Estate accounting in Ontario.
When someone has died, the CRA still expects returns. We handle the terminal personal return, the estate trust return and the clearance certificate so the family can focus on the family. Handled by a CPA, CA with 20+ years of Ontario estate experience.
Accepting new estate files · Whitby, Ontario · Owner-operated CPA, CA
The person has died. Now what?
Losing a parent or a spouse is hard enough without the tax work that follows. The lawyer hands you a list of assets. The bank wants statements. The CRA expects returns. And you still have a regular life to run.
We have been guiding Ontario families through the post-mortem tax process for over two decades. Bring us the list from your estate lawyer and we handle the rest. The terminal personal return, the T3 estate trust return, the CRA clearance certificate and the holdback calculation before money goes to siblings. You stay in your role as executor or estate trustee without having to learn tax law in the worst week of your life.
What we file for an Ontario estate.
Every estate is a sequence of CRA returns and elections. Miss one and the file sits open for years. Here is the full sequence, handled under one roof.
T1 Terminal Return
The deceased’s final personal tax return, covering income up to the date of death and the deemed disposition of capital property under ITA section 70(5). Filed by April 30 of the following year, or six months after death for deaths between November and December.
Rights or Things Return
A separate optional return under section 70(2) for income earned before death but not yet received: unpaid salary, accrued vacation pay, declared dividends. Often reduces total tax because it uses a fresh set of graduated rates and credits.
T3 Estate / Trust Return
The estate is its own taxpayer once it owns assets. We file the T3 each year the estate is open, elect Graduated Rate Estate status on the first return and keep the estate at personal marginal rates for up to 36 months. We also prepare the accounting needed if a beneficiary requests a formal passing of accounts.
CRA Clearance Certificate (TX19)
Filed before final distribution so you are not personally liable for taxes assessed later. Without one, the CRA can reassess any return going back years and collect from you out of pocket. We prepare the TX19 request and the supporting schedules.
Ontario Estate Administration Tax
We coordinate with your estate lawyer on the probate value and the Estate Information Return due to the Ontario Ministry of Finance within 180 days of the estate certificate being issued. Ontario charges $0 on the first $50,000 and $15 per $1,000 above that.
Holdback and distribution plan
Before any beneficiary receives a cheque, we calculate how much cash the estate has to keep on hand for the remaining tax. Distribute too much and the shortfall comes out of your pocket as estate trustee.
Four things executors get caught on.
These come up almost every time someone calls us for the first time after a death in the family. Worth knowing whether or not we end up working together.
RRSPs and RRIFs are usually the biggest surprise
The full balance of an RRSP or RRIF is added to the deceased’s income in the year of death, unless it rolls over to a qualifying spouse or financially dependent child under section 60(l). A $500,000 RRSP can generate over $250,000 of tax owing on the final return. The estate has to pay it, often before the home or other assets have been sold.
Distributing without a clearance certificate
Most executors hand out money the moment probate is granted because beneficiaries are pushing. If the CRA later reassesses any return going back years, you pay the shortfall personally. The TX19 clearance certificate is the one form that protects you from personal liability.
Executor compensation has to be done properly
You are entitled to a fee for the work, roughly 2.5% of assets in plus 2.5% of assets out under Ontario’s typical five-per-cent guideline. That fee is taxable income to you. If the estate pays it as employment income, the estate needs a payroll number, has to withhold tax and CPP and has to issue a T4. We set it up correctly so you do not get reassessed two years later.
The disability tax credit often gets missed
If the deceased was disabled in their final years (long-term care, dementia, severely limited mobility, vision or hearing) and never claimed the disability tax credit, you can apply for it retroactively on Form T2201 going back up to ten years. We have seen refunds of $15,000 or more from this one filing.
Three situations we see most.
Sibling estate trustees
You and your siblings are co-executors. One of you is doing all the work. We handle the tax filings while you handle the family, and we calculate fair executor compensation across whoever is actually doing the work.
Spouses after a long marriage
Most assets roll over to you tax-deferred under section 70(6). The terminal return is often modest. The bigger planning work happens on your side going forward, especially around the RRSP or RRIF that now sits in your name and the eventual second-estate plan.
Adult children handling a parent’s estate
A house, a cottage, some non-registered investments and an RRIF. The deemed disposition rules apply to everything that was not jointly held with right of survivorship. We sort what is taxable, what is exempt and what can still be elected, including the principal residence exemption on the home for years owned up to the date of death.
Questions executors ask first.
Do beneficiaries pay inheritance tax in Ontario or Canada?+
What is post-mortem tax compliance?+
How long does it take to close an estate from a tax perspective?+
What do I need to bring to our first meeting?+
How do you bill for estate work?+
Planning ahead, before a death? See our estate planning page.
Ready to file the estate properly?
Book a 30-minute consult. Bring the asset list. We will tell you exactly what gets filed, when it gets filed and what it costs.
Book a consulthello@ekcpapro.com · (289) 985-0575 · 70 Taunton Road East, Whitby