The 2025 fall budget has postponed the filing of T3 returns for “bare trusts” to 2027 for taxation years ending on or after December 31, 2026. This means December 31, 2026, filings would be due by March 31, 2027.
Generally speaking, we are dealing with T3 filings for bare trusts where there is a trustee who is not a beneficiary and solely holds legal title or authorization to act only as an agent for the beneficiary or beneficiaries.
In March 2025, it was announced that filing for 2024 would not be required. All of this started with the 2018 federal budget and initially enacted in 2022, followed by proposed amendments issued on November 4, 2025, on August 15, 2025, and on August 12, 2024.
Schedule 15, where applicable, outlining beneficiary information is also required to be part of the T3 return and attracts penalties for not filing it on time.
Such arrangements could include certain individuals on title for estate planning purposes ( usually to deal with provincial probate) relating to real property or even with various bank or custodial accounts for one’s elderly parents or for minor children.
There are various exclusions for the foregoing filings, however the initial 2022 enacted exception that was designed for small trusts. This original legislation prescribed that if the trust solely held money and specific securities whose value was less than $50K, it was exempted from this T3 filing. If this trust held other assets of any value such as real property, regardless of its use, the trust was not exempted.
The 2024 and proposed 2025 legislation now provide two types of similar type exemptions.
The first exemption states that where the fair market value of trust property of any kind is no more than $50K, the bare trust is exempted from T3 filing.
The second exemption states, if trust property exceeds the $50K exemption, there is an aggregate $250K specific asset exemption for not only money and certain securities but also including personal-use property which may include real estate that may be one’s home or non-rented vacation property.
A third exemption called “Deemed Trust-exceptions”, that are independent of the $50K/$250K foregoing numerical threshold exemptions. This deemed exemption provision includes a principal residence where one or more of the legal owners designated the property as their principal residence for the year, if the legal owners are related. The owners cannot designate any other property as a principal residence. This exception is outside of the foregoing $250K exemption.
As part of the “Deemed Trust-exceptions”, now joint financial accounts, where both the registered legal owners are all beneficiaries on these accounts are exempt from the T3 filing requirements. However, there are situations where there are accounts that are or are not jointly registered, where the secondary person only has cheque signing authority (ie., POA) or only has in their possession a bank debit card in their name. Is there a T3 filing requirement here?
As initially enacted, bare trusts in existence for less than three months at the end of the year are exempt from filing the T3.
CRA has on their website a series of frequently asked questions pertaining to this subject area that were posted over a year ago and will likely be modified to clarify the new rules.
You should consult with your professional advisor on all related matters
