Partnership: Compliance

This page consolidates the registration, filing, remittance, and record-keeping obligations of a partnership and of its partners. Obligations fall at two levels: the partnership itself (registration, GST/HST, payroll, and the partnership information return) and each partner (reporting of the allocated share of income). Dates assume a December 31 fiscal period, which is required where any partner is an individual or professional corporation.

REGISTRATIONS AT FORMATION

• General partnership: registration of the firm name with the provincial or territorial registry where it differs from the partners' names (mandatory registration in Quebec).

• Limited partnership: filing of a declaration or certificate with the provincial registry to constitute the limited partnership, and extra-provincial registration in other jurisdictions where business is carried on.

• Limited liability partnership: registration under the provincial LLP provisions, with confirmation from the governing professional body where required.

• Written partnership agreement executed by all partners.

• CRA business number for the partnership and program accounts: GST/HST (RT), payroll (RP), and, where applicable, a partnership account for information returns.

• Provincial sales tax registration in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Quebec where required.

• Workers' compensation registration for employees, and optional coverage for partners.

RECURRING OBLIGATIONS OF THE PARTNERSHIP

• Payroll source deductions and employer contributions for employees: monthly by the 15th of the following month (regular remitters), quarterly, or on the accelerated schedule.

• GST/HST returns: monthly, quarterly, or annually according to taxable supplies; annual returns are due three months after the fiscal year-end for a partnership that is not an individual.

• Provincial sales tax returns on the provincial schedule.

• T4 slips and T4 Summary by the last day of February (RL-1 in Quebec).

• T5013 Partnership Information Return and slips where the filing criteria are met: by March 31 of the following year where all members are individuals; five months after the fiscal year-end where all members are corporations; otherwise the earlier of the two.

• Quebec: TP-600 Partnership Information Return and RL-15 slips.

• Renewal of business name registration (every five years in Ontario) and the annual updating declaration in Quebec.

• Annual employer health tax returns and workers' compensation reconciliations where applicable.

OBLIGATIONS OF PARTNERS

• Individual partners: report the allocated share of partnership income on the T1 return with Form T2125 by June 15; pay the balance of tax by April 30; pay quarterly instalments where required; pay self-employed CPP or QPP contributions on Schedule 8.

• Corporate partners: include the allocated share in income on the T2 return within six months after year-end, and apply the specified partnership income rules to the small business deduction.

• Limited partners: track adjusted cost base and at-risk amounts; report limited partnership losses carried forward.

• All partners: joint and several liability (general partners) for the partnership's GST/HST and payroll remittances.

EVENT-DRIVEN OBLIGATIONS

• Admission, retirement, or death of a partner: amendment of the business name registration or limited partnership declaration; update of the partnership agreement; final allocation of income to the departing partner.

• Transfer of property to the partnership under subsection 97(2): Form T2059 filed jointly by all partners.

• Dissolution: notice of dissolution to the registry, final T5013, final GST/HST and payroll returns, and closure of program accounts.

• Record of Employment within five days after an employee's interruption of earnings.

RECORD-KEEPING

• Partnership books and records retained for six years from the end of the last fiscal period to which they relate.

• Partnership agreement and all amendments, partners' capital account records, and records supporting income allocation.

• Adjusted cost base records for each partner's interest.

PROVINCIAL AND TERRITORIAL VARIATIONS

• Quebec: mandatory registration of general and limited partnerships; TP-600 and RL-15; QST and Quebec payroll filed with Revenu Québec.

• Ontario: Business Names Act registration renewable every five years; Limited Partnerships Act declaration renewable every five years; LLPs restricted to authorised professions.

• British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba: provincial sales tax returns filed provincially.

• Atlantic provinces: HST filed with the CRA; partnership registration with the respective provincial registry, renewed annually in Nova Scotia.

• Alberta and the territories: GST only; partnership registration with the provincial or territorial corporate registry.

RELATED PAGES

• Partnership: Federal and Provincial Requirements.

• Partnership: Tax; Partnership: Payroll; Partnership: Bookkeeping.

• Compliance Requirements (overview); Regulating Bodies.

SOURCES

• Canada Revenue Agency, Guide T4068 Guide for the Partnership Information Return (T5013 Forms).

• Revenu Québec, Partnership Information Return (TP-600).

• Provincial partnerships and business names statutes.