T5013 partnership information return

Buyers and sellers of a partnership business meet this return when they ask how the partnership’s income reached its partners. The CRA’s guide to the return (T4068) describes forms and schedules for the partnership, a T5013 summary and one T5013 slip for each partner. It is a different filing from a share purchase of a corporation; see buying into a partnership.

Who must file

The guide says subsection 229(1) of the Income Tax Regulations requires partnerships that carry on business in Canada, Canadian partnerships and specified investment flow-through (SIFT) partnerships to file, but that under CRA administrative policy certain partnerships are not required to. Under the guide, a partnership that carries on business in Canada, or a Canadian partnership, must file for a fiscal period if it passes a size test set out in the guide. It must also file if, at any time in the period, it has another partnership as a partner or is a partner in one, has a corporation or a trust as a partner, or invested in certain flow-through shares. The same applies if the Minister of National Revenue requests a return in writing. In the guide’s example, a partnership that meets none of these criteria may file a return voluntarily or give its partners its financial statements instead.

What to ask

• Whether the partnership filed the return for each fiscal period, and whether it filed because it met the criteria or voluntarily
• Copies of the filed returns and of the T5013 slips issued to each partner
• Whether a late-filing penalty was assessed; the guide says a partnership that files late is subject to a penalty for each failure to file on time
• Whether anyone holds a partnership interest as a nominee or agent for another person, since the guide sets separate filing rules for them