If you own foreign property whose total cost exceeds more than $100,000 at any point in the year, you must complete Form T1135, Foreign Income Verification Statement, and file it along with your annual income tax return.
When we think of foreign property, our minds may turn to that offshore Swiss bank account or, perhaps, a Florida rental property. But, believe it or not, a T1135 must be filed if you own foreign stocks, such as Apple Corp., Ford Motor Co. or Bank of America, in your Canadian, non-registered brokerage account.
I’ve always wondered why self-reporting one’s such foreign securities is even necessary to ensure proper tax compliance given that the Canada Revenue Agency already gets a copy of your brokerage firm’s T5 slip, which reports any foreign dividends or interest income paid into your account. The CRA also gets a copy of the T5008 slip, which reports any dispositions of securities (including foreign securities) you held in your account and disposed of in the prior year to ensure you are reporting your capital gain (loss). What new information could the CRA possibly get from the T1135 that it’s not already getting via tax reporting?
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