Double taxation avoidance forms certification - Canada/Portugal
Thread poster: Rita Pang
Rita Pang
Rita Pang  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 09:00
Member (2011)
Chinese to English
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MODERATOR
Jul 31, 2014

Hi guys,

As of the beginning of May 2014 it appears that a new rule is in place for suppliers who do not reside in Portugal. A client of mine (based in Portugal) is required to withhold 25% of my project earnings, which will then go to Portuguese tax authorities. To avoid this, I need to complete the RFI-21 form and send it to them once every year. I have found out that Canada does have a double taxation avoidance treaty with Portugal, so I can send this form in, but the thing is th
... See more
Hi guys,

As of the beginning of May 2014 it appears that a new rule is in place for suppliers who do not reside in Portugal. A client of mine (based in Portugal) is required to withhold 25% of my project earnings, which will then go to Portuguese tax authorities. To avoid this, I need to complete the RFI-21 form and send it to them once every year. I have found out that Canada does have a double taxation avoidance treaty with Portugal, so I can send this form in, but the thing is the client asked to have this form "completed jointly with your tax authorities" and to have them "certify" it.

I checked all around the CRA's website and saw no indication of such. Does anyone have any experience and information pertaining to i. filling out the actual form and ii. having it "certified"?

I did find a thread on Proz somewhere about this but no one talked about "certification of the form" there...and it seems like the posters all had ample information on what needs to be filled in...unfortunately I am at a bit of a loss here. Any info and help would be appreciated.

Thanks!
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Lincoln Hui
Lincoln Hui  Identity Verified
Hong Kong
Local time: 21:00
Member
Chinese to English
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Whatever is up with the freakin' Iberian peninsula Jul 31, 2014

With a Spanish agency what I had to produce was a certificate of fiscal residence.

 
Ana Vozone
Ana Vozone  Identity Verified
Local time: 13:00
Member (2010)
English to Portuguese
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Have you tried Jul 31, 2014

to contact the Canadian Embassy in Lisbon, or the Portuguese Embassy in Canada? Maybe they have the answers you need... Or even the Chamber of Commerce?

 
Rudolf Frans Maulany
Rudolf Frans Maulany  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 14:00
English to Indonesian
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Contact your local tax office first Aug 1, 2014

You can contact your local tax office(government tax office in your city) in Canada to ask information sometimes Canada have a cooperation with all countries of the European Union(including Portugal,etc) to avoid double tax. Hopefully they will provide you with an answer. All EU(European Union) countries are bind with the same treaty regarding taxation.

 
Rita Pang
Rita Pang  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 09:00
Member (2011)
Chinese to English
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MODERATOR
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks Aug 1, 2014

Thanks to all those who have responded. Yes it does appear that it's a EU wide thing but so far I haven't had to fill out this form with my other European clients. As for local tax offices- given the vast size of Canada we don't really quite have a "local" tax office...the nearest one is 2 hour drive away in a different city and when I called in their hotline, I am not really finding any "real" information that really caters to my question.

Any GTA translator or Ontario-based trans
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Thanks to all those who have responded. Yes it does appear that it's a EU wide thing but so far I haven't had to fill out this form with my other European clients. As for local tax offices- given the vast size of Canada we don't really quite have a "local" tax office...the nearest one is 2 hour drive away in a different city and when I called in their hotline, I am not really finding any "real" information that really caters to my question.

Any GTA translator or Ontario-based translators here who have experienced this same issue? Thank you all once again/in advance.
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Jimbotax
Jimbotax
Canada
Getting your forms certified Aug 21, 2014

You should send the RFI-21 form in to the Taxpayer services regional correspondence centre for your province of residence (the location of the correspondence centre is explained below), it is also advisable to include a letter of explanation to explain why you are sending in the form. Fill the form out first putting in all of your information then send the form to the correspondence centre along with the letter of explanation. They will complete the part neeed to be completed (you may want to in... See more
You should send the RFI-21 form in to the Taxpayer services regional correspondence centre for your province of residence (the location of the correspondence centre is explained below), it is also advisable to include a letter of explanation to explain why you are sending in the form. Fill the form out first putting in all of your information then send the form to the correspondence centre along with the letter of explanation. They will complete the part neeed to be completed (you may want to indicate what part that is with a little sticky note or something) by the CRA and send it off to the Portuguese tax authority.

This information can be found here:

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/nnrsdnts/cmmn/crtrs-eng.html

Go there and then scroll down to (or click) "How to get a certificate of residency". Scrolling down a little beneath that section will provide you with a list of correspondence centres that you can send your information to, since you need a form signed and stamped you will need to mail the information in. For residents of Ontario you will need to mail your form and the letter of explanation to the London TSO.

Hope that helps
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Rita Pang
Rita Pang  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 09:00
Member (2011)
Chinese to English
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MODERATOR
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you Aug 23, 2014

Jimbotax wrote:

Go there and then scroll down to (or click) "How to get a certificate of residency". Scrolling down a little beneath that section will provide you with a list of correspondence centres that you can send your information to, since you need a form signed and stamped you will need to mail the information in. For residents of Ontario you will need to mail your form and the letter of explanation to the London TSO.

Hope that helps


Thank you, Jimbo! If I understand correctly, your suggestion is to mail in the RFI form along with this certificate of residency, both to the CRA? If I understand correctly based on CRA's site, the actual tax office for ON is in Sudbury, but for this certificate it's in London...I'm so confused.

Thank you so much again for all these suggestions, if you can further enlighten me on my question above I'll be grateful - I've never been good at navigating the CRA website, and the two forms here are adding to my confusion...thanks!


 
Jimbotax
Jimbotax
Canada
Further clarification Aug 23, 2014

There are various countries that have tax treaties with Canada and they all administer the rules in there own fashion. It is Portugal's process to have a non-resident fill out a form and have that form certified by the CRA (or whatever tax authority from the country the person happens to live in) to verify that the person is taxed on their worldwide income in that country. The CRA has a few offices that provides that particular function, for residents of Ontario that office is the London TSO. Yo... See more
There are various countries that have tax treaties with Canada and they all administer the rules in there own fashion. It is Portugal's process to have a non-resident fill out a form and have that form certified by the CRA (or whatever tax authority from the country the person happens to live in) to verify that the person is taxed on their worldwide income in that country. The CRA has a few offices that provides that particular function, for residents of Ontario that office is the London TSO. You need to complete the RFI-21 and mail that into the London office with a letter explaining why you are sending the form in. Be sure to include your name, address, SIN, name of the foreign country, and the year the certification is requested for. If you already have a certificate of residency you can include that with the form you send in to the CRA and they will send that along with the RFI-21 once they stamp and sign it but it probably isn't necessary since Portugal requires their form and not a certificate of residency.Collapse


 
Rita Pang
Rita Pang  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 09:00
Member (2011)
Chinese to English
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MODERATOR
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks for your help Aug 28, 2014

Jimbotax wrote:

... but it probably isn't necessary since Portugal requires their form and not a certificate of residency.


Looking at the various procedures available (which my agency has provided to me) it looks like only a copy of the RFI form is needed, since I am not actually even submitting the RFI form to the Portuguese tax authorities - my agency will be doing that for me.

I'll have to call up the CRA to find out if that RFI form can be returned back to my attention.

Thanks again Jimbo!


 


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Double taxation avoidance forms certification - Canada/Portugal







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