport

not sure what u mean by 'peculiar preferences' but post on daves esl cafe, or register with hiteacher and you should be in touch with lots of recruiters. my phone would not stop ringing and i was almost getting three calls daily at one point, so they should be able to find you the location or hours you are looking for

i'm mid 30s, just got my tesol, no formal teaching background, and had no problems getting lots of responses from korea with a BA and Cdn passport

not sure what u mean by 'peculiar preferences' but post on daves esl cafe, or register with hiteacher and you should be in touch with lots of recruiters. my phone would not stop ringing and i was almost getting three calls daily at one point, so they should be able to find you the location or hours you are looking for

Has anybody actually gone thru the Non-Resident route with Revenue Canada and have any advice on the process?

I found out you do not have to cash in your entire rsp balance after all, you just arent eligible to contribute any more into it until you declare yourself back resident with revenue canada.

here is some of what i have pieced together

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/nnrsdnts/ndvdls/nnrs-eng.html

here is the link where they talk about the process

you have to sever primary ties (house, car). spouse and kids are also considered primary ties if they are staying in canada so if they are not going with you then you will still have primary ties. in my case i am single and i sold my condo.

then there is the 183 day rule. because i have been in canada more than 183 days in 2010 i will be considered resident for 2010 and will have to pay tax upto dec 31/10. that means i have to declare foreign income upto dec 31,10.

in april 2011 i have to file a tax return for the 2010 tax year. not sure how i will be doing then when all the receits will be mailed to my canadian address but i have to figure this out.

before you leave canada, you should file form NR73 which shows your intent to become non resident and they will give you an opinion and start the process. Try to show supporting evidence such as letters to banks etc notifying them that you intend to be non resident and out of the country for more than two years. i am waiting for a copy of my contract to show supporting evidence

last step, when you file your tax return in april 2011 you have to declare your property (excluding cash and rsps) and calculate capital gains from acquisition. ie, if you bought a 5 year gic in 2008 for $10,000 and its worth $12,000 now, you have $2000 capital gain, even though you are not cashing in your 5 year gic. regardless, you have to pay departure tax on your paper capital gains.

from what i understand this is the process, although i still have not gone thru all the steps myself. try to call the international tax office. they take two months to respond to letters if you need confirmation in writing.

once you are non resident, your RSP and TFSA become frozen. meaning, you can take money out but you are no longer eligible to contribute in. after a few years when you declare yourself back resident, then you are eligible to contribute based on canadian earned income.

if you are earning income when you are gone, such as the 5 year gic example, the bank is notified that you are non resident. they then take a flat 25% tax off any earnings since you will no longer be filing canadian income taxes

again, i suggest calling the international tax office
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/cntct/international-eng.html

also, there are licencing issues what your bank and financial advisor can and cant do when you are declared non resident. make sure you discuss this with them and set up all your investments accordingly before you become non resident. create a paper trail to show revenue canada you told the bank your intent to become non resident, this will help your case

basically you can only withdraw as a non resident. they can not trade or buy new funds for you. so not sure where to be parking this foreign income other than a savings account?

download or order the book 'non residents and income tax' T4058E from the revenue canada website and the appropriate forms to complete

this is just the information i have pieced together, so i am by no means an expert, and still have to go thru the process myself to find it all out, so if anyone can help pls let me know!!! :-)

however well intentioned, at the end of the day Tesol College is still 'a business' and earns its income from enrollment.

when dealing with any investment, do your own research from multiple sources and dont take everything said at face value. nobody can 'guarantee' you a third party job unless they offer you the signed contract themselves.

i still recommend Tesol to my friends but with some cautions. such as, even with a BA, we are still 'entry level', competing against licenced public school teachers, and certain countries will not look at our applications without more classroom experience, particularly the high paying jobs in the middle east, which is where we all want to go! :)

so they have to be realistic about which countries they can start with at entry level and how they will build their experience to get them to the destinations they ultimately want.

they're supposed to start mailing epik contracts this week and the orientation starts around aug 17/18