Do I need to have filed my taxes to apply for citizenship?
Short answer
In Canada, the Citizenship Act requires that the person have met any applicable requirement under the Income Tax Act to file a return of income for three taxation years that fall fully or partly within the five years immediately before the application (s. 5 of the Citizenship Act).
In detail
The tax condition appears directly in section 5 of the Citizenship Act. It concerns filing requirements, where those requirements apply to the person.
The framework is the same as for presence: a five-year window before the application, within which three taxation years are covered, in whole or in part.
This requirement is about complying with obligations set out in the Income Tax Act. Whether a filing obligation applied for a given year depends on the person's tax situation that year.
What to document
Your federal notices of assessment for each year concerned, and proof that your returns were filed. These documents can be obtained from the tax authority, but a complete, dated file spares you having to chase down missing years when you apply.
Put your facts in writing, free. Writing your version down early, keeping your documents dated and preparing your questions for a lawyer: the tool is there to document, never to advise.
Open the application Up to 3 files, no card · see the plans
Official sources
Related questions
- Do I have to take the citizenship test if I am 56?
- How long does the undertaking last when I sponsor my spouse in Quebec?
- If we separate does my sponsorship undertaking end?
- What do I have to repay if the person I sponsored receives social assistance?
- How long does the undertaking last for a dependent child I sponsor?
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What this page is not
This is general legal information about the law of Quebec and Canada, dated and sourced. It is not legal advice, not a strategy, and not a prediction about the outcome of a case. In Quebec, only lawyers and notaries may give legal advice (Act respecting the Barreau du Québec, ss. 128 and 133). Laws and amounts change: the official source always prevails over us.