All About Estates

Estate tax return due on a weekend or public holiday date?

An estate return for an executor’s year and years thereafter ( until the estate is fully settled and distributed) is typically for a full twelve months subsequent to the deceased’s date of death. The return is due 90 days after the year end. For instance, if the deceased died on Jun 5, 2010 and as executor, you are filing an executor’s year T3, it would be for the 12 month year ended Jun 5, 2011. This return would be due on Sep 3, 2011 which was a Saturday.

So is the return due the last business day prior to September 3rd, 2011, that is September 2nd, 2011 or is it due on the next business day which in this instance would be September 6th, 2011 because Monday September 5, 2011 was Labour Day?

Administratively, the Canada Revenue Agency will deem the filing deadline to be extended to Monday night when the deadline falls on a Saturday or Sunday. The same administrative relief is allowed when the deadline falls on a public holiday in which case the deadline is extended to the end of the next business day. So in this example, the filing deadline is the evening of September 6, 2011.

Nevertheless, I always urge caution which is not to rely on administrative relief since it is not law. The prudent thing to do is to be early then there is no basis for late filing penalties or interest; however, if you have to rely on the extended deadline policy, then at least you have some basis for defending any late filing penalties or interest imposed.

Happy reading

About Steven Frye
Baker Tilly WM LLP is a leading, independent audit, tax, and business advisory firm based in Vancouver and Toronto, serving clients across Canada. Drawing on well-trained teams across a variety of disciplines, we ensure the alignment of our professional’s skills and experience with client requirements, resulting in exceptional service and business outcomes.