The T1134 instructions indicate that to access the relief for related reporting entities, they should be related as per s. 251(4). A partnership may be a reporting entity pursuant to s. 233.4(1)(c), but is not necessarily a person for ITA purposes.
(a)
How is it determined whether a partnership is part of a related group for purposes of the administrative relief?
After noting that a “partnership described in paragraph 233.4(1)(c) is a reporting entity for the purposes of section 233.4 as soon as a partner who is resident in Canada and who is not exempt from Part I tax has an interest of at least 10% in the income or losses of the partnership for the fiscal period,” CRA stated:
If a partnership is a reporting entity in respect of a foreign affiliate, the administrative relief for related reporting groups extends to the partnership if at least one of its members (or if another partnership is a member, one of its members) is related to each of the other reporting entities forming a related group in respect of that same foreign affiliate.
(b)
Are trade accounts payable excluded from disclosure of upstream loans on the T1134?
CRA indicated that in Table 4 “Upstream Loan Rules” in Subsection A of Section 3 of Part II, the reporting entity must indicate in Question 4.1 whether a specified debtor in respect of the reporting entity or any member of the related Canadian group owes an amount to the foreign affiliate or a partnership of which the foreign affiliate was a member. However, it was to be disclosed in the answers to the applicable questions that the trade payables were exempted from the upstream loan rules pursuant to s. 90(8)(b) if that were the case.