When Is a Deceased Person's Final Tax Return Due in Alberta?

If you are the executor or administrator of an estate in Alberta, one of your first tasks is the deceased person's final income tax return. The date it is due depends on when the person died, and a few situations move the date.

The filing rules come from the federal Income Tax Act and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), so they work the same way in Alberta as elsewhere in Canada. This guide covers the deadlines, the exceptions and the cost of missing them. It does not cover capital gains calculations, clearance certificates or tax rates.

This article covers the law of Alberta.

Who files, and whether a return is needed

A final T1 return must be filed for every person who dies. The legal representative of the person who died files it, along with any optional returns.

The final return reports the deceased's property, investments and other taxable income. The legal representative may claim deductions and credits to reduce what the deceased or the estate owes. Nothing in the CRA guidance says the final return can be skipped because no tax is owing, so assume it is required.

The standard due dates

For an individual, the Income Tax Act sets the return due on or before April 30 of the following year. For the final return, the date depends on when the death happened.

The Income Tax Act says the same thing in its own words: where a person dies after October of the year, the return is due on the later of the normal filing date and six months after the date of death.

Exceptions that change the date

• Self-employment: if the deceased or their cohabiting spouse or common-law partner carried on a business, the filing date is June 15 of the year after death for deaths from January 1 to December 15, and six months after death for deaths from December 16 to 31. Payment is still due on the standard payment date, and the later date does not apply if the business expenditures were mainly tax shelter investment costs.
• Death early in the year: if the person died on or before the due date of their previous-year return and it was not filed, that return is due six months after the date of death. A surviving spouse's or common-law partner's return follows the deceased's date, but any balance owing on it must still be paid by April 30 to avoid interest.
• Optional return for rights or things: due by the later of one year after death or 90 days after the Notice of Assessment or Reassessment for the final return. Payment is generally due April 30.
• Other optional returns: returns for a partner or proprietor, and for income from a graduated rate estate, are due on the same date as the final return.

Because these exceptions interact, it is worth confirming which apply before you rely on a later date.

Weekends, holidays and the cost of being late

If a due date falls on a weekend or a CRA-recognized public holiday, a return is on time if it is received or postmarked by the next business day. Payment is on time if it is received on the first business day after the due date.

If a final return with a balance owing is filed late, the penalty is 5% of the balance owing, plus 1% of the balance for each full month the return is late, to a maximum of 12 months. It may be higher if a late-filing penalty was assessed for any of the three previous years, and interest also applies to the penalty.

Unpaid tax on a deceased person's return bears compound daily interest from the day after the due date until it is paid in full.

The separate T3 estate return

The estate may also need to file a T3 trust return. It is due 90 days after the trust's tax year-end, or the date of final distribution if the trust ceases to exist. A late T3 may attract a penalty of $25 a day, with a minimum of $100 and a maximum of $2,500, even if nothing is owing.

A graduated rate estate can only be one for up to 36 months after death.

What to do next

• Confirm the exact date of death and match it to the correct due date above.
• Find out whether the deceased or their spouse or common-law partner ran a business.
• Check whether the previous year's return was filed before the death.
• Note payment dates separately, since they can differ from filing dates.
• Diarize the T3 deadline once the estate's tax year-end is known.
• Speak with a lawyer or accountant if dates are unclear or a deadline has already passed.

Frequently asked questions