Who should file a tax return

Personal income tax (T1)
Call us! if you should file a tax return and what are your tax obligations. Your filing obligations may be different if you live in or leave Canada permanently or temporarily.

You live in Canada permanently

Canadian residents
You live and work in Canada, you have to pay taxes, and want to receive credits and benefit payments
Newcomers to Canada (immigrants)
You left another country to settle in and become a resident of Canada
File taxes for someone who died
You become a legal representative to file a final return, request a clearance certificate, resolve benefits and credits
Indigenous peoples
Your benefits and credits, tax exempt income under the Indian Act, COVID-related benefits, and filing a tax return

You leave Canada temporarily or permanently

Factual residents
You are a resident of Canada and you leave temporarily for work, school, a medical procedure, or vacation
● Live part-time in the U.S.
You spend part of the year in the U.S. for vacation or health reasons and maintain residential ties in Canada
● Government employees
You are a federal or provincial government employee who is posted abroad for work ● Leave Canada permanently (emigrants)
You leave Canada to live in another country and no longer have residential ties with
Canada

You live in Canada temporarily

● Non-residents of Canada

You live in Canada for less than 183 days in a year and do not have significant
residential ties in Canada
● Non-residents of Canada with rental income
You receive rental income from real and immovable properties in Canada
● Deemed residents
You live in Canada for 183 days or more in a year and do not have significant
residential ties in Canada
● International students
You are an international student studying in Canada
● Seasonal workers
You are a seasonal agricultural worker from another country

corporation income tax return (T2)

Resident corporations
All resident corporations (except tax-exempt Crown corporations, Hutterite colonies and
registered charities) have to file a T2 return for every tax year, even if there is no tax
payable. This includes:
● non-profit organizations
● tax-exempt corporations
● inactive corporations

Non-resident corporations
A non-resident corporation must file a return if, at any time in the year, one of the
following situations applies:
● it carried on business in Canada
● it had a taxable capital gain
● it disposed of taxable Canadian property

This requirement applies even if the corporation claims that any profits or gains realized
are exempt from Canadian income tax due to the provisions of a tax treaty.

Trust Return (T3)

New legislation in Bill C-32 states that certain trusts must provide additional information
regarding beneficial ownership on an annual basis. Trusts must provide beneficial
ownership information on a Schedule 15, filed along with a T3 return. These new
reporting requirements are effective for taxation years ending after December 30, 2023
and subsequent tax years. This means that some trusts may have to file a T3 return for
the first time. Others should still file their 2022 T3 returns as usual.

You have to file a T3 return if income from the trust property is subject to tax, and in the
year, the trust:

● has tax payable
● is requested to file
● is resident in Canada and has either disposed of, or is deemed to have
disposed of, a capital property or has a taxable capital gain (for example, a
principal residence, or shares)
● is a non-resident throughout the year, and has a taxable capital gain (other
than from an excluded disposition described in subsection 150(5)) or has
disposed of taxable Canadian property (other than from an excluded
disposition)
● is a deemed resident trust
● holds property that is subject to subsection 75(2) of the Act
● has provided a benefit of more than $100 to a beneficiary for the upkeep,
maintenance, or taxes on a property maintained for the beneficiary’s use (for
more information, see Line 22 – Upkeep, maintenance, and taxes of a

property used or occupied by a beneficiary in Chapter 3 of Guide T4013, T3
Trust Guide), or
● receives from the trust property any income, gain, or profit from the trust
property that is allocated to one or more beneficiaries and the trust has:
■ total income from all sources of more than $500
■ Income of more than $100 allocated to any single beneficiary
■ made a distribution of capital to one or more beneficiaries
■ allocated any portion of the income to a non-resident beneficiary

A T3 return must be filed when a trust does not have tax payable, however the trust
holds property that is subject to subsection 75(2) and from which the trust received
income, gains or profits during the year.
A T3 return must be filed when the trusts’ total income from all sources is less than
$500, however the trust made a distribution of capital to one or more beneficiaries.
You may not have to file a T3 return if the estate is distributed immediately after the
person dies, or if the estate did not earn income before the distribution. In these cases,
you should give each beneficiary a statement showing their share of the estate.