NR5 – Non Resident – Election Under Section 217

According to the information contained on the Form NR5:

Application By A Non-Resident Of Canada For A Reduction In The Amount Of Non-Resident Tax Required To Be Withheld

Section 1 – Information and terms of agreement

• Use this form if you are a non-resident receiving qualifying Canadian income and would like to apply for a reduced tax rate on this income. You are only required to file one Form NR5 every five years and your reduction will be valid for the five year period.

• As a non-resident, it may be beneficial for you to elect under section 217 of the Canadian Income Tax Act to pay tax at the same rate as residents of Canada on your Canadian-source pensions or other benefits described in Section 2 below. If you wish to elect under section 217, we will use the information you give on this application to determine if the election may benefit you. If we process your application and it indicates that an election under section 217 may be beneficial, we will authorize your Canadian payer(s) to reduce the amount of non-resident tax withheld from your benefits.
• If we approve this application, you will have to file a Canadian income tax return within six months of the end of every taxation year covered under the five year approval period to benefit from the election under section 217. If you do not file your return within that time, you will have to pay the full amount of tax that your payer(s) should have withheld. We cannot process a return if it is filed late.

• If you are a resident of Algeria, Azerbaïjan, Brazil, Croatia, Cyprus, Ecuador, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Philippines, Portugal, Romania, Senegal, Slovenia or Turkey and are applying only to receive a treaty exemption on qualifying income, you must complete all sections of this form and report all your Canadian-source benefits. Although you are not electing under section 217 and need not to file a Canadian income tax return, we also require information on your net world income. We will apply the treaty exemption on qualifying income. Send the completed application to the Non-Resident Withholding Section, Sudbury Tax Centre, P.O. Box 20000, Station A, Sudbury ON  P3A 5C1.If you have questions about this application, contact the Non-Resident Withholding Section by writing to the address provided, bysending a fax to 705-677-7712 (All other countries) or 1-866-765-8460 (Canada and the United States only),or by telephone, toll free, at 1-855-284-5946 (in Canada or the United States), or from elsewhere at 613-940-8499.

Section 2 – Types of Canadian benefits you have to report in Section 4 below

1. Canada Pension Plan (CPP) or Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) benefits
2. Old Age Security (OAS) pension
3. Superannuation or pension benefits including registered pension plan (RPP) benefits *
4.  Retiring allowance *
5.  Death benefits
6. Benefits under the Employment Insurance Act
7. Registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) payments *
8. Registered retirement income fund (RRIF) payments

* Do not use this application for amounts 3, 4, or 7 that you are transferring to your RRSP or RPP. Instead, use Form NRTA1, Authorization for Non-Resident Tax Exemption. For additional Canadian benefits, refer to guide T4145 – Electing Under Section 217 of the Income Tax Act.

See Also

Electing Under Section 217 of Income Tax Act

Income Tax and Benefit Guide for Non-Residents and Deemed Residents of Canada