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Courses/Accounting & Tax/Tax Planning & Compliance

2025 Trust Reporting Update: What CPAs Need to Know

We’ll walk through the enhanced trust reporting filing requirements, highlight how to identify affected trusts—including bare trusts—and review the latest CRA guidance and commentary.

Created byClearline Consulting
5.0
(188 reviews)
IntermediateUpdated Oct 7, 2025
2025 Trust Reporting Update: What CPAs Need to Know

What You'll Learn

check_circleIdentify key updates for 2025 trust reporting.
check_circleDistinguish new bare trust filing obligations.
check_circleApply changes to trust exemption rules.
check_circleUnderstand revised settlor and beneficiary definitions.
check_circleRecognize practical implications for specific trusts.
check_circleNavigate schedule 15 and compliance best practices.

About This Course

Stay ahead of critical regulatory changes with “2025 Trust Reporting Update: What CPAs Need to Know.” This essential course provides a comprehensive overview of the latest trust reporting requirements for the upcoming 2025 tax year, focusing on the significant shifts in bare trust rules and other key updates affecting CPAs. You'll gain a deep understanding of the evolving landscape, helping you navigate complex compliance challenges and provide accurate advice to your clients.

This course will equip you with the knowledge to confidently handle 2025 trust filings, covering:

  • A historical perspective and legislative journey of trust reporting changes, from initial announcements to proposed 2025 legislation.
  • Detailed examination of Express Trust filing requirements and the current exceptions under subsections 151.1 and 151.2.
  • In-depth analysis of the new Bare Trust rules, including their definition, effective dates, and crucial exemptions (e.g., joint bank accounts, principal residences, professional trusts, partnership holdings).
  • Strategies for identifying and managing situations that still require bare trust filings (e.g., corporate ownership of real estate, significant individual investments).
  • Updates on the definition of "related persons" for trust reporting and the handling of solicitor-client privilege.
  • Understanding the order of exemptions, ensuring you correctly determine filing obligations for T3 returns and Schedule 15.
  • Clarifications on Schedule 15 requirements, including reportable entities (settlor, trustee, beneficiaries, influential persons) and new definitions for "settlor" and "beneficiaries" (including contingent beneficiaries).
  • Practical guidance on reporting challenges, including handling deleted Schedule 15s and avoiding common penalties.
  • Practice management tips for CPAs, such as identifying bare trust relationships, client communication strategies, trust agreement review, obtaining trust account numbers, data gathering, and early preparation of filings.
  • Specific considerations for industry sectors like lawyers, property managers, realtors, and non-profit organizations affected by these trust reporting changes.

By the end of this course, you will be proficient in identifying filing obligations, understanding new exemption criteria, and preparing for the 2025 trust reporting season, minimizing risks for both your firm and your clients. We'll leverage the most current available information, drawing from the August 2025 proposed legislation and anticipated CRA guidance to ensure you are fully prepared.

Recorded October 1, 2025

Your Instructors

Clearline Consulting
Clearline Consulting
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star2,209 reviews

Clearline Consulting provides practitioners and their staff with the tools, training and advice they need to succeed and build thriving accounting firms. From tax compliance to estate planning, file monitoring to assisting with practice review, staff training to customized consulting solutions, our team exists to serve the needs of small to mid-sized public practice firms across Canada. Our collaborative, integrated approach means your firm has access to and support from knowledgeable practitioners who are in front of the ever-changing standards environment. Our core services include supporting firms with the implementation of the quality management standards, external file monitoring, services for accounting, assurance and taxation maters, provisions of templates and resources, practice management and risk mitigation consultations.

Shane Schepens, CPA, CA
Shane Schepens, CPA, CA

Tax Partner, Clearline Consulting CPA

Shane is a Tax Partner at Clearline Consulting and Clearline CPA. As such, he primarily focuses on income tax planning, reorganizations, and succession planning for Canadian owner-managed businesses in various industries. He received his Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Northern BC and obtained his CA designation in 2003. Shane started his accounting career in 2000 by working for a large international accounting firm for approximately ten years in their Prince George, Calgary, and Burnaby offices. Shane worked an additional five years for a mid-sized accounting firm located in Surrey, before opening his own accounting and tax practice in Surrey which operated for four years. Now as Clearline Consulting’s Tax Partner, Shane will be assisting practitioners with their client’s tax compliance, planning and corporate restructuring needs.

Credit Information

Do these courses count toward my professional development requirements?

This portal is provided as a training and development resource for City of Markham employees. Every course is delivered by a qualified subject matter expert or learning organization, is quantifiable in hours, and is verifiable — you receive a documented certificate of completion for every course you finish, stored on LearnFormula indefinitely.

If you hold a professional designation (for example in engineering, accounting, human resources, or law), courses may be counted as professionally relevant, verifiable learning activities toward your continuing professional development. Individual practitioners are responsible for confirming that an activity meets the requirements of their professional body. For questions about the City of Markham's training and development policies, please speak with your people leader or Human Resources.

What Students Are Saying

5.0
Student's Choice
188 reviews

Frequently Asked Questions

We are a registered provider with 327+ associations and regulatory bodies worldwide. We operate across 29 global markets including Canada, the US, Australia, and the UK. Every course page clearly displays its specific accreditations. Upon completion, you receive a professional certificate that can be validated online. Our certificates include all necessary accreditation details, credit hours, and completion dates, and are formatted specifically to meet the submission requirements of most global regulatory bodies.