New – Bare trusts are exempt from trust reporting requirements for 2023
March 28, 2024
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada Revenue Agency
To support ongoing efforts to ensure the effectiveness and integrity of Canada’s tax system, the Government of Canada introduced new reporting requirements for trusts.
In recognition that the new reporting requirements for bare trusts have had an unintended impact on Canadians, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will not require bare trusts to file a T3 Income Tax and Information Return (T3 return), including Schedule 15 (Beneficial Ownership Information of a Trust), for the 2023 tax year, unless the CRA makes a direct request for these filings.
Over the coming months, the CRA will work with the Department of Finance to further clarify its guidance on this filing requirement. The CRA will communicate with Canadians as further information becomes available.
Looking for any info on if we still have to create the account even if we don’t have to file anything. We’re calling a CRA trust officer now to see if we can get any clarity on it.
In recognition of the April 2, 2024 trust filing deadline, the VTN team thought it was important to get the following message out immediately.
CRA just announced that bare trusts would be exempt from trust reporting requirements for 2023. CRA stated:
“To support ongoing efforts to ensure the effectiveness and integrity of Canada’s tax system, the Government of Canada introduced new reporting requirements for trusts.
In recognition that the new reporting requirements for bare trusts have had an unintended impact on Canadians, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)will not require bare trusts to file a T3 Income Tax and Information Return (T3 return), including Schedule 15 (Beneficial Ownership Information of a Trust), for the 2023 tax year, unless the CRA makes a direct request for these filings.
Over the coming months, the CRA will work with the Department of Finance to further clarify its guidance on this filing requirement. The CRA will communicate with Canadians as further information becomes available.”
While we wish this decision could have been made and announced much earlier, we thank CPA Canada, along with publishers such as the Globe & Mail, for their efforts in advocating on, and communicating the many issues associated with these rules. We would also like to thank the many practitioners who relentlessly brought these issues to the media and their local MP.
Well that was unhelpful. She wasn’t even aware CRA canceled the required filings when we talked to her and she couldn’t clarify if we still have to set up the trust account even if we don’t have to file anything
“ Over the coming months, the CRA will work with the Department of Finance to further clarify its guidance on this filing requirement. The CRA will communicate with Canadians as further information becomes available.”
