New tax-filing obligations await many unsuspecting Canadians in 2024

This article is about new tax-reporting obligations for trusts in Canada that will likely result in paperwork and significant costs for many Canadians, some of whom may not even know they are part of a trust. The new rules require that trusts, with few exceptions, annually file what’s known as a T3 Trust Income Tax and Information Return and disclose beneficiaries, among other information. Some taxpayers who haven’t previously had to file will find they have to incur accounting and legal fees to meet those obligations, tax experts say. The new measure comes as Canada increases efforts to crack down on tax dodging and strengthen its anti-money-laundering regime amid domestic and international scrutiny of the way it combats financial crime.