An estate initially was not resident in Canada but 18 months later, on January 1, 2018, it became resident in Canada as the result of the appointment of a new trustee. Consequently, pursuant to s. 128.1(1)(a)(i), a new taxation year commenced, and the Estate will file its first tax return in Canada for the period January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018. Can the estate designate itself as the graduated rate estate (“GRE”) of the deceased (non-resident) individual when filing its first tax return under Part I – and what is required respecting if there was no SIN?
CRA indicated that the requirement in para. (d) of the GRE definition - that the estate designate itself as the GRE of the deceased individual in its Part I return for its first taxation year ending after 2015 – would be satisfied if such designation was made in the estate’s return for its first taxation year after 2015 in which it was required to file a Part I return. Here, as there are no facts suggesting that the trust should file a Canadian tax return before 2018, all the requirements can be satisfied for the estate to be a GRE, and it could designate itself to be a GRE of the individual when it files its 2018 return.
As for (b) of the question, para. (c) of the GRE definition requires an individual’s SIN to be provided on the estate’s income tax return each year or, if the individual had not been assigned a SIN before death, such other information as is acceptable to the Minister.
If the individual did not have a SIN, the Minister would accept a temporary tax number, or an individual tax number, which can be obtained by filing a T1261.