Blog post

Outlined below are a list of tax deadlines for American’s living in Canada as well as regular Canadian taxpayers and non-residents of Canada. Note that in years where the deadline falls on a holiday it is often moved to the next business day. Deadlines may also be adjusted by Governments to take into account special circumstances such as natural disasters or postal strikes.

T1 Canadian Income Tax Return

April 30th and June 15th for those with self employment income or a spouse with self employment income. Special deadlines are available for those that have died in the year.

For those filing a non-resident s.216 rental income return the due date for filing is June 30th.

Other Canadian Form Deadlines

Form T1135 and T1142 are due on the same date as your tax return. Once again, make sure to file these forms on time as the penalties can be quite high. Both of these forms have late-filing penalties of $25 per day to a maximum of $2,500 plus interest.

For taxpayers required to report “Foreign Affiliates” via form T1134 the deadline is 12 months from the year-end date of the company. Assuming the year-end began in 2020.

1040 US Income Tax Return

April 15th, however extensions are available. US taxpayers that are abroad on April 15th receive an automatic tax extension to June 15th. For those that don’t receive an automatic tax extension one can file form 4868 to extend their tax filing deadline to October 15th. For taxpayers abroad that have received an automatic extension to June 15th, filing form 4868 is required to further extend the deadline of the 1040 and all other related forms to October 15th.

Also note that a further deadline to December 15th is available to those that can show that they need more time to properly gather information to file their return. No prescribed form is available for this extension request, rather the taxpayer must write a letter to the IRS with the following information:

• Name and social security number
• Which tax year you are requesting the extension for
• The reason(s) why you are requesting the December 15th deadline extension

Not that you will not receive a response from the IRS unless they deny your request.

If you feel like you won’t be able to file your return by the filing deadline it’s extremely important that you file an extension to ensure that you are not penalized. Forms such as 5471s and other attract significant penalties ($10,000).

Form 114, Foreign Bank Account Reporting (FBAR)

Form 114, also known as FBAR is due on April 15th, however an automatic extension is granted to October 15th. Given the large potential penalties for late FBAR filings it’s highly recommended that you file these as early as possible to avoid any penalty issues.

1040NR US Income Tax return

In most cases the deadline for filings your non-resident US 1040NR income tax return is April 15th if you received US W2 wages. If you did not receive W2 wages to report your 1040-NR is due June 15th.

As with the 1040 deadline above you can also extend the filing deadline of your 1040-NR via form 4868.

Other US Forms

Expats often need to file forms 3520 and 3520-A to report gift or interests in non-US trusts and estates.

The 3520 is due on the 15th day of the 4th months after the person’s year end. Which in most cases is April 15th. Individuals living outside of the US receive a further automatic extension to June 15th.

The 3520-A is due on the 15th day of the 3rd months after the person’s year end. Which in most cases is March 15th.

Both forms can be further extended another 6 months by filing extension form 7004.

Expats also often file form 1120-F to report non-resident corporate activities. The 1120-F is due on the 15th of the 4th month of the corporation’s year end. For corporations resident outside of the US the deadline is the 15th day of the 6th month after year end.

Once again, corporations required to file a 1120-F return can further extend their return due date by 6 months via form 7004.