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Taxes / CRA Issues:
My parent permanently left Canada in March, 2022. Did not file a departure tax return when they left Canada.
Now they passed away in September, 2025 - last year. They only have a bank account in Canada. No house or RRSP or TFSA or any other investments at time of death.
I am in charge of their estate.
Do I file a departure return for them for March, 2022? Which they did not file in the first place?
Or do I just file a Final return (estate return) for last year, from January 1 to September, 2025 , when they actually passed away.
Or do I file both of the above? Both departure return for 2022 and final death return for 2025. (Estate)
Do they even have to file a death final return for last year? As they had left Canada permanently in 2022 ( but without filing a departure return).
The country they are in, has a tax treaty with Canada. And after they left Canada, they have been filing a tax return in the new country.
Really confused what to file first.
Departure return or Death return or Both.
Or only Departure return for 2022 & no need of Death return for 2025, as they left permanently in 2022 & died abroad as a non resident.
Thanks for any help.
Hi Janiscra,
Sorry to hear about your loss. Based on what you shared, here’s the usual CRA filing roadmap in this situation (non-resident parent who left Canada in March 2022, passed away abroad in September 2025, and only a Canadian bank account at death):
1) 2022 “departure” return is typically required (T1 departure return).
Because your parent left Canada permanently in March 2022, CRA generally expects a final Canadian resident return for 2022 with a departure date reported. This return is used to “close off” Canadian residency and deal with any departure tax forms if applicable.
- In your fact pattern, if they truly had no taxable “departure tax” property (no Canadian real estate, no non-registered investments with unrealized gains, etc.), there may be little or no departure tax owing.
- However, CRA may still expect the departure return itself to be filed, and potentially Form T1161 if they held “specified property” above the threshold at departure (many people don’t, but it depends on what they owned at that time, not at death).
2) A 2025 “final return” is usually NOT required if they were a non-resident from 2022 onward and had no Canadian taxable income after leaving.
If your parent was genuinely non-resident from March 2022 until death, Canada generally taxes them only on certain Canadian-source income (e.g., certain pensions, rental income, employment in Canada, dispositions of taxable Canadian property, etc.).
Since you’ve indicated they only had a Canadian bank account and no other Canadian assets/income, in many cases:
- there is no Canadian T1 “final” (death) return for 2025 required, and
- no Canadian “estate” return is required unless the estate itself has Canadian filing obligations (rare in a simple bank-account-only situation, but depends on facts).
3) What to do first?
In most cases, we start by filing the 2022 departure return (and any required departure forms). Once CRA accepts/resolves that, it’s clearer that no further Canadian T1 filings are required for 2023–2025 unless there was Canadian-source income.
4) What we’d confirm before giving a definitive answer
A few quick details can change the filing requirement, so it’s important to confirm:
- Did your parent receive CPP/OAS or other Canadian pensions after leaving?
- Any Canadian rental income, employment income, or business income after March 2022?
- At the March 2022 departure date, did they own any non-registered investments, shares, crypto, or other assets outside Canada that could trigger departure reporting?
- Approximate date they became a tax resident of the new country (and whether Canada had any continuing residential ties after leaving).
If you’d like, our office can review the facts and tell you exactly what needs to be filed and in what order (and handle the filings if needed).