Have you ever had the displeasure of filing your personal income tax early, say in March and then look in the mailbox a week or so later and find you have got more T-Slips? When you sheepishly give these to your accountant, they dutifully file a form called a T1- Adjustment. This generally costs you more money in accounting fees and can draw unwanted attention from the Canada Revenue Agency.
We thought it might be helpful to give you a brief overview of all the T-Slips, what they are for and what their deadline for filing is.
| Slip/Form | What it is | Filing Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| T1 Form | Personal income tax return | April 30 June 15th if self employed (although taxes due Apr. 30) |
| T2 Form | Corporate income tax return | Six months after fiscal year-end (although taxes usually due 3 months after) |
| T3 Slip | Trust income tax return & information slips | March 31 |
| T4 Slip | Employment information slips | February 28th |
| T4A Slip | Self-Employment information slips | February 28th |
| T5 Slip | Investment Income information slips from corporations | February 28th |
Many of us believe that we should get all our information slips from various sources by the deadline of February 28th. While this is true for T4 and T5 slips and close to being true for RRSP Contribution slips (60 days after the year-end is usually March 1st except leap years), it is not true for T3 slips.
Most mutual funds are structured as trusts. In addition, there are numerous other investments structured as trusts such as Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT’s), Oil/Gas Income Trusts, Royalty Income Trusts, and other types of Income Trusts. Basically, any investment which is structured as a trust does not have to file a tax return nor issue the T3 information slips until 90 days after its calendar year-end which is March 31st in non leap years.
Furthermore, since the slips are sent out using the regular mail system, it is quite common that investors in these trusts do not actually receive the T3 slip until early to mid-April.
The best way to deal with this particular situation is to simply delay actually filing your personal income tax return until, say mid-April. If you have the majority of your slips by say, early March, you can give them all to your accountant who can input them all into their income tax software at that time. However, it is best to inform your accountant that you expect to receive another slip or two. Then, the accountant can simply leave your return on hold until April 15th and then e-file it at that time when all the slips are definitely in. This saves you the hassle (not to mention additional accounting fees) of having to file a T1-Adjustment.
Did you know that you can also call the Canada Revenue Agency directly, say early in April and ask them to give you a verbal list all your T-Slips and amounts on them? This is because all corporations and income trusts must not only give you the slips, but they must file them with CRA as well. The toll-free number for CRA is 1-800-959-8281.
If you would like any more information on T-Slips and deadlines, please do not hesitate to give us a call at 250-385-0058 or toll-free 1-888-315-0058.