As 2020 begins to wind down and mercifully come to an end, we are reminded of new rules coming into force for administrators of trusts beginning January 1, 2021.
As part of its 2018 federal budget, the Government of Canada introduced new tax return filing and information reporting requirements for trusts. Currently, a trust must file a T3 return if it has tax payable on its assets, or income or capital is distributed to beneficiaries.
Going forward, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will begin to collect detailed information on the identity of all trustees, beneficiaries and settlors, as well as any person who has the ability to apply control over trustee decisions about appointment of income or capital. This information includes the name, address, date of birth, jurisdiction of residence, and taxpayer identification number (“TIN”).[1] This information must now be filed with a T3 return.
For some trusts, a T3 return may never have been required before, for others, these new reporting requirements could prove very onerous. Trustees and administrators are encouraged to plan ahead and seek the advice of a tax professional as non-compliance carries significant penalties of around $2,500.00 on top of any existing penalties.
When it comes to estate planning, the new rules will affect most express trusts, and settlors preparing their testamentary documents should also seek the advice of a planning professional. Especially as it is yet unknown how the new rules may affect the use of secret and semi-secret trusts.
Oosterhoff on Trusts (9th ed.) reminds us that with a secret trust, “the Will neither discloses the existence of the trustee, nor the beneficiary,” and under a “semi-secret trust, the Will discloses the existence of the trustee, but not the beneficiary” (p.830).
We are expecting the CRA to issue clarification and guidance in the coming months as the new rules yield a host of as yet unanswered questions, namely: By seeking out personal details from beneficiaries, does a trustee then risk breaching the terms of a trust that was settled on terms meant to stay private? Is there a risk of increased non-reporting through the use of secret trusts? And what happens if the required information is not available, or withheld?
As our managing partner, Suzana Popovic-Montag told the Law Times in February of this year, “There has been a historical lack of transparency in the administration of trusts and estates, and governments are now taking an interest in the use of these tools in the transfer of assets for taxation purposes.” Beyond the questions raised above, Suzana goes on to say that we should “‘expect concern surrounding privacy issues’ any time there are new or enhanced disclosure obligations.”
The federal government is looking to crack down on aggressive tax avoidance, and beginning January 1, 2021, a new era of disclosure will begin. While the full picture is not yet completely clear, we will keep you posted.
Thanks for reading!
Ian Hull and Daniel Enright
[1] The TIN includes a social insurance number for individuals, a business number for corporations and partnerships, or an 8 digit trust account number issued by CRA to trusts.