Tax treaties

This section offers information on Canada's tax conventions with other countries.

Topics about Tax treaties

• Status and texts of Tax Treaties
  (Finance Canada Web site)
• Competent Authority Agreements and Notices
  (With respect to specific provisions in tax treaties)
• Competent Authority Services
• Statement of Joint Cooperation Regarding Abusive Tax Transactions
• Certificate of residency
  (Maybe required to obtain treaty benefits)
• Guidance for Taxpayers Requesting Tax Treaty Relief for Cross-Border Pension Contributions
• Enhanced financial account information reporting

Canada has tax conventions or agreements -- commonly known as tax treaties -- with many countries. The main purposes of tax treaties are to avoid double taxation and to prevent tax evasion. Tax treaties:

• define which taxes are covered and who is a resident and eligible to the benefits,
• often reduce the amounts of tax to be withheld from interest, dividends, and royalties paid by a resident of one country to residents of the other country,
• limit tax of one country on business income of a resident of the other country to that income from a permanent establishment in the first country,
• define circumstances in which income of individuals resident in one country will be taxed in the other country, including salary, self-employment, pension, and other income,
• may provide for exemption of certain types of organizations or individuals, and
• provide procedural frameworks for enforcement and dispute resolution.

If you are a resident of Canada and have questions related to how your foreign source income will be taxed in Canada or if you are a non-resident of Canada and have questions related to how your Canadian source income will be taxed in Canada you can contact the International Tax Services Office. To find out how your income will be taxed in the other country you should contact the foreign tax administrations.

Related topics

• Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs)
• Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in tax matters
• Social Security Agreements (Human Resources and Skills Development Canada Web site)