Canadian Taxes from Cartagena, Colombia: A Guide for Seniors

Most Canadian seniors in Cartagena don't actually need a T4. They need their pension slips, and where you get them depends on one question: are you still a tax resident of Canada? This guide explains how to find your CRA slips from the Colombian coast, what changes when you become a non-resident, how the Canada-Colombia tax treaty caps the tax on your pension at 15 percent, and how to claim back tax that was over-withheld.

Start here: the one question that changes everything

When a Canadian senior in Cartagena asks "how do I get my T4 so I can do my taxes," the honest answer is usually: you may not need a T4 at all, and the path to your documents depends on whether the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) still considers you a resident of Canada for tax purposes.

That single status decides three things: which slips you receive, where you log in to get them, and how much tax Canada takes from your pension. So we will sort residency out first, then get you to your documents.

Are you still a tax resident of Canada?

Tax residency is not about your passport. You stay Canadian. It is about your ties to Canada and where your life is centred. The CRA looks at your residential ties, the most important being:

• A home available to you in Canada.
• A spouse or common-law partner in Canada.
• Dependants in Canada.

Secondary ties include a Canadian driver's licence, bank accounts, credit cards, health card, and personal property. There is no single day-count that flips your status the way Colombia's 183-day rule does. The CRA weighs the whole picture.

For a senior who has genuinely moved to Cartagena, sold or rented out the Canadian home, and brought a spouse along, the CRA will often treat you as a non-resident (or "emigrant" for the year you left). Someone who keeps a home and family in Canada and winters in Bocagrande or Manga is usually still a factual resident of Canada, taxed on worldwide income as if they never left. "Snowbird who winters in Cartagena" and "permanent resident of Cartagena" sit on opposite sides of a tax line that has nothing to do with how you feel about either country.

If you want the CRA's own opinion in writing, you can file form NR73, Determination of Residency Status (Leaving Canada). It is optional, and many advisors suggest filing it only when your situation is genuinely unclear, because the CRA's answer binds you to that view.

One more thing seniors are often surprised by: the year you become a non-resident, Canada can apply a departure tax, a deemed sale of certain property (not your registered accounts, and usually not Canadian real estate) at fair market value. If you are still planning your move, this is worth a conversation before you cut ties, not after.

The slip you actually need (it's probably not a T4)

A T4 reports employment income. Unless you are still working for a Canadian employer, you will not get one. What seniors actually receive are pension and benefit slips. Here is the map:

The short version: if you are a resident, you collect a handful of "T" slips. If you are a non-resident, most of those become a single slip type, the NR4, which also shows the tax already withheld at source. More on the NR4 below.

How to retrieve your slips from Cartagena

You do not need a Canadian address or a Canadian phone to get your slips. You need online access, and there are two separate government portals that matter for seniors.

1. My Service Canada Account (MSCA), for OAS and CPP

Your OAS and CPP slips come from Service Canada, not the CRA. In My Service Canada Account, choose "View my tax slips." You can view, save, and print your T4A(OAS) / NR4(OAS) and T4A(P) / NR4 for the current year and the previous six years. For most seniors, this single login solves the original question.

2. CRA My Account, for everything else

Your pension, RRIF, RRSP, and investment slips are visible in CRA My Account under "Tax information slips (T4 and more)." Issuers send slips by the end of February, and they appear in My Account once the CRA has processed them, which can take a few weeks longer.

3. If you cannot get online at all

Two fallbacks:

• Phone. The CRA's line for individuals is 1-800-959-8281 (within Canada and the U.S.). From Colombia, the non-resident individual enquiries line is +1-613-940-8495 (collect calls accepted). For OAS and CPP, Service Canada handles pensions from outside Canada at +1-613-957-1954 (collect). Verify the current numbers on canada.ca before calling. Tip: from Colombia, a Skype subscription or a WhatsApp call to a Canadian number is usually cheaper than a hotel landline, and the audio is clearer than Colombian long-distance.
• Let your accountant pull them. If you authorize a representative through the CRA's "Represent a Client" service (form AUT-01), your accountant can see and download your slips for you. For many seniors this is the least stressful option by far.

If you are a non-resident: NR4 and withholding tax

Once you are a non-resident, Canada generally stops asking you to file a regular return on your Canadian pensions. Instead it taxes them at source under Part XIII of the Income Tax Act: the payer holds back a flat percentage before the money reaches you and sends you an NR4 slip showing the gross amount and the tax withheld.

The default Part XIII rate is 25 percent. The good news for Colombia: a tax treaty reduces that. See the next section.

For many non-resident seniors whose only Canadian income is OAS, CPP, and a modest pension, that withholding is the end of the story. You do not have to file anything else in Canada. But "the end of the story" is not always the cheapest outcome, which is where the Section 217 election comes in.

The Canada-Colombia tax treaty

Canada and Colombia have a tax treaty (in force since 2012) whose entire purpose is to stop the same income from being fully taxed twice. For a retiree, the key clause is Article 17, Pensions and Annuities.

Under Article 17, for periodic pension payments (your regular monthly pension, not a lump sum), the tax Canada can withhold at source is capped at the lesser of:

• 15 percent of the gross payment, or
• the rate you would have paid on that pension income if you were a resident.

In plain terms: the treaty pulls your Canadian withholding down from 25 percent toward 15 percent on periodic pensions. To get the reduced rate applied automatically, tell your Canadian payer that you live in Colombia and complete the non-resident declaration they ask for (commonly form NR301). If you never told them, they may be withholding the full 25 percent. Many seniors discover this when they look at a year of NR4 slips and realise they have been over-withheld by roughly 10 cents on every pension dollar.

Note that lump-sum withdrawals (for example, cashing out an RRSP all at once) are treated differently and usually face the full 25 percent. Periodic payments are what get the treaty break, which is a reason many retirees convert an RRSP to a RRIF and draw it down in steady payments rather than a single hit.

Getting over-withheld tax back: the Section 217 election

Here is the move most non-resident seniors do not know about. If that flat 15 to 25 percent withholding is more than you would have paid under Canada's normal graduated tax rates, you can elect under Section 217 of the Income Tax Act to file a Canadian return as if the income were ordinary income, and get the difference refunded.

This matters because Canada's first bracket is taxed gently and you still get the basic personal amount. A retiree living on OAS, CPP, and a small pension may owe far less than 15 percent overall, so the election can mean a real refund every spring. For a senior whose Cartagena cost of living is modest (most of Manga, Crespo, and Pie de la Popa run well below Bocagrande prices), the gap between the flat withholding and the rate they would owe at graduated rates can be several thousand dollars a year.

Income that qualifies for a Section 217 election includes:

• Old Age Security (OAS)
• CPP and QPP benefits
• Most registered pension and RRSP/RRIF/annuity payments

The deadline for a Section 217 return is June 30 of the year after the income was received (later than the regular April 30 deadline). You do not have to elect every year; you run the numbers and elect only when it helps. An accountant can tell you in minutes whether it is worth it for you.

OAS and CPP when you live abroad

CPP: yours anywhere

CPP has no residency requirement. You earned it through contributions, and it is paid to you anywhere in the world, including a Colombian bank account. Living in Cartagena does not reduce or stop it. Most major Colombian banks (Bancolombia, Davivienda, BBVA, Banco de Bogotá) accept incoming international wires; Wise (formerly TransferWise) often works out cheaper than a wire because of the mid-market rate.

OAS: watch the 20-year rule

OAS is residency-based, and there is a catch for people who move abroad. To keep receiving OAS while living outside Canada indefinitely, you generally need at least 20 years of residence in Canada after age 18. With fewer than 20 years, your OAS can stop six months after the month you leave.

Normally a social security agreement between Canada and your new country can help bridge a gap in residence. Canada and Colombia do not have a social security agreement, so there is nothing to fill that gap here. If you are close to the 20-year line, get advice before you formally become a non-resident, because moving to Cartagena six months too early can permanently cost you OAS.

The OAS recovery tax (clawback)

If your net world income passes an annual threshold (about CAD 93,454 for 2025, indexed each year), Canada applies a 15 percent OAS recovery tax. Because Colombia is a treaty country, residents there are generally not subject to the OAS recovery tax and generally do not have to file the separate Old Age Security Return of Income (OASRI). Confirm this for your year, since it depends on the CRA's treaty-country list, but for most Colombia-based retirees it is one less form.

Deadlines and how to file from Cartagena

The dates that matter:

How to actually send it from Cartagena:

• Use a cross-border accountant. For a non-resident or Section 217 return this is the realistic option. Many of these returns cannot be NETFILED and have to be paper-filed to the CRA's international tax office, and the accountant will know exactly which forms attach.
• NETFILE-certified software works for many straightforward resident returns, but non-resident and Section 217 returns often fall outside what consumer software supports.
• Paper filing goes to the CRA office that handles non-residents. From Cartagena, DHL (service centre near Caribe Plaza) and FedEx (through agents in Bocagrande and Centro) are the realistic options; both deliver to Canadian addresses in 3 to 5 business days. Servientrega and 4-72 are cheaper but slow and harder to track. Build in international mail time.

Whatever route you choose, set up direct deposit to a Canadian account if you still have one. A mailed refund cheque to Cartagena is slow and easy to lose, especially during October to November when humidity peaks and porterías sometimes hold mail for a few days before forwarding.

A word on the Colombian side

This guide is about your Canadian filing. The other half is whether Colombia also taxes you. Once you spend 183 days or more in Colombia within a rolling 365-day window, you become a Colombian tax resident and Colombia can tax your worldwide income, pensions included, with a foreign tax credit for the Canadian tax you already paid. That is a separate filing handled by a Colombian contador.

We cover the Colombian side in detail in Tax Residency in Colombia: The 183-Day Rule. Read both. The two systems interlock, and the treaty is what keeps them from taxing you twice on the same income.

Common mistakes

• Asking for a T4 you will never receive. If you are retired, you want your T4A(OAS), T4A(P), pension T4A, and any T5/T4RIF, or the NR4 versions if you are non-resident. Knowing the right slip name saves a frustrating phone call.
• Never telling your payers you moved. If Service Canada and your pension still think you live in Canada, your residency status and your withholding can both be wrong. Update your address and file the non-resident declaration (NR301) so the treaty rate applies.
• Assuming non-residents cannot use CRA My Account. You can. The security code simply arrives by mail to your Cartagena address, so start early.
• Skipping the Section 217 election. Many retirees leave a refund on the table because 15 percent flat withholding is more than they would owe at graduated rates. Run the numbers each year.
• Becoming a non-resident without checking the OAS 20-year rule. With fewer than 20 years of Canadian residence after 18 and no Canada-Colombia social security agreement, your OAS can stop six months after you leave.
• Forgetting the Colombian return. Canada is only half the picture once you cross 183 days in Colombia. Line up a contador too. Look in the Centro Histórico and Manga for accountants who handle foreign-source income; ask whether they have filed for Canadians or Americans before, the answer should be specific.
• Trying to use a tourist mailing address. A hotel address in El Centro or Bocagrande won't survive the CRA's address-verification step. Use the residential address on your visa or your edificio's portería address.

FAQ

I am 80 and just want my pension slips. What is the fastest path?

Log in to My Service Canada Account and choose "View my tax slips." Your OAS and CPP slips for this year and the last six are there to view, save, and print. If a family member helps you, they can sit with you for the login; you do not need to share passwords with anyone else.

Do I get a T4?

Only if you are still earning employment income from a Canadian employer. Retirement income comes on T4A(OAS), T4A(P), T4A, T4RIF, or T5 slips, or on NR4 slips if you are a non-resident.

How do I know if I am a resident or a non-resident?

It comes down to your ties to Canada: a home, a spouse, dependants. Sold the house and moved your life to Cartagena, you are likely a non-resident. Kept the home and family in Canada and winter in Cartagena two to four months a year, you are likely still a resident. The unclear cases are worth an accountant's read, and you can request a CRA opinion with form NR73.

How much tax will Canada take from my pension?

As a non-resident, Canada withholds at source. The default is 25 percent, but the Canada-Colombia treaty caps periodic pension payments at 15 percent. If you would owe less under normal graduated rates, a Section 217 election can get the excess refunded.

Will I be taxed twice, once by Canada and once by Colombia?

Generally no. The treaty exists to prevent that. If Colombia taxes your worldwide pension as a Colombian resident, you claim a foreign tax credit there for the Canadian tax already paid, so the same income is not taxed twice.

Can my accountant get my slips for me?

Yes. Authorize them through the CRA's "Represent a Client" service (form AUT-01) and they can view and download your slips and file on your behalf. For many seniors abroad this is the simplest arrangement.

Is my OAS safe if I live in Cartagena long term?

If you have 20 or more years of Canadian residence after age 18, yes, OAS continues abroad. With fewer than 20 years, it can stop six months after you leave, and there is no Canada-Colombia social security agreement to bridge the gap. CPP continues regardless of where you live.

Is there a Canadian consulate in Cartagena?

No. Canada's embassy is in Bogotá (Carrera 7 # 114-33, Edificio Teleport Business Park), and the nearest honorary consul to Cartagena is in Barranquilla. For most tax questions, dealing with the CRA's non-resident line and a Canadian cross-border accountant is faster than visiting any consulate.

Further reading

• Tax Residency in Colombia: The 183-Day Rule
• Cost of living in Cartagena
• Bringing money to Colombia
• Banking in Cartagena as a foreigner
• Visas and residency in Colombia
• Healthcare in Cartagena

This guide is informational and reflects Canadian tax law and the Canada-Colombia tax treaty as of May 2026. It is not tax advice. Thresholds, rates, and deadlines change every year. Confirm your situation with a Canadian cross-border accountant and a Colombian contador before filing.