Estate and Trust Tax Services in Canada for Trustees, Executors, and Families
Bestax files every return a trust or estate owes, plans the tax before it is owed, and deals with the CRA so you do not have to.
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Which File Are You Holding?
Three situations bring people to this page, and each has a different first step.
An executor after a death: your deadlines started on the date of death, so go to the final return section below.
A trustee with a T3 due: your deadline is 90 days after the trust's year end, covered in the T3 section.
A family planning ahead: nothing is due yet, which is exactly when planning saves the most, covered in the planning section.
Whichever it is, the free consultation works the same way. You bring the documents you have, and we come back with the deadlines and a fixed-fee plan.
What Our Trust Tax Services in Canada Cover
Our trust tax services in Canada run across the full life of a trust or estate:
setup structuring
annual T3 filings
beneficiary allocations
executor filings after a death
CRA clearance
One team carries the file from start to finish, because trust and estate work is a chain of filings where each return depends on the numbers in the one before it.
We work with family trusts, spousal and alter-ego trusts, estates, and trusts holding business shares or foreign assets. Whatever the structure, the deliverables are the same: returns filed on time, allocations planned before year end, and records that stand up to CRA review.
T3 Trust Tax Return Preparation
Our T3 trust tax return preparation covers the return, Schedule 15, and the slips, filed within 90 days of the trust's year end. For a December 31 year end, that means March 31. We prepare from reconciled records, and every beneficiary who received income gets a T3 slip by the same deadline, because their personal returns cannot be filed correctly without one.
New trusts need a CRA trust account number before anything can be filed, and we register it as the first step. From the 2026 tax year, certain bare trusts must file too, after three years of exemption. Our guide to family trusts in Canada explains how these structures work if you are earlier in the process.
Two rules drive how we prepare each T3.
First, most trusts must now file every year even with no income, reporting each trustee, settlor, and beneficiary on Schedule 15, and late filing costs $25 per day up to $2,500.
Second, income kept in the trust is taxed at the top personal rate, so we plan allocations to beneficiaries with you before December 31, while the decision can still be made.
Trust Types We File For
Each trust type carries its own tax rule, and the return has to reflect it.
Family trusts: discretionary allocations planned yearly, with income splitting rules tested on each one.
Spousal and alter-ego trusts: assets roll in without immediate tax, and we track the deemed disposition that comes later.
Estates as graduated rate estates: graduated tax rates for the first 36 months, elected on the first return or lost.
Qualified disability trusts: graduated rates that continue, renewed through a joint election we file each year.
Charitable trusts: donation receipts and gains handled in the year they save the most.
Bare trusts: beneficial ownership reporting from the 2026 tax year, with the exemptions checked first.
Final Estate Tax Return in Canada: What We File for Executors
An executor's first tax job is the final estate tax return in Canada, and its deadline is set by the date of death. Death between January 1 and October 31 means the final return is due April 30 of the next year. Death in November or December means six months after the date of death. The CRA publishes these dates in its guide to filing deadlines for someone who died, and we calendar them on day one of the file.
Here is what we prepare.
The final return reports income to the date of death plus the deemed sale of capital property at market value, because the law treats death as a disposition even though nothing was sold.
Where the rules allow it, we file optional returns alongside the final one, since splitting certain income across returns can lower the total tax.
If the estate earns income after death, we file its T3 and elect graduated rates on the first return where the estate qualifies, because that election cannot be added later.
Before you distribute assets, we obtain the CRA clearance certificate, because an executor who distributes without one is personally liable for unpaid tax.
Estate Tax Planning in Canada Before It Is Needed
Estate tax planning in Canada works best while everyone is alive and the options are still open. We model the tax your estate would owe today, then reduce it with the tools that fit your assets: estate freezes that cap the gain on business shares, spousal and alter-ego trusts that defer tax and bypass probate, charitable gifts placed in the year they save the most, and succession plans that use the $1.25 million lifetime capital gains exemption on qualified small business shares. The numbers are not small. Probate alone runs roughly 1.5% of estate assets in Ontario, and assets held in the right trust skip it entirely.
Existing family trusts get one more check: the 21-year rule. Every 21 years, a trust is treated as selling its assets at market value, creating tax on paper gains. We log your trust's anniversary at intake and start planning three years out, because the main options need that lead time.
Each plan ends with a written action list, not a concept. Documents to sign, transfers to make, and the filings each step requires, so the plan actually exists when it is needed.
Your Estate Tax Accountant in Mississauga
Executors and trustees across the country work with us remotely, and an estate tax accountant in Mississauga is available in person at our Hurontario Street office for families in Peel and the GTA. Estate files involve original documents, grieving families, and lawyers, so we fit the meeting format to the file rather than forcing one.
For trusts that need year-round record keeping alongside the tax work, our trust fund accounting service keeps the books that these returns are prepared from. The same firm holding both means the T3 always matches the ledger.
Deadlines We Manage on Every File
| Filing | Deadline | What missing it costs |
|---|---|---|
| Final return (death Jan 1 to Oct 31) | April 30 of the following year | Interest compounds daily on any balance owing |
| Final return (death Nov 1 to Dec 31) | 6 months after the date of death | Same daily interest, on an often larger balance |
| Estate and trust T3 with Schedule 15 | 90 days after the year end | $25 per day late, from $100 up to $2,500 |
| T3 slips to beneficiaries | Same 90-day date | Beneficiaries cannot file their own returns correctly |
| Clearance certificate | Before final distribution | The executor is personally liable for unpaid estate tax |
Why Choose Bestax for Estate and Trust Tax Work
The election dates are protected first.
Graduated rate status for an estate and several planning elections exist only on the first return filed. We identify them at intake, because they cannot be recovered afterwards.
Returns are built from reconciled records.
Estate and trust figures get tested by the CRA and by beneficiaries. Every number we file ties to a bank record, valuation, or ledger entry, so both audiences get the same answer.
Allocations are planned before year end, not reported after it.
The tax saving in a trust comes from decisions that must happen before December 31. We schedule that conversation every year, because a T3 prepared in March can only record what already happened.
Executors get a duties checklist, not just returns.
Notify the CRA, secure the assets, file, obtain clearance, then distribute, in that order. The sequence protects you from personal liability, so we put it in writing at the start.
We coordinate with your lawyer and advisor directly.
Estates stall when professionals wait on each other. We share figures with your estate lawyer and investment advisor ourselves, so probate, tax, and distributions move together.
Reviews from Bestax Clients
After years of DIY tax filing, I decided to work with professionals, and I’m glad I chose Bestax. Their team corrected years of minor errors and even identified deductions I had missed. The savings more than paid for the service.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Bestax
Yes. We handle estate and trust files across Canada. Documents move by secure upload, and meetings run online.
Fees depend on the assets, income sources, and records involved. You receive a fixed quote before work starts.
Yes. We assess the back-filing obligation and prepare the outstanding returns. Penalty relief is requested where the trust qualifies.
Yes. We share figures and filings with your lawyer directly. Probate and tax then move on one timeline.
Within one to two business days of your call. Deadlines are calendared first, then we plan the filings.
Yes. We prepare the Canadian filings and the foreign reporting forms they trigger. Cross-border files are quoted upfront.