14 – Things You Owned When You Left Canada

When a person emigrates from Canada and ceases to be a Canadian tax resident, there are special tax forms that apply in the person’s final Canadian tax return. Form T1161 is a disclosure form that lists the property the emigrant had at the time of emigration, subject to certain exclusions. Form T1243 is a form calculating the capital gains or losses arising from the “deemed disposition” of the properties owned at the time of emigration. A “deemed disposition” is a tax concept that applies when certain types of property are considered to be sold for tax purposes, even though no actual sale has taken place. A deemed disposition can result in a capital gain or a capital loss, which must be reported on the tax return of the person who is deemed to have disposed of the property. Certain properties are excluded from this deemed disposition and from reporting on Form T1243.

The properties subject to reporting on Form T1161 and Form T1243 are not the same. As a result, Unbordered uses a questionnaire approach in this Form #14 to build a picture of your assets at the time of emigration. This allows us to evaluate each asset and determine what needs to be reported for each.

We would ask you to be careful in preparing this form. Omitting assets can lead to a decision that Form T1161 is not applicable. Failure to file this form can lead to a $2,500 penalty.