T1044 Non-Profit Information Return: Who Files and When

Reviewed by Bader A. Chowdry, CPA, CA, LPA on November 5, 2026

The T1044 non-profit information return is filed by a tax-exempt non-profit organization (NPO) that passes one of three tests in the Income Tax Act, which is in force: more than $10,000 of investment-type income in the year, more than $200,000 of assets at the previous year-end, or a T1044 required in any earlier year. It is due 6 months after the fiscal period ends. For Ontario clubs, associations and not-for-profit corporations in Mississauga and across the GTA, a December 31 year-end means the 2026 return is due June 30, 2027.

This guide covers who the rule reaches, how each test is measured, the other returns that often sit beside the T1044, and the year-end decisions a board can make now, while the books for the period are still open.

Who the T1044 rule applies to

The rule applies to organizations that are exempt from tax because of paragraph 149(1)(l) or 149(1)(e) of the Income Tax Act, both in force. Paragraph 149(1)(l) covers a club, society or association that the CRA does not regard as a charity, run for a purpose other than profit, where no income is available for the personal benefit of a member. Paragraph 149(1)(e) covers agricultural organizations, boards of trade and chambers of commerce, which is why the CRA’s T1044 form page names all four types.

A registered charity is outside this rule. It files the T3010 registered charity information return instead, a separate regime with its own deadlines and spending rules. An Ontario not-for-profit corporation can be either: what decides the tax filing is whether the CRA has registered it as a charity, not the word “not-for-profit” in its articles.

The three filing tests, measured one by one

Subsection 149(12) of the Income Tax Act, in force and current to September 30, 2026, requires the return when any one of three tests is met. Meeting one is enough; the others do not need to be checked once one applies.

Test (a): passive income over $10,000

Under the Act as in force, add up the taxable dividends plus the interest, rentals and royalties the organization received or was entitled to receive in the fiscal period. If the total is more than $10,000, the return is required. Rent from a hall, a parking lot or a cell tower lease counts here, as does interest on reserve funds held in GICs.

Two points catch boards out. First, the test counts amounts receivable, not only cash in the bank, so accrued interest on a GIC that matures next year belongs in the period. Second, the list is specific: a capital gain on selling investments is not one of the four named items, so it does not count toward the $10,000 figure, although the organization’s financial statements still report it.

Test (b): total assets over $200,000 at the previous year-end

The Act, in force, looks at total assets at the end of the preceding fiscal period, measured under generally accepted accounting principles. If they exceeded $200,000, the return for the current period is required. The measure is total assets, not net assets: a building carried at cost, reserve funds, receivables and cash all count, and the mortgage or deferred contributions on the other side of the balance sheet do not reduce it.

Because the test looks back one year, the board already knows today whether test (b) applies to the 2026 return. The figure on the December 31, 2025 balance sheet decides it.

Test (c): once required, required again

If a T1044 was required for any earlier fiscal period, it is required for the current one, under the same subsection, in force. A year with lower income or assets does not switch the obligation off. An organization that filed once because of a single large rental contract stays in the system.

The deadline and what late filing costs

The filing deadline is 6 months from the close of the fiscal period, and the CRA does not have to ask for it first. For a period ending December 31, 2026, that gives June 30, 2027; for a March 31 year-end, the 2026 return was due September 30, 2026.

The late-filing penalty comes from subsection 162(7) of the Income Tax Act, in force: the greater of $100 and $25 for each day the return is late, counting at most 100 days. The CRA’s guide T4117 puts the same rule as a floor of $100 and a ceiling of $2,500 per missed return. The guide’s page was last dated 2020, so read it alongside the Act, which is the current record.

The other returns that sit beside the T1044

The T1044 is an information return, not a replacement for an income tax return. The CRA’s guide states that an NPO that is incorporated generally also files a T2 corporation income tax return, even though it is an NPO and normally owes no corporate income tax. In practice the T2 and the T1044 are prepared from the same year-end financial statements, so it makes sense to plan them together.

The guide also says an organization whose main purpose is providing dining, recreational or sporting facilities files a T3 trust income tax and information return. Golf, curling and social clubs should confirm which side of that line they fall on before assuming the T2 route.

Separate from the income tax side, an NPO with staff runs payroll like any employer: source deductions for CPP, EI and income tax, a remittance schedule, and T4 slips at year-end. GST/HST registration is its own question again. None of these is affected by the T1044 tests, and missing one does not excuse the others. If the organization holds investments, the T5 slips it receives from its bank or broker are also a quick way to total the dividends and interest for test (a).

Where ONCA meets the T1044

For an Ontario not-for-profit corporation, the T1044 total-assets test and the Not-for-Profit Corporations Act, 2010 (ONCA) audit rules both start from the same financial statements. ONCA has been in force since October 19, 2021, and its transition period ended October 18, 2024, according to the ontario.ca transition page.

ONCA also decides when a corporation needs an audit or a review engagement of its financial statements, and when its members may waive one. Those levels depend on the corporation’s category and its finances, so a board should confirm them against the Act for its own year before relying on a figure; this guide stays with the tax filing. The ontario.ca guide to ONCA notes that whoever carries out the audit or review needs authority under the Public Accounting Act, 2004, and has to be independent of the corporation. The site’s article on ONCA compliance requirements covers the corporate side in more depth, and the one on a funder asking for an audit below the ONCA threshold deals with grant conditions.

What a licensed public accountant adds at year-end

Reading the CRA page tells a treasurer what the tests are. The judgment is in applying them to statements that are not finished yet, and in seeing how the tax filing and the ONCA engagement interact. An LPA is licensed under the Public Accounting Act, 2004 to sign the audit and review engagement reports ONCA refers to, so the same review of the year-end numbers can serve both.

A decision rule for the board

Before the year closes, check test (b) first, because it is already settled by last year’s balance sheet. If total assets were above $200,000, plan for the T1044 and stop testing. If not, total the dividends, interest, rents and royalties earned and accrued to date, project the rest of the year, and treat anything within reach of $10,000 as a filing year. Then check whether any earlier T1044 was ever required; if so, test (c) settles it.

A named failure mode: filing the T2 and stopping there

The most common gap is an incorporated NPO whose bookkeeper files the T2 every year and never looks at the T1044 tests, often because the organization was small when that routine was set. Rent from a new tenant or interest on a growing reserve fund pushes it over a test without anyone noticing, and test (c) then makes every later year a filing year too. The second gap is measuring test (b) on net assets, which can show a figure well under the threshold for an organization with a mortgaged building.

Illustrative example

This is an illustrative example with stated assumptions, not a client file. A Mississauga community association is a not-for-profit corporation with a December 31 year-end. Its total assets at December 31, 2025 were $185,000, so test (b) does not apply to 2026. In 2026 it earns $12,400 of hall rent and GIC interest. That exceeds $10,000, so test (a) applies and a T1044 for 2026 is due June 30, 2027.

If the association files 40 days late, the penalty under subsection 162(7) is $1,000: $25 times 40 days, which is more than the $100 minimum. Because a return was required for 2026, test (c) means it is also required for 2027, whatever the 2027 income turns out to be.

What to do before December 31

Pull the 2025 balance sheet and note total assets. Run a year-to-date total of dividends, interest, rents and royalties, including accruals. Confirm whether a T1044 was ever filed or required. Then put the T1044, the T2 or T3, and any ONCA review or audit on one calendar with the June 30, 2027 date for a December year-end, so the treasurer and the board see one plan rather than three separate reminders.