ARTICLE · 25 APRIL 2016

Canadian Foreign Reporting Obligations

Collins Barrow National Incorporated

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With the recent release of the ICIJs' investigation of offshore tax havens used by a law firm based in Panama, the question of what Canada is doing to ensure that its taxpayers are disclosing offshore assets and reporting the related income is front and centre in the minds of many taxpayers.

CanadaTax

Julianne McLaren

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With the recent release of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists' (ICIJ) investigation of offshore tax havens used by a law firm based in Panama (known as the "Panama Papers"), the question of what Canada is doing to ensure that its taxpayers are disclosing offshore assets and reporting the related income is front and centre in the minds of many taxpayers.

Since 1998, Canadian taxpayers (individuals, corporations, partnerships and trusts) have been required to file Form T1135, Foreign Income Verification Statement, to report all specified foreign property owned during the tax year if the cost of such property exceeds $100,000.

Specified foreign property is a defined term in the Income Tax Act (ITA) and includes the following:

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