The requirement. All trustees of Ontario estates must file an Estate Information Return (EIR) with the Province of Ontario.
The deadlines for filings & audit. The deadline for filing the EIR is 180 days after the date of grant of the Certificate of Appointment (previously the deadline was 90 days). If the form is filed before the deadline, the government may audit the estate administration tax paid for up to 4 years after the filing. If the form is not filed in time, there is no deadline on when the estate may be audited.
The contents. The Estate Administration Tax is a tax payable on certain estate assets when an estate is probated in Ontario. Accordingly, the EIR is an asset disclosure form. All assets which passed into the estate of the deceased in Ontario must be disclosed. This includes all real estate in Ontario, savings, investments, and other valuable personal property such as art and collectibles.
The value of each asset that must be disclosed is the value on the date of death.
The only deductions permitted are for debts secured against real estate in Ontario (mortgages, secured lines of credit and registered tax liens). Other debts, including unpaid taxes, credit cards, and care loans, are not deducted and do not reduce the EAT payable.
Assets owned by the deceased which passed outside the estate are not disclosed on the EIR. This includes real estate owned ‘in joint tenancy with a right of survivorship’, jointly owned bank accounts and financial assets which passed directly to a named beneficiary. This may include TFSAs, RRIFs/RRSPs, and life insurance. However, if there is no named beneficiary for any of these assets and it ‘falls into the estate’ it must be disclosed on the EIR.
Real estate located outside Ontario is not disclosed on the EIR.
When real estate located in Ontario was owned as ‘tenants in common’ only the value of the deceased’s share is included on the EIR.
The form. The form is provided as a fillable PDF. A license to Adobe Acrobat is required in order to complete it. Detailed information about each asset including the address, account number, financial institution and value on the date of death must be disclosed.
As a general rule shares, bonds and the like which are held in physical form (for instance in a safety deposit box) must be disclosed separately for each issuer, but investments held in accounts (such as TFSAs and RRSPs) can be disclosed ‘by account’.
EAT calculation. The EIR automatically calculates the amount of estate administration tax that was payable for the estate and deducts the amount that you report you have already paid (usually when the original probate application was filed). As a result, the EIR calculates automatically any additional payment required or refund due.
Refunds and additional payments. If a refund of EAT is due to the estate, the funds will be sent by cheque to the estate trustee at the address provided on the EIR.
If the estate must pay additional EAT, the estate trustee must deliver the payment (by certified cheque or bank draft, payable to the Minister of Finance) together with a sworn affidavit attesting to the revised estate values to the Court where the Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee was granted. Payments of additional EAT are not submitted with the EIR nor are they submitted directly to the Ministry of Finance.
Record keeping. We strongly recommend retaining a copy of the completed form in its final form immediately prior to filing. Saving the document via “print to PDF” works well.
Filing online. The form can be filed online directly from the completed form. This online filing is highly recommended in preference to filing by mail. Filing online ensures immediate and accurate delivery of all information, and the filer receives an immediate confirmation of filing by email.