Yesterday we gathered all the necessary documents and delivered them to H&R Block, Canada’s income tax preparation specialists. In the past, we’ve always done our own income tax returns as they were pretty straightforward. This year, however, they’re a little more complicated because we’re required to pay income tax on the money that we earned while working in Japan. We knew this before we made the decision to go but I really don’t think it’s right. I don’t object to paying tax on our pensions even though we were out of the country for most of 2008 and didn’t use any of the services that our taxes generally pay for. I am, however, deeply offended that we have to pay tax on our foreign income.

The majority of our colleagues at MIL were Americans. They are not required to pay income tax on money earned outside the States. The rest were young Canadians, many of whom could be declared non residents of Canada for income tax purposes. This option wasn’t available to us because we own a home here. We also know that there are those who simply don’t declare the income that they make while working overseas. After all, would the government know that we were working overseas if we didn’t tell them? I must admit that this was very tempting. Our Christian consciences wouldn’t actually allow us to follow through on the idea though. After all, the Bible does tell us to obey the rules of the land and to “render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s”. I just wish Caesar didn’t want so much!

In addition to paying our taxes out of obedience to God’s word, income tax evasion is a criminal offense and I wouldn’t really want to face the consequences if we were found out! In addition to paying the taxes that are owing plus interest and any other penalties that the Canadian Revenue Service assesses, a person may also face prosecution. The court can fine a person up to 200% of the taxes evaded and sentence them to a two year jail term. That’s certainly not how I want to spend part of my retirement! When the bill comes, I’ll write the cheque but I’ll definitely be doing it grudgingly.