When is the Ontario Estate Information Return due after the certificate is issued, and what has to go on it?
An Ontario Estate Information Return is due 180 calendar days after the estate certificate is issued, even when no Estate Administration Tax is owed. The trustee files it with the Ministry of Finance, listing every asset at its date of death value. Corrections, new assets and a final value replacing an estimate need a revised return within 60 days.
When is the return due, and what other deadlines follow it?
The return must reach the Ministry of Finance within 180 calendar days after the estate certificate is issued, even if the estate is worth $0 ontario.ca. The clock starts at the certificate's issue date, not the date of death, and a due date on a weekend or holiday moves to the next business day. The return counts as given on the day the Ministry receives it, so a return mailed on day 179 is late
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| Trigger | What is due | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Estate certificate issued | Initial return, even with $0 tax | 180 calendar days after issue |
| You learn an asset value, the tax or the deposit was wrong or incomplete | Revised return with the reason | 60 days after you learn of it, within 4 years |
| Statement of newly discovered property delivered to the court | Revised return listing the new property | 60 days after the statement |
| Undertaking fulfilled after an estimated value | Revised return with the final value and any added tax | 60 days after fulfilling it |
| Refund of deposit or tax received | Revised return with the refund details | 60 days after the refund |
| Additional tax or deposit paid | Revised return with the payment details | 60 days after paying |
| Error in a name, address, birth date, court file number or other application detail | Written notice to the Ministry | 60 days after you learn of it |
The 180 and 60 day periods come from O. Reg. 310/14, ss. 3 to 8, as amended from January 1, 2020. The version before that date allowed 90 days for the return and 30 days for each revision, which is why older articles still quote those numbers ontario.ca.
Who has to file, and how is the return filed?
Anyone issued an estate certificate files, including the holder of a Small Estate Certificate for an estate of $150,000 or less ontario.ca. The estate's size doesn't matter: an estate under the $50,000 threshold owes no tax but still files
forms.mgcs.gov.on.ca.
No return is needed for a Certificate of Appointment of Succeeding Estate Trustee (with or without a will), a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee During Litigation, an application made before January 1, 2015, or an application withdrawn before a certificate issued. A second application for an estate that already paid its full tax, with no change in assets, needs no new return either forms.mgcs.gov.on.ca.
Two certificate types narrow what goes on the return. A certificate limited to the assets in a will (the secondary will used to keep private company shares out of probate) reports only those assets. A resealing, an ancillary appointment or a foreign estate trustee's nominee reports only Ontario assets forms.mgcs.gov.on.ca.
Since March 3, 2025, the online return goes through the Ministry of Finance online services, and the fillable PDF can no longer be submitted online; the PDF Form 9955 remains for paper filing forms.mgcs.gov.on.ca. The online version needs no login or signature, and the Ministry emails an acknowledgment by the next business day. Paper returns go by mail, courier or fax, or in person at 33 King Street West in Oshawa or certain ServiceOntario locations
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What does each section of the return ask for?
The return lists every asset used to value the estate, at its actual value at death, or its estimated value if the actual one isn't available yet ontario.ca. The guide splits it into ten sections
forms.mgcs.gov.on.ca.
| Section | What you enter | Detail that trips people up |
|---|---|---|
| A: Certificate | Certificate type, issue date, court file number, court address | Attach the undertaking if the deposit used an estimated value |
| B: Deceased | Names used, birth date, death date, last residence | Should match the final T1 and the probate application |
| C: Estate representatives | Each trustee as named on the certificate | Corporate trustees give a contact person |
| D: Ontario real estate | Roll number (19 digits), PIN (9 digits), address, 100% of value, % owned, encumbrances | No PIN? Enter the registration number of the last transfer |
| E: Bank accounts | Every account worldwide, balance at death, % owned | Cash in a brokerage account goes in F, not E |
| F: Investments | GICs, shares, bonds, funds, partnership interests | An account at a dealer can be reported as one account total |
| G: Vehicles and vessels | Cars, boats, motorcycles, snowmobiles, bicycles | Red Book wholesale value for cars, Boat Value Book for boats |
| H: Other assets | Business interests, household contents, art, loans receivable, insurance payable to the estate | Small items can be grouped, valuable ones listed alone |
| I: Summary | Totals, tax, deposit paid, balance owing or refund | Round the total up to the next $1,000 first |
| J: Certification | Each representative certifies the return is true and complete | A false statement is an offence |
Only encumbrances on real estate come off, at the actual balance owed at death. If the deceased owned half a property carrying a $50,000 mortgage on the whole, report $25,000; a $200,000 line of credit registered on title with $15,000 drawn is a $15,000 encumbrance. A car loan doesn't reduce the car's value, and credit card debt doesn't reduce the estate forms.mgcs.gov.on.ca.
Leave out what passes outside the estate: jointly owned assets with a right of survivorship, registered plans and TFSAs with a named beneficiary, insurance paid to a named beneficiary, real estate outside Ontario and the CPP death benefit ontario.ca. Include property the deceased owned beneficially even when someone else held legal title. The full asset rules and the tax rate sit on the Ontario probate fees page.
What does a completed return look like for an estate valued on an estimate?
Your client died owning a Hamilton house worth $640,000 with a $95,000 mortgage, a half share (tenant in common) of a cottage worth $400,000 with a $60,000 mortgage on the whole property, $38,200 in bank accounts, a brokerage account worth $151,600, a car with a Red Book wholesale value of $14,500 and $3,000 of household contents. The RRIF names the spouse. The appraisals weren't back when the trustee applied, so the deposit was paid on an estimated value of $900,000.
| Return line | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Section D: house | $640,000 less $95,000 | $545,000 |
| Section D: cottage | 50% of $400,000, less 50% of $60,000 | $170,000 |
| Section E: bank accounts | Balances at death | $38,200 |
| Section F: brokerage account | One account total | $151,600 |
| Section G: car | Red Book wholesale | $14,500 |
| Section H: household contents | Grouped | $3,000 |
| Line 6: total value | Sum | $922,300 |
| Line 7: rounded up | Next $1,000 | $923,000 |
| Line 10: tax | ($923,000 less $50,000) / $1,000 x $15 | $13,095 |
| Line 11: deposit paid | ($900,000 less $50,000) / $1,000 x $15 | $12,750 |
| Line 12: balance owing | $13,095 less $12,750 | $345 |
The RRIF stays off the return because it passes to the named spouse. Because the deposit used an estimate, the trustee gave an undertaking to file a sworn statement of the actual value and pay any extra tax within six months ontario.ca. That means two returns: the initial one within 180 days with the undertaking attached, then a revised one within 60 days of fulfilling it. The $345 goes to the courthouse that issued the certificate, with an affidavit of the new total value
forms.mgcs.gov.on.ca.
What happens when an asset or an error turns up after filing?
A newly found asset first goes to the court: the trustee files a statement of the subsequently discovered property within six months of finding it, and a revised return follows within 60 days of that statement, at the asset's value on the date of death forms.mgcs.gov.on.ca. Tax on the new property is payable when the statement is delivered (Estate Administration Tax Act, s. 2(7))
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An error in an asset value, the tax or the deposit needs a revised return within 60 days of learning of it. That duty ends at the fourth anniversary of the day the tax became payable, which is the certificate's issue date, and a succeeding or revised certificate doesn't restart it. Errors in identifying details, such as the deceased's name, birth date or the court file number, need only a letter within 60 days (O. Reg. 310/14, ss. 4 and 5) ontario.ca.
A house that sells for more or less than its date of death value doesn't trigger a revision, because the return values assets at death. If the original return was on paper and you amend online, complete every section of the online form forms.mgcs.gov.on.ca.
What does a late, missing or wrong return cost?
Failing to file, or making a false or misleading statement on the return, is an offence under s. 5.1 of the Act: a fine of at least $1,000 and up to twice the estate's tax where that's more, up to two years in prison, or both. A false statement isn't an offence if the person didn't know and couldn't have known with reasonable diligence ontario.ca.
The bigger cost is time. The Ministry normally has four years after the tax became payable to assess, but if anyone failed to comply with the filing duty in s. 4.1, it can assess at any time (s. 4.5(2)) ontario.ca. A refund of overpaid tax also requires the return to have been filed within four years of the certificate (s. 4.5.1)
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An assessment is payable immediately, even while a Notice of Objection is pending, and the objection must be filed within 180 days of the Notice of Assessment. The guide states that no interest is charged on unpaid Estate Administration Tax forms.mgcs.gov.on.ca. Keep the appraisals and statements behind each value at the trustee's residence or place of business for four years
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Sources
Is the 180 days counted from the date of death?
No. It runs from the date the estate certificate is issued, which can be months after death ontario.ca. Calendar it from the issue date printed on the certificate, and file online if the deadline is close, since a mailed return counts only when received.
Does the Estate Information Return replace any CRA filing?
No. It goes to the Ontario Ministry of Finance and covers only the probate tax. The CRA filings run separately: the final T1, the T3 return for the estate and the clearance certificate before distribution. Section B asks for the same personal details as the final T1, so match them forms.mgcs.gov.on.ca.
Can the trustee use the MPAC assessment as the house value?
Only as a starting point. The guide says an MPAC value may help but may not be the fair market value on the date of death, and the trustee must be able to support every value, often with an appraisal forms.mgcs.gov.on.ca. The same date of death value usually feeds the deemed disposition on the final return, so keep the two consistent.
Does a joint account with the surviving spouse go on the return?
No, if the spouse takes it by right of survivorship. A joint account where the deceased's share passes to the estate does go on, at the deceased's percentage of the balance at death forms.mgcs.gov.on.ca.
General information for the tax year shown, not advice for a specific client. Confirm the facts before you file or remit.