Departure (emigrant) tax return cost: what moves the fee

How much does an emigrant tax return cost, and why is there no standard price?

There is no standard price. Neither the CRA nor the Income Tax Act sets what an accountant charges for a departure tax return, so the fee follows the work your facts create. Two people leaving Canada in the same month can need very different returns: one is close to a normal return, the other adds several departure forms with a line for every holding.

What moves the fee most:

• Departure forms: whether your property triggers Form T1161, Form T1243, Schedule 3 and Form T1244.
• Holdings: how many shares, funds and other properties must be listed one by one, and whether cost records exist.
• Hard-to-value property: private company shares, options, crypto, foreign property.
• Ties left behind: a home kept or rented out, a spouse or children staying in Canada.
• Filing method: a return with departure forms may have to go on paper.
• Later years and other countries: non-resident returns in Canada and the new country's return.

A case is not simple when you own private company shares, run a business, keep a home in Canada, leave a spouse behind, lived in Quebec, own property abroad, move to the US, owe enough departure tax to need security, or have earlier years unfiled. Gather your departure date, last notice of assessment, departure-date statements for every account, cost records and this year's slips before asking for a quote.

What does a departure-year return include beyond a normal return?

A departure-year return splits the year at your departure date and adds forms for the property you are treated as selling when you leave. The CRA says you report world income for the part of the year you were resident, and only certain Canadian income after you leave. You enter the departure date on page 1 and use the package for the province you lived in on that date.

Canadian real estate, RRSPs, pensions, TFSAs and certain employee security options are not part of the deemed sale (Form T1243). You can elect on Form T2061A to include Canadian real estate or business property anyway (section 128.1(4)(d)), which adds lines to price. What the return contains in full is covered in leaving Canada.

Which facts add work to a departure tax return?

The number and kind of holdings add the most work. Form T1243 asks, for each property, the number of shares, a description, whether it is Canadian or foreign, the year bought, the value on the departure date, the adjusted cost base and the gain. For a portfolio, it asks for "a complete breakdown", so a forty-holding account is forty lines.

A home, a spouse and dependants in Canada are each a significant residential tie, so they can change whether you left at all. If you rent out the home, the tenant or agent generally withholds 25% of gross rent unless other arrangements are approved; see non-resident landlords. To work the numbers yourself, use the departure tax calculation example.

Why does a departure return often have to be paper-filed, and does that change the work?

A return with departure forms goes on paper. For 2018 to 2025 returns, the CRA's EFILE exclusions bar an emigrant return filed with Form T1243, T1244 or T1161, or reporting self-employment income on Form T2203. Otherwise an emigrant return for 2023 to 2025 can be e-filed. The list is updated by tax year, so check it for the year you file.

Paper filing adds printing, signatures from abroad, mailing and slower processing, so ask whether the quote includes it. How to file from outside Canada is in filing your departure return from abroad.

What is usually billed separately from the departure return?

Several departure tasks are separate filings or separate dealings with the CRA, and a quote may leave them out. The CRA runs a separate phone line for departure tax and Form T1244, covering arranging security, reporting dispositions and unwinding deferred tax.

Deferral and security are covered in deferring departure tax when you move to the US. Later-year returns are covered in non-resident landlords and non-resident return for pension and RRSP income. Quotes covering two countries are covered in cross-border tax accountants.

How do I compare two departure tax return quotes line by line?

Put each quote against the same list of forms and tasks, then compare what is covered, not the total. A fair quote names the forms it covers, the number of holdings it assumed and what happens if that changes. A low quote that covers only the T1 may leave out the departure forms, security and later filings that a higher quote includes.

Ask each accountant what they assumed about your holdings and whether a fixed price changes if the count or the records differ. Checking an accountant's credentials is covered in choosing an accountant in Canada.

What should I send to get an accurate quote?

Send enough for the accountant to see which forms apply and how many lines they hold. A quote given before anyone has seen your statements is a guess.

1. Departure date, destination country, province you lived in, and the ties that stay in Canada (home, spouse, children, accounts).
2. Last notice of assessment and last year's return.
3. Statements for every account dated as close to the departure date as possible, not year-end summaries.
4. Cost records for each holding, or a note of which are missing.
5. Details of private company shares, options, RSUs, crypto, and any property or accounts outside Canada with their cost.
6. Whether you keep a home in Canada and whether it will be rented.
7. Whether a spouse or children stay in Canada.
8. The year's slips so far.
9. Any CRA letters, and any earlier year not yet filed.

The full list of steps before and after you go is in the leaving Canada tax checklist.

Is doing a departure tax return myself realistic, and when is the risk too high?

A return with no departure forms is closest to a normal return plus the part-year split: for example, when you hold only registered plans, a TFSA and cash. Whether that is your case depends on your residency ties and on everything you own on the departure date, not only your accounts.

The risk rises with each departure form. Missing Form T1161 carries a penalty of $2,500 at most (CRA; section 162(7)), even when no tax is owed. A wrong value on Form T1243 changes the tax, and a T1244 not made by April 30 of the year after departure may not be accepted, leaving the tax due on the normal balance-due date instead of deferred. Private company shares, a home kept, a spouse staying or a move to the US involve judgment that a form alone does not settle. Fixing missed forms is covered in late departure forms and penalties.

Example

These examples use Canadian dollars. The quotes are illustrative, not market rates.

Two quotes for the same emigrant

An emigrant has a T4 and a brokerage account with 40 holdings. Quote A is C$800 and covers the T1 only. Quote B is C$1,900 and adds Form T1161, Form T1243 with 40 lines, Schedule 3 and paper filing. Quote B names the departure forms this case needs; Quote A leaves them out, so they would be extra or missing. Neither quote says whether later non-resident returns or the other country's return are included.

A simple leaver

A leaver has a T4, a TFSA and an RRSP, and nothing else. Neither plan is part of the deemed sale, and nothing else of value is owned. The return is a normal return with the part-year split and no departure forms.

Private company shares

An owner holds shares of a private company worth C$1 million. The return needs a supported value for the shares, Form T1161, Form T1243 and Schedule 3, and a check of whether the shares qualify for the lifetime capital gains exemption (section 110.6). If tax remains and the owner postpones it, Form T1244 is added, plus security with the CRA when the deferred federal tax exceeds $16,500. Each is a separate piece of work, and a quote should name each one.

Different for you?

• You own shares of your own company: see departure tax on private company shares and get individual tax help.
• Your corporation stays in Canada after you leave: see close or keep your corporation when leaving Canada and paying yourself from your corporation after moving abroad, and get individual tax help.
• You run a business as a sole proprietor: see closing a sole proprietorship when leaving Canada and get individual tax help.
• You hold stock options, RSUs or crypto: see departure tax on stock options and RSUs or departure tax on crypto, and get individual tax help.
• You own a home or accounts outside Canada: see foreign real estate when leaving Canada and get individual tax help.
• You keep or rent out your home: see keep or sell your home when leaving Canada and get individual tax help.
• Your spouse stays in Canada or leaves on a different date: see spouses leaving Canada on different dates and get individual tax help.
• You are moving to the US: see deferring departure tax when you move to the US and get cross-border tax help.
• You were resident in Canada no more than 60 months in the preceding 120 months when you left: see leaving Canada within five years of arriving.
• You already left and missed the forms, or earlier years are unfiled: see late departure forms and penalties or catching up on unfiled returns, and get individual tax help.