T1135 for a Lebanon bank account or property: reporting to the CRA

The steps

1. List your property outside Canada

   Bank accounts in Lebanon (even frozen), rented real estate, land, shares, loans to people living outside Canada. Leave out personal-use property, such as a family house kept for holidays.

   before the return

2. Work out the total cost

   Add up the cost of each item in Canadian dollars (value on arrival in Canada or on inheritance, where relevant). The form is required if the total exceeded $100,000 at any time in the year.

   before the return

3. Choose the method

   Part A, simplified, if the total stayed below $250,000 all year; otherwise Part B, detailed, item by item.

   before the return

4. Gather your statements

   For each account: name of the bank, maximum amount in the year, balance on 31 December, interest. For real estate: cost, rent, gain on a sale.

   before the return

5. File T1135

   With the income tax return, online or on paper, by 30 April (15 June if you or your spouse run a business).

   by 30 April

6. In Quebec, file TP-1079.8.BE

   Revenu Québec's form for the same property, by the same deadline, in addition to T1135.

   by 30 April

7. Report the income

   Interest, rent and gains are reported on the income tax return, even below the $100,000 threshold.

   with the return

What it really costs

Form T1135 (and TP-1079.8.BE in Quebec)	free
Late filing, per day (up to 100 days)	$25 (minimum $100, maximum $2,500)
Failure to file knowingly or through gross negligence, per month (up to 24 months)	$500 (maximum $12,000)
Same, after a CRA demand, per month	$1,000 (maximum $24,000)
After 24 months	5% of the cost of the foreign property
False statement or omission, knowingly or through gross negligence	the greater of $24,000 or 5% of the cost of the property
Observed total	Free (late filing costs $100 to $2,500)

Amounts recorded on 23.10.2026.

What most often gets stuck

• Frozen account in Lebanon wrongly thought to be exempt: it counts at its cost, even if it cannot be withdrawn.
• Threshold worked out item by item instead of on the total of all foreign property.
• Threshold worked out on market value instead of cost.
• Inherited flat let out in Lebanon forgotten: its cost is its value at the time of the inheritance.
• In Quebec, T1135 filed but TP-1079.8.BE forgotten (required from the 2025 tax year).
• Income from the property (interest, rent) not reported: reassessment period extended by three years.

Form T1135 (Foreign Income Verification Statement) must be filed with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) by any Canadian resident whose foreign property, such as an account at a Lebanese bank, even a frozen one, or a rented flat in Lebanon, cost more than CAD 100,000 in total at any time in the year. It is free and is filed with the income tax return, by 30 April (15 June if you or your spouse run a business). Filing late costs $25 a day, from $100 to $2,500, and far more if the failure is deliberate. In Quebec, from the 2025 tax year, a second form, TP-1079.8.BE, must also be sent to Revenu Québec.

This guide applies the general rules published by the CRA and Revenu Québec to Lebanese situations. It is not tax advice: for a specific case, ask the CRA.

Who has to file T1135

• Individuals resident in Canada, whatever their nationality, as well as certain corporations, trusts and partnerships.
• The threshold applies to the total of your foreign property. The CRA gives the example of foreign shares costing $75,000 and a foreign bank account holding $35,000: $110,000, so the form is required, even though no single item exceeds $100,000.
• The threshold is based on the cost of the property (the “cost amount”, generally the purchase price), not its market value.
• Exceeding $100,000 at any point in the year is enough, even if the balance is lower on 31 December or the property has been sold.
• No T1135 is required for the year in which you become resident in Canada.

Below the threshold there is no form, but the income from this property (interest, rent, gains) must still be reported: the CRA says so in its questions and answers.

What counts as foreign property

The law uses the term “specified foreign property” (subsection 233.3(1) of the Income Tax Act). For readers with ties to Lebanon, the most common cases are:

• funds deposited outside Canada: current and savings accounts, in pounds or dollars, and prepaid cards;
• real estate outside Canada that is not for personal use: a rented flat, commercial premises;
• land, even if it produces no income: the CRA states that vacant land is specified foreign property;
• shares of corporations not resident in Canada;
• money owed to you by someone not resident in Canada, for example a loan to a relative living in Lebanon.

Not included: personal-use property, property used exclusively in a business you actively carry on, and foreign investments held in an RRSP or a TFSA.

Lebanese situations

Frozen account. A deposit with restricted withdrawals is still funds deposited outside Canada. No CRA page provides an exception for a frozen account at a Lebanese bank. Since the threshold is based on cost, not market value, the fact that the deposit can only be withdrawn at a steep discount does not take it out of the calculation. Nor does the CRA say how to value such a deposit: keep your statements and, if in doubt, ask the CRA in writing.

US dollar deposit. Amounts are reported in Canadian dollars. The form instructions generally require the exchange rate in effect at the time of the transaction (deposit, purchase); for an account, the maximum amount held in the year is converted at the average rate for the year, and the year-end balance at the rate on 31 December.

Deposit or property you held before moving to Canada. Its cost is its fair market value when you became resident in Canada. The CRA does not explain how to determine that value for a deposit that was already frozen at that date.

Inherited or gifted property. Its cost is its fair market value at the time of the inheritance or gift. An inherited share in a flat in Lebanon therefore counts at that value, unless it is personal-use property.

Family house used for holidays. Property used primarily (more than 50%, according to the CRA) for your personal use or that of a “related person” is personal-use property and is not reported. Under section 251 of the Act, people related by blood are your children and other descendants and your brothers and sisters; your parents and grandparents are too, since you are their descendant. An uncle, an aunt or a cousin is not. A village house lived in by your parents or kept for your visits is therefore in principle excluded. This is a question of fact, decided case by case.

Rented flat. If it is let for most of the year with an expectation of profit, it must be reported, even if you stay there in summer. If it is let only to cover part of the costs, with no reasonable expectation of profit, the CRA treats it as personal-use property. In the CRA’s example of a building with four similar units, one used by the owner and three let with an expectation of profit, the cost of the whole building must be reported.

Filling in T1135: simplified or detailed method

• Part A, simplified method: if the total cost of your foreign property stayed below $250,000 throughout the year. You tick the type of each property (funds held outside Canada, real property, etc.), enter the top three countries, then total gross income and the gain or loss on disposals.
• Part B, detailed method: required as soon as the total cost reaches $250,000 at any time in the year. For each account: name of the bank, country, maximum funds held during the year, funds held at year-end and gross income. For real estate: description, country, maximum cost during the year, cost at year-end, gross income, gain or loss.
• Round amounts to the nearest dollar; enter “0” rather than leaving a field blank.
• Filing: online with the income tax return (NETFILE or EFILE) for 2017 and later years. On paper, attached to the return or sent separately to the Winnipeg Tax Centre by the deadline.
• The form is due by the deadline even if you do not have to file an income tax return that year.

In Quebec: form TP-1079.8.BE

Revenu Québec requires its own foreign property return for any tax year ending after 30 December 2025, so from the 2025 tax year. The threshold is the same as the federal one: “designated foreign property” (biens étrangers désignés) whose total cost exceeded CAD 100,000 at any time in the year.

• Form: Foreign Property Return (TP-1079.8.BE), 2025-12 version; the question appears on line 25 of the TP-1 return.
• Deadline: that of the income tax return, 30 April, or 15 June if you or your spouse carried on a business, even if you do not have a return to file.
• No form for the year in which you become resident in Canada.
• TP-1079.8.BE does not replace T1135: a Quebec resident above the threshold files both.

What forgetting costs

Federal penalties for T1135, published by the CRA and set out in sections 162 and 163 of the Act:

• Late filing: $25 a day for up to 100 days (minimum $100, maximum $2,500).
• Failure to file knowingly or through gross negligence: $500 a month for up to 24 months (maximum $12,000), less penalties already levied; $1,000 a month (maximum $24,000) if you fail to comply with a CRA demand to file.
• After 24 months: 5% of the cost of the foreign property, less penalties already levied.
• False statement or omission made knowingly or through gross negligence: the greater of $24,000 or 5% of the cost of the property concerned.
• Reassessment period extended by three years if, for the same year, T1135 is missing or inaccurate and income from this property was not reported. For an individual, the normal period is three years after the original notice of assessment.

In Quebec, Revenu Québec announces penalties of the same order for TP-1079.8.BE: $500 a month up to $12,000 (double after an unanswered formal demand), 5% of the total cost of the property after 24 months, and for a false statement the greater of $24,000 or 5% of the total cost. The assessment period is also extended by three years.

If you missed past years

• Amended form: the CRA accepts an amended T1135 on the same version of the form as originally filed. Tick the amended return box and complete the whole form, not just the correction. The simplified method can still be used for a past year if the cost stayed below $250,000 throughout that year. Years before 2017 must be filed on paper.
• CRA Voluntary Disclosures Program (VDP): open to T1135 filers. Since 1 October 2025 (circular IC00-1R7, form RC199), an application made before any contact from the CRA normally receives relief of 100% of penalties and 75% of interest; one made after CRA contact, 25% of interest and up to 100% of penalties. The tax owed must still be paid. For foreign income or assets, include documents for the last ten years.
• Taxpayer relief: the CRA can also cancel a penalty on written request (form RC4288), case by case.
• In Quebec: Revenu Québec has its own voluntary disclosure programme (form LM-15). The application must be voluntary, complete and verifiable, and the tax owed must be paid with it.

Income from this property

T1135 tells the CRA what you own; it is not used to calculate tax. Interest on an account in Lebanon, rent from a flat and gains on a sale are reported on the income tax return, whatever the cost of your property, even below the $100,000 threshold.

If you live in France

T1135 only concerns Canadian residents. In France, an account in Lebanon is declared every year to the tax authorities on form 3916-3916 bis, under different rules.

Sources

• CRA, “Foreign Income Verification Statement”, page modified 10 August 2026.
• CRA, “Questions and answers about Form T1135”, page modified 15 April 2026.
• CRA, “Form T1135 – Reporting for 2015 and later tax years”, page modified 10 February 2026.
• CRA, Form T1135 and instructions, 2023 version, online version as at 11 October 2026.
• CRA, “Penalties” (foreign reporting), page modified 12 June 2025.
• CRA, “Table of penalties”, page modified 25 May 2022.
• CRA, “Changes to the Voluntary Disclosures Program”, in force 1 October 2025.
• Income Tax Act, section 233.3 (specified foreign property), Act current to 30 September 2026.
• Income Tax Act, section 54 (personal-use property), Act current to 30 September 2026.
• Income Tax Act, section 251 (related persons), Act current to 30 September 2026.
• Income Tax Act, section 162 (penalties), Act current to 30 September 2026.
• Income Tax Act, section 152 (reassessment period), Act current to 30 September 2026.
• Revenu Québec, obligation to report foreign property held outside Canada (in French), published 26 November 2025.
• Revenu Québec, line-by-line help, line 25 – foreign property (in French), 2025 return, version of April 2026.
• Revenu Québec, form TP-1079.8.BE (in French), 2025-12 version.
• Revenu Québec, eligibility conditions for a voluntary disclosure (in French), version of August 2025.

Checked on 23.10.2026.

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