Late, amended, or revoked elections
The Income Tax Act and its Regulations contain many election provisions that give you the opportunity to decide on an alternative tax treatment in conducting your financial affairs for income tax purposes.
Most election provisions do not:
- permit you to file an election once the due date for making the election is missed; or
- give you the ability to modify or cancel an original election that was filed on time.
The topics below provide more information in respect of the Minister's discretion to allow you the benefit of certain elections even though you missed the filing due date, and to permit you to modify or cancel certain elections already filed.
Important Changes
As of January 1, 2016, individual taxpayers must report the sale of a property that was their principal residence for every year they owned it, and make a designation to be eligible for the full principal residence exemption.
If you sold a property in 2016 (or later tax years) that was your principal residence for all the years that you owned it, and did not make a principal residence designation in Schedule 3, Capital Gains (or Losses), with your T1 Income Tax and Benefit Return, the CRA may accept your late-filed designation under the taxpayer relief provisions.
The CRA may also accept late-filed principal residence designation if you sold a property that was not your principal residence for every year it was owned.
For more information on reporting the sale of your principal residence and principal residence designations, see Principal residence and other real estate.
Topics
- Definitions and list of eligible elections
The meaning of late, amended, or revoked, the list of available elections, designations and allocations. - Penalty for accepting a late, amended, or revoked election
Liability, calculation, payment, penalty relief. - Circumstances that may warrant acceptance of your request
Unintended tax consequences, circumstances beyond your control, incorrect information from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). - Instances when your request will be denied
Retroactive tax planning, inadequate records, negligence, or carelessness. - Limitation period on exercising discretion and the deadline for requesting relief
Limitation period, the 10-year deadline. - Submitting your request
How to submit your request, where to send your request, the recommended form to use. - Information you must include with your request
Your contact information, identification number, tax years / fiscal periods, explaining your request, revised schedules. - After the CRA receives your request
Who at the CRA is authorized to approve or deny your request, contacting you for clarification or missing information? - Approval or denial of your request
Notifying you of the decision, your right to a second review. - Judicial review
When and how to request judicial review, request timeframe, what the Federal Court will determine - Invalid requests
What is considered an invalid request? - Requests made while an objection or appeal is in progress
What will happen to your relief request when you have also filed an objection or appeal to an assessment and the objection or appeal is still in progress?
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