Platform operator reporting: a Part XX return every January 31

Who files a Part XX return, and who is left out?

A reporting platform operator files. That's any platform operator resident in Canada, plus a foreign operator that facilitates sales by sellers resident in Canada or rentals of property in Canada. An operator in a partner jurisdiction only reports to the CRA if it elects to canada.ca. The definitions sit in subsection 282(1) of the Income Tax Act laws-lois.justice.gc.ca.

The covered activities are the sale of goods, the rental of real or immovable property, personal services and the rental of a means of transport. No other services are prescribed yet canada.ca. Goods means tangible property, so a platform selling digital content or audiobooks isn't reporting those sales. Rentals include long term, commercial and parking space rentals, not only short term stays.

The goods exclusion needs both limbs. A seller with 29 sales totalling $2,700 is excluded. A seller with 29 sales totalling $3,100 is reportable, and so is a seller with 30 sales totalling $900 laws-lois.justice.gc.ca.

What does the return tell the CRA about each seller?

For each reportable seller, the platform sends identity data, payment data and, for rentals, the property itself canada.ca.

Consideration is reported in the currency it was paid or credited in. A seller paid in cryptocurrency is reported in Canadian dollars at fair market value, using a reasonable method applied consistently. Consideration lands in the period it is paid or credited, even if the work or the stay happened in another period, and refunds reduce the period's figure canada.ca.

The CRA passes the data to the partner jurisdiction where a seller lives or rents property, and receives the same data on sellers resident in Canada and on nonresidents renting property in Canada canada.ca. The annual exchange happens by the end of April after the filing year canada.ca.

When is the Part XX return due, and when did reporting start?

The return and the seller copy are both due no later than January 31 of the year after the calendar year in which the seller is identified as reportable, under subsections 291(1) and 291(2) laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. The bill received Royal Assent on June 22, 2023 canada.ca, and 2024 was the first reportable period canada.ca.

The CRA waived penalties and interest on late 2024 returns until July 31, 2025 canada.ca. As of October 2026 no extension of that relief has been announced, so the 2025 and 2026 returns carry the normal penalty. When January 31 falls on a weekend or a public holiday the CRA recognizes, a return received or postmarked by the next business day is on time canada.ca.

For sellers already on the platform on January 1, 2024 (or when the operator first became a reporting operator), due diligence had to be finished by December 31 of the second reportable period. An operator can rely on earlier due diligence when, among other conditions, the primary address was collected and verified or confirmed within the last 36 months canada.ca.

Mechanics: get a business number and an RZ information returns account with the account type Compliance and Exchange (Business Registration Online for residents, the nonresident web form otherwise; Form RC1 can't be used). The return is an XML file sent by Internet file transfer, up to 150 MB, through My Business Account or Represent a Client. A nonresident operator needs a Web Access Code first canada.ca. An operator with no reportable sellers, or whose sellers are all reported by another operator, files no return canada.ca.

What does a late Part XX return cost?

The CRA applies the late filing penalty in subsection 162(7.01) canada.ca, which it summarizes as a minimum of $100 and a maximum of $7,500, with interest at the prescribed rate compounded daily on anything unpaid canada.ca. The penalty is the greater of $100 and a daily amount, capped at 100 days, that scales with the number of information returns laws-lois.justice.gc.ca.

Worked example: an operator in the first tier files 40 days late. The penalty is the greater of $100 and $10 x 40, so $400. Had it filed 8 days late, $10 x 8 is $80, and the $100 minimum applies instead. In the top tier, 100 days late costs $75 x 100, which is the $7,500 cap.

Sellers face their own penalty: $500 for each failure to give the platform a tax identification number when asked canada.ca. Operators must keep records for at least six years after the end of the last relevant calendar year, in a format the CRA can read electronically.

How should your client reconcile the January 31 copy?

The copy your client gets is a copy of what the platform reported to the CRA, so match it to the return before you file canada.ca. Part XX defines consideration as compensation paid or credited to the seller laws-lois.justice.gc.ca, and the CRA's guidance says it is the amount net of any fees, commissions or taxes the platform withheld or charged canada.ca. The fees sit in their own column, so gross income is consideration plus fees.

Worked example: a host's copy shows consideration of $6,000, $7,500, $9,000 and $5,500 by quarter, so $28,000 for the year, and $4,200 of platform fees. Because consideration is net of fees, gross rent is $28,000 plus $4,200, or $32,200: report $32,200 of rental income and claim the $4,200 of fees as an expense, for $28,000 net before other expenses. Bank deposits should come to about $28,000; if they don't, ask the platform for its payout detail before you file.

Rental income goes on the T776, and short term stays bring in the separate expense denial on our short term rental rules page. Business income from goods, rides, deliveries and personal services goes on the T2125. For sales tax, test the same revenue against the GST/HST registration threshold. If earlier years were left off, the CRA points sellers to a return adjustment or the Voluntary Disclosures Program canada.ca.