The TaxLetter: (Not So) New Trust Reporting Rules

So, I'm going to ask you to think way, way, way, back, to a time before face masks and online schools. When we would go to a crowded concert or packed restaurants without thinking twice about it. The year is 2018 (some of you may think this was not that long ago, but these past two years feels like 20 years, so I stand by my assertion that 2018 feels like a lifetime ago).

In the 2018 federal budget, the government announced the introduction of new reporting requirements for Canadian trusts. And as you may recall from previous articles, under the Tax Act in Canada, a trust is a separate taxable entity, which means that it is a taxpayer in its own right and has to report any income and pay taxes on that income (to the extent it has not allocated any income out in the same taxation year to a beneficiary). This means a trust has to also file a tax return, based on a December 31 year end. But unlike individuals, a trust has to file its tax return (known as a T3) within