Last week I shared information I received from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) regarding penalties relating to Schedule 15.
The CRA identified two common issues that can result in penalties. One of these issues relates to the discarding by the CRA of Schedule 15 information due to the Privacy Act:
"Failure to review the explanations on the notice of assessment from the previous year. There are situations where the CRA is not able to accept schedule 15 information as filed due to the Privacy Act. It is indicated on the Notice of Assessment that the information has not been stored. In these situations, if the tax practitioner submits a return for the subsequent tax year and indicates that there is no change to their previously submitted beneficial ownership information, they will receive a penalty because the CRA has no information stored on file. "
We have learned that the CRA discards Schedule 15 on account of the Privacy Act when it was filed unnecessarily (e.g., by a "Listed Trust"):
"Q1. Does the CRA discard Schedule 15 when it is filed, but did not have to be filed? Yes.
Q2. The trust will get a penalty in the subsequent year if it indicates "no change" on S15 (to previous year)? Yes. To avoid penalties, tax practitioners must pay close attention to the notice of assessment from the previous year.
Q3. Are there other circumstances when the Privacy Act is an issue? As it relates to the processing of T3 returns, there are no other circumstances where the Privacy Act would require the CRA to discard information provided on the return."
As noted by the CRA, tax practitioners should pay attention to the notice of assessment from the previous year to see whether Schedule 15 for that year had been accepted.
Originally posted to Linkedin on August 7, 2025
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Ryan Minor
Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada
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