2 June 2026 STEP Roundtable Q. 12, 2026-1089271C6 - Schedule 15 Penalty

Please note that the following document, although believed to be correct at the time of issue, may not represent the current position of the CRA.
Prenez note que ce document, bien qu'exact au moment émis, peut ne pas représenter la position actuelle de l'ARC.

Principal Issues: 1. Did the CRA retain Schedule 15 when filed with a bare trust's T3 Return for the trust's 2023 taxation year? 2. Will the CRA assess a penalty in circumstances where a Schedule 15 was not required for a prior year then filed for a subsequent year but annotated as no change?

Position: 1. A Schedule 15 was retained when filed with a bare trust's T3 Return for the trust's 2023 taxation year unless the Notice of Assessment stated otherwise. 2. The CRA may consider providing relief related to the Schedule 15 penalty based on the trust's specific circumstances.

Reasons: See comments provided below.

2026 STEP CRA Roundtable – June 2, 2026

QUESTION 12. Schedule 15 Penalty

According to information shared by the CRA with CPA Canada in August 2025, the CRA will discard T3 Schedule 15 Beneficial Ownership Information of a Trust (“Schedule 15”) information in cases where filing was not required; for example, a trust that exists for fewer than three months but is still required to file a T3 Trust Income Tax and Information Return (“T3 Return”). This approach is due to the Privacy Act, which prevents the CRA from storing Schedule 15 data when it is not required. The CRA noted that Notices of Assessment (“NOA”) will indicate that Schedule 15 information was not retained.

If a prior filed Schedule 15 was not required, if such a trust later files Schedule 15 in a year where it is required and indicates “no change” from the prior year, the CRA will assess a penalty because no previous information exists on file. This is especially problematic in light of Budget 2025 changes, where bare trust filing requirements have been deferred to taxation years ending after December 30, 2026. Practitioners may have inadvertently filed Schedule 15 for bare trusts in 2024 and/or 2025 when they were not required.

1. Can the CRA confirm whether a Schedule 15 filed with a T3 Return for a bare trust’s 2023 tax year was retained by the CRA? It is noted that the relief from the T3 Return and Schedule 15 filing requirement for that year was administrative with the Act requiring the filing of these forms.

2. Can the CRA confirm that they will assess a penalty in such a situation (where “no change” is marked in the later Schedule 15 in a year when it was required)? Could CRA instead provide administrative relief?

CRA Response

Part 1.

A Schedule 15 was retained by the CRA when it was filed with a T3 Return for a bare trust’s 2023 tax year, unless it received the following note on its NOA:

“Based on the information you gave us, you did not need to report beneficial ownership information this year. As a result, we did not update our records with the information you had given us. However, you may need to submit Form T3SCH15, Beneficial Ownership Information of a Trust, in future years, depending on your situation.”

As standard practice, the CRA assesses a penalty where “no change” is marked on a Schedule 15 and there is no existing beneficial ownership information on file. This includes situations where the CRA did not retain prior year information as per the CRA’s standing position on the Privacy Act restrictions.

Over the past two years, the CRA was made aware by external stakeholders and taxpayers that the practice of discarding voluntarily submitted beneficial ownership information was problematic because many filers weren’t aware that the information was not being retained by the CRA, despite the note provided on the NOA. As such, in 2024, the CRA paused the practice of discarding the beneficial ownership information in order to re-examine its position and the risks associated with storing the information.

Following additional review and analysis, the CRA has revised its interpretation of the Privacy Act restrictions that had previously prevented storage of the beneficial ownership information, as the information was voluntarily submitted by the taxpayer in a self-assessment system. The CRA has determined that it can keep the voluntarily submitted information so that it can apply its beneficial ownership carry-forward policy in future years, if required.

The CRA now processes and retains Schedule 15s submitted voluntarily by a trust, including some of those submitted over the past two years.

Part 2.

Given the change in position vis-à-vis the Privacy Act restriction, the CRA may consider providing relief related to the Schedule 15 penalty based on the trust’s specific circumstances.

Additional instructions for filers

To make sure that the CRA has the most up to date beneficial ownership information, the next time the trust files a Schedule 15 make sure to complete:

• Part A – Annual beneficial ownership information, by answering:

o “NO” to the question “Is this the first time the trust is reporting beneficial ownership information?”

o “YES” to the question “Has the beneficial ownership information of the trust changed since the last time it was reported?”

• Part B – Identification of reportable entities, for each reportable entity of the trust.
• Part C – Beneficiaries unable to be listed (if applicable).

If you received a note on your NOA that the CRA did not retain your beneficial ownership information and you are required to file a Schedule 15 with your next T3 Return, please submit Schedule 15 and complete Part A by selecting "Yes" to the first question about reporting beneficial ownership information for the first time, then complete Part B and C as applicable.

Dawn Dannehl
2026-108927

Response prepared by:

Chris Deutsch
T3 Special Processing and Error Inspection Section
Processing Division
Individual Returns Directorate