Anybody invested in income trusts should know that the T3 slip, a statement of income from trusts, is required for applicable trust holders by March 31 of every year. This is usually the last tax form to come in, and it will explain how much income (and what type of income) you received over the year.
The reason why the T3 slip comes so late is to give trusts sufficient time to finalize (and audit) their financial statements for the fiscal year.
Impatient investors that want to get cracking at their personal income taxes, however, can go to CDS Innovations’ website and get a sneak preview of most publicly traded entities’ allocation of income. T3 statements for the 2009 tax year can be found here. Just note, in theory, a trust can change the reported allocation on March 30, 2010 and one should never submit their income tax return using the preliminary data.
In this age of sophisticated computer systems is it really necessary to allow trusts to take 90 days to get their tax information out to their customers? This delay is a nuisance for everyone, for taxpayers who have to wait to file and receive refunds, for firms who prepare returns who are over-loaded in April, and probably for CRA who are also over-loaded in April.
Some banks seem to be able to get T3 forms out by February 28, but obviously most firms take the full 90 days because they can and don’t have to rush.
I think CRA should seriously consider moving the date back to March 15 at the latest, or even February 28.
There are trusts (not publicly traded) out there that are run much less formally and I believe this is what the 90 day requirements were intended for.
Maybe the government can mandate an accelerated T3 filing for publicly traded trusts.