Income Tax Act

Marginal note:Filing returns of income — general rule

• 150 (1) Subject to subsection (1.1), a return of income that is in prescribed form and that contains prescribed information shall be filed with the Minister, without notice or demand for the return, for each taxation year of a taxpayer,

  • Marginal note:Corporations

    (a) in the case of a corporation, by or on behalf of the corporation within six months after the end of the year if

    • (i) at any time in the year the corporation

      • (A) is resident in Canada,

      • (B) carries on business in Canada, unless the corporation’s only revenue from carrying on business in Canada in the year consists of amounts in respect of which tax was payable by the corporation under subsection 212(5.1),

      • (C) has a taxable capital gain (otherwise than from an excluded disposition), or

      • (D) disposes of a taxable Canadian property (otherwise than in an excluded disposition), or

    • (ii) tax under this Part

      • (A) is payable by the corporation for the year, or

      • (B) would be, but for a tax treaty, payable by the corporation for the year (otherwise than in respect of a disposition of taxable Canadian property that is treaty-protected property of the corporation);

  • Marginal note:Deceased individuals

    (b) in the case of an individual who dies after October of the year and on or before the day that would be the individual’s filing due date for the year if the individual had not died, by the individual’s legal representatives on or before the day that is the later of the day on or before which the return would otherwise be required to be filed and the day that is 6 months after the day of death;

  • Marginal note:Trusts or estates

    (c) in the case of an estate or trust, within 90 days from the end of the year;

  • Marginal note:Individuals

    (d) in the case of any other person, on or before

    • (i) the following April 30 by that person or, if the person is unable for any reason to file the return, by the person’s guardian, committee or other legal representative (in this paragraph referred to as the person’s “guardian”),

    • (ii) the following June 15 by that person or, if the person is unable for any reason to file the return, by the person’s guardian where the person is

      • (A) an individual who carried on a business in the year, unless the expenditures made in the course of carrying on the business were primarily the cost or capital cost of tax shelter investments (as defined in subsection 143.2(1)), or

      • (B) at any time in the year a cohabiting spouse or common-law partner (within the meaning assigned by section 122.6) of an individual to whom clause 150(1)(d)(ii)(A) applies, or

    • (iii) where at any time in the year the person is a cohabiting spouse or common-law partner (within the meaning assigned by section 122.6) of an individual to whom paragraph 150(1)(b) applies for the year, on or before the day that is the later of the day on or before which the person’s return would otherwise be required to be filed and the day that is 6 months after the day of the individual’s death; or

  • Marginal note:Designated persons

    (e) in a case where no person described by paragraph 150(1)(a), 150(1)(b) or 150(1)(d) has filed the return, by such person as is required by notice in writing from the Minister to file the return, within such reasonable time as the notice specifies.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (1.1) Subject to subsection (1.2), subsection (1) does not apply to a taxation year of a taxpayer if

  • (a) the taxpayer is a corporation that was a registered charity throughout the year; or

  • (b) the taxpayer is an individual unless

    • (i) tax is payable under this Part by the individual for the year,

    • (ii) where the individual is resident in Canada at any time in the year, the individual has a taxable capital gain or disposes of capital property in the year,

    • (iii) where the individual is non-resident throughout the year, the individual has a taxable capital gain (otherwise than from an excluded disposition) or disposes of a taxable Canadian property (otherwise than in an excluded disposition) in the year, or

    • (iv) at the end of the year the individual’s HBP balance or LLP balance (as defined in subsection 146.01(1) or 146.02(1)) is a positive amount.

• Marginal note:Exception — trusts

  (1.2) Subsection (1.1) does not apply to a taxation year of a trust if the trust is resident in Canada and is an express trust, or for civil law purposes a trust other than a trust that is established by law or by judgement, unless the trust

  • (a) had been in existence for less than three months at the end of the year;

  • (b) holds assets with a total fair market value that does not exceed $50,000 throughout the year, if the only assets held by the trust throughout the year are one or more of

    • (i) money,

    • (ii) a debt obligation described in paragraph (a) of the definition fully exempt interest in subsection 212(3),

    • (iii) a share, debt obligation or right listed on a designated stock exchange,

    • (iv) a share of the capital stock of a mutual fund corporation,

    • (v) a unit of a mutual fund trust,

    • (vi) an interest in a related segregated fund trust (within the meaning assigned by paragraph 138.1(1)(a)), and

    • (vii) an interest as a beneficiary under a trust, all the units of which are listed on a designated stock exchange;

  • (c) is required under the relevant rules of professional conduct or the laws of Canada or a province to hold funds for the purposes of the activity that is regulated under those rules or laws, provided the trust is not maintained as a separate trust for a particular client or clients;

  • (d) is a registered charity;

  • (e) is a club, society or association described in paragraph 149(1)(l);

  • (f) is a mutual fund trust;

  • (g) is, for greater certainty, a related segregated fund trust, within the meaning assigned by paragraph 138.1(1)(a);

  • (h) is a trust, all the units of which are listed on a designated stock exchange;

  • (i) is prescribed to be a master trust;

  • (j) is, for greater certainty, a graduated rate estate;

  • (k) is a qualified disability trust, as defined in subsection 122(3);

  • (l) is an employee life and health trust;

  • (m) is a trust described under paragraph 81(1)(g.3);

  • (n) is a trust under or governed by

    • (i) a deferred profit sharing plan,

    • (ii) a pooled registered pension plan,

    • (iii) a registered disability savings plan,

    • (iv) a registered education savings plan,

    • (v) a registered pension plan,

    • (vi) a registered retirement income fund,

    • (vii) a registered retirement savings plan,

    • (viii) a tax-free savings account,

    • (ix) an employee profit sharing plan,

    • (x) a registered supplementary unemployment benefit plan, or

    • (xi) a first home savings account;

  • (o) is a cemetery care trust or a trust governed by an eligible funeral arrangement; or

  • (p) is an eligible trust, as defined in subsection 135.2(1).

• Marginal note:Bare trusts and arrangements — inclusion

  (1.3) For the purposes of this section, a trust includes an arrangement under which a trust can reasonably be considered to act as agent for all the beneficiaries under the trust with respect to all dealings with all of the trust’s property.

• Marginal note:Solicitor-client privilege

  (1.4) For greater certainty, subsections (1.1) to (1.3) do not require the disclosure of information that is subject to solicitor-client privilege.

• Marginal note:Demands for returns

  (2) Every person, whether or not the person is liable to pay tax under this Part for a taxation year and whether or not a return has been filed under subsection (1) or (3), shall, on demand sent by the Minister, file, within such reasonable time stipulated in the demand, with the Minister in prescribed form and containing prescribed information a return of the income for the taxation year designated in the demand.

• Marginal note:Trustees, etc.

  (3) Every trustee in bankruptcy, assignee, liquidator, curator, receiver, trustee or committee and every agent or other person administering, managing, winding up, controlling or otherwise dealing with the property, business, estate or income of a person who has not filed a return for a taxation year as required by this section shall file a return in prescribed form of that person’s income for that year.

• Marginal note:Death of partner or proprietor

  (4) Where

  • (a) subsection 34.1(9) or 34.2(8) applies in computing an individual’s income for a taxation year from a business, or

  • (b) an individual who carries on a business in a taxation year dies in the year and after the end of a fiscal period of the business that ends in the year, another fiscal period of the business (in this subsection referred to as the “short period”) ends in the year because of the individual’s death, and the individual’s legal representative elects that this subsection apply,

  the individual’s income from businesses for short periods, if any, shall not be included in computing the individual’s income for the year and the individual’s legal representative shall file an additional return of income for the year in respect of the individual as if the return were filed in respect of another person and shall pay the tax payable under this Part by that other person for the year computed as if

  • (c) the other person’s only income for the year were the amount determined by the formula

    A + B - C

    where

    A

    is the total of all amounts each of which is the individual’s income from a business for a short fiscal period,

    B

    is the total of all amounts each of which is an amount deducted under subsection 34.2(8) in computing the individual’s income for the taxation year in which the individual dies, and

    C

    is the total of all amounts each of which is an amount included under subsection 34.1(9) in computing the individual’s income for the taxation year in which the individual dies, and

  • (d) subject to sections 114.2 and 118.93, that other person were entitled to the deductions to which the individual is entitled under sections 110, 118 to 118.7 and 118.9 for the year in computing the individual’s taxable income or tax payable under this Part, as the case may be, for the year.

• Marginal note:Excluded disposition

  (5) For the purposes of this section, a disposition of a property by a taxpayer at any time in a taxation year is an excluded disposition if

  • (a) the taxpayer is non-resident at that time;

  • (b) no tax is payable under this Part by the taxpayer for the taxation year;

  • (c) the taxpayer is, at that time, not liable to pay any amount under this Act in respect of any previous taxation year (other than an amount for which the Minister has accepted, and holds, adequate security under section 116 or 220); and

  • (d) each taxable Canadian property disposed of by the taxpayer in the taxation year is

    • (i) excluded property within the meaning assigned by subsection 116(6), or

    • (ii) a property in respect of the disposition of which the Minister has issued to the taxpayer a certificate under subsection 116(2), (4) or (5.2).