Moving 300k to Canada

[happytime]

What is the best way to do this so there is limited loss of cash? Wire transfers=money spent. Change into Canadian here and take on plane? What are my best options you money gurus?

[Adam_CLO]

I would recommend wiring it. I believe it costs a few hundred NT to do that.

In addition to the risk of carrying $10 K CAD on your body while traveling - and having to go through security checks and such, you're supposed to declare cash over $10 000 CAD at Canadian airports so you probably don't want to go over that limit.

I think wiring is much safer.

[Abacus]

What is the best way to do this so there is limited loss of cash? Wire transfers=money spent. Change into Canadian here and take on plane? What are my best options you money gurus?

I don't really understand how it's not worth the fee to wire it. I think it will work out to about 1% overall. I wired 80K home a few months ago and there was a flat fee charged by the Bank of Taiwan (400NT) and variable fee that I don't have handy.

What is the fee to exchange the money to Canadian? That won't be free either.

[marasan]

I re-mortgaged my house last year and sent about double that to the US to pay my parents back. There's a flat fee at the Taiwan bank and a flat fee on the other end (this is US$18 at the US bank I use). I also got a good exchange rate because of the amount that was involved. There is no additional fee for exchanging the money (I imagine it's all worked into the rate).

[citizen k]

You can carry it, but a lot of ports of entry to Canada now just make a point of asking you how much you have on you, rather than just asking if you have more than CDN$10k. Not a big deal; they will likely take you into a secure room, ask to see it, and grill you a bit on the source and purpose for the funds.

Be aware that transfer charges on wire transfers are not always so obvious: Depending on which bank you use, there could be more than one intermediary bank involved in the process, each charging it's own fee. I got hit for about US$75 one time because the transaction went through Citibank in New York before finally reaching my RBC account back home. I was not impressed...

[StevenCrook]

It's years since I've done this, but when I was sending money home often I used to go to ICBC (now Mega) and buy a "soft check" - a check in British pounds. I'd hand over, say NT$80k and get a check payable to myself for (say) GBP2100.
The charge at this end was NT$160, if I recall correctly. I'd mail the check to my dad, who'd pop it into my account next time he was near the bank. No charge at the UK end.

Dunno if banks here still do this, and I've no idea if your bank in your home country would charge/accept such a check. Also, if someone they know walks into a bank with CDN$10k, they may be suspicious.

[MotorcycleRider]

Didn't want to start a new thread so here's my questions. Plan to sell my house in Taiwan and move the family back to Canada in the near future. I haven't lived or worked in Canada for the past 12 years. As such, I haven't filed any taxes there for the past 12 years. IF all goes well I'll need to send over $100,000cdn home with me. How does this work? Is it as simple as going to the bank in Taiwan and wiring to a bank account in Canada. I don't have a bank account in Canada so would need to wire into my dad's account first. What might be the pitfalls? Will the Canadian government red flag this and audit my dad. Will I be taxed on this money? Has anyone sent a large amount of money back to Canada or the US without any hitches? Any replies would be much appreciated.

[citizen k]

Didn't want to start a new thread so here's my questions. Plan to sell my house in Taiwan and move the family back to Canada in the near future. I haven't lived or worked in Canada for the past 12 years. As such, I haven't filed any taxes there for the past 12 years. IF all goes well I'll need to send over $100,000cdn home with me. How does this work? Is it as simple as going to the bank in Taiwan and wiring to a bank account in Canada. I don't have a bank account in Canada so would need to wire into my dad's account first. What might be the pitfalls? Will the Canadian government red flag this and audit my dad. Will I be taxed on this money? Has anyone sent a large amount of money back to Canada or the US without any hitches? Any replies would be much appreciated.

Have your dad inquire at his branch.

[johnledoe]

I used to wire money back home a lot and I thought it was was too expensive. What everyone else here forgot to mention is that you pay a fee here in Taiwan, and then fees get taken out by other banks as your money "transfers" through them. At least that was the reason I was given why I was out X amount of dollars when it arrived at the destination. From sending various amounts, it seemed like for amounts less than $1000 CAN, you'd be out $10 CAN when it got there. For over $1000 CAN, you'd be out $20 CAN, and for over $2000 CAN, it'd be $30 CAN. I have no idea how much exactly they'd take out for $100,000 CAN, but I'm sure it'd be a hefty sum. I got really tired of having my money looted as it traveled, so I found a better way. As StevenCrook suggested, I got a certified check (never heard it called a "soft check" before) in Canadian funds and mailed it back home. Basically you're getting a check which is guarantied to have the money, because you've already given that money to the bank and it's secured by them.

As for being taxed, I guess it all depends if you have ANY financial ties in Canada for the past 7 years. That means a bank account, a credit card, a retirement plan. If you don't have any of these things, you shouldn't be taxed. I say shouldn't, but I'm sure Revenue Canada will try to tax you for it anyway. I'm sure they'll come up with some bullshit reason to do so. Because of that, you may want to check out this website - http://www.detaxcanada.org/

I can't say I've used it myself, and it looks like a really badly put together webpage, but that doesn't mean you should discount what's said on there.

[ChewDawg]

Didn't want to start a new thread so here's my questions. Plan to sell my house in Taiwan and move the family back to Canada in the near future. I haven't lived or worked in Canada for the past 12 years. As such, I haven't filed any taxes there for the past 12 years. IF all goes well I'll need to send over $100,000cdn home with me. How does this work? Is it as simple as going to the bank in Taiwan and wiring to a bank account in Canada. I don't have a bank account in Canada so would need to wire into my dad's account first. What might be the pitfalls? Will the Canadian government red flag this and audit my dad. Will I be taxed on this money? Has anyone sent a large amount of money back to Canada or the US without any hitches? Any replies would be much appreciated.

Are you married and does your spouse have PR? Because the first time a new PR comes to Canada, they can bring unlimited amounts of money. We (my wife) brought over several hundred thousand US dollars when she came over as a PR, declared it at customs/immigration, and it was no problem.

As such, I haven't filed any taxes there for the past 12 years

This could get you into trouble. Canada, unfortunately, is not like the US which offers its citizens an exemption on worldwide income less than 120K or a figure like that. All income overseas is taxable in Canada if you are a resident of Canada. Technically, you are supposed to declare yourself to be a non resident by filling in a Revenue Canada form and then you're not required to pay Canadian income tax on your earnings in Taiwan. However, by gaining residency in Taiwan (over 183 days) you are technically not a resident in Canada anymore because you are a resident in Taiwan----providing that you can prove you have severed ties with Canada.

What this means in plain English and non-accounting speak is that if you have a house, multiple bank accounts, secondary properties, RRSPs, RESPs, TFSAs, car etc. in Canada while working in Taiwan, you will likely still be deemed to be a resident of Canada and therefore must pay Canadian tax on your income in Taiwan. Mind you, I don't think tax officials will spend hundreds of man hours going after Johnny Canuck for not paying $2000 in income tax from his $24,000 a year buxiban job, especially if he has paid Taiwan income tax (the lower levels of taxation for lower income people are similar in both counties. They'll only ding you for the different levels of taxation and for such a small amount, it is unlikely they would waste time on it. They are after the big business people, not impoverished English teachers!).

However, if you have kept minimal ties with Canada during your time in Taiwan (e.g., a sole bank card to pay your student loans and that's it), you're pretty much a non resident by virtue of your Taiwan residency past the 183 days when you first arrived in Taiwan.

If you have minimal ties, haven't used your health care card etc, and gained residency in Taiwan, you have nothing to worry about. Once you return, it will take you a few months to be able to qualify for medical care etc. as a non resident, but it is remarkably easy to get back into the system.

Coming back with money won't be a problem. To be safe, just wire it back in small portions or get a new PR such as a spouse to take it back (if your wife/family are newcomers to Canada). Returning to be a resident after being a non resident is a painless process and you can bring larger sums of money in your baggage. They just might ask you some more questions, require proof that you had this deposited in another jurisdiction etc.