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Personal tax

How to report investment income on your Canadian tax return

Investment income is reported on your personal return even when no slip arrives, and different kinds of income go on different lines. Interest, dividends and capital gains are each calculated differently, and each can be taxed at a different effective rate. This article walks through where each type goes, what the slips show, how to work out a gain, and the records worth keeping. It covers non-registered accounts held personally, not RRSPs or TFSAs.

Sora Accounting & Tax · General information · Editorial policy
Updated · 6 min read

One investment account splits into three reporting lines

A branching view of how investment income divides into interest, dividends and capital gains, each reported on its own line of the personal tax return.

Visual labels: Interest: line 12100; Dividends: 12000 and 12010; Capital gains: Schedule 3.

What to take away

  • Report interest, dividends and capital gains even if you did not receive a slip; a T5 may not be issued when the total is under $50.
  • Interest goes on line 12100, dividends on lines 12000 and 12010, and taxable capital gains on line 12700 through Schedule 3.
  • Keep purchase records and cost information, because the adjusted cost base drives every capital gain calculation.

Start with what is taxable and what is not

Income earned on investments you hold personally in a non-registered account is generally reported in the year it is earned or realized. Income earned inside a TFSA is generally tax-free, and income earned inside an RRSP is usually exempt while it stays in the plan, so neither normally belongs on this part of your return. If you are deciding which account to use, see our comparison of the RRSP and the TFSA.

Make a list of every account that could have produced income in the year: bank savings accounts, term deposits, GICs, brokerage accounts, mutual funds, bonds, any accounts held jointly and anything held for a child. A missing account is the most common reason investment income goes unreported.

Match each slip to a place on the return

Investment income is usually reported to you on a T5 statement of investment income, a T3 statement of trust income allocations and designations, or a T5013 statement of partnership income. Payers must file their T5 information returns with the CRA by the last day of February, so confirm with each institution when your slip will be available.

The CRA states that you may not receive a T5 if your total investment income from a payer is less than $50, but you must still report the income. Treat the absence of a slip as a reason to check your bank statements, not as a reason to leave the income off. Compare each slip to your own year-end statements and ask the issuer to explain any difference before you file.

Interest income

Interest and other investment income goes on line 12100. That includes bank interest, foreign interest and dividend income, and interest the CRA paid you on an income tax refund, which appears on your notice of assessment or reassessment. The line numbers in this article come from the CRA’s guidance for the 2025 return, so confirm them against the form for your year.

Interest that builds up over more than a year needs particular care. On a compound GIC, for example, you generally report the interest earned in each complete investment year even when you only receive it at maturity. A GIC bought on July 1, 2025 would normally have its first year of interest reported on the 2026 return. For a joint account, you generally report your share based on how much you contributed to it. If an investment contract sets a different rate each year, report the amount on the T5 slip.

Dividend income

Dividends from taxable Canadian corporations are reported on lines 12000 and 12010, and the type matters. Line 12000 takes the taxable amount of all your eligible and other-than-eligible dividends, while line 12010 takes the other-than-eligible portion, so the two are not added together. Your slip shows the taxable amount of each type. The CRA’s instructions use the slip boxes, so enter the figures from the T5 or T3 rather than the cash you actually received. If you do not receive a slip, the CRA says to multiply an eligible dividend by 138% and an other-than-eligible dividend by 115%.

You may then claim the federal dividend tax credit on line 40425, using the credit amounts shown on your slips, together with the provincial credit, which the CRA calculates using a provincial worksheet or form. Foreign dividends do not qualify for the dividend tax credit. Our article on how dividends are taxed in Ontario shows how the gross-up and credit combine, and our eligible dividend term explains the difference.

Capital gains and losses

You have a capital gain when you sell, or are considered to have sold, a capital property for more than its adjusted cost base plus the outlays and expenses of selling it. Proceeds less that total is the gain. For example, if you sold shares for $10,000, their adjusted cost base was $6,000 and you paid a $50 commission, the gain would be $3,950. Those figures are illustrative.

The inclusion rate in CRA’s examples for 2025 is 50%, so half of that gain, $1,975, would be your taxable capital gain. A higher inclusion rate was proposed, but CRA states that the proposed increase was cancelled. You report the transaction on Schedule 3 and carry the result to line 12700. You must report a sale in the calendar year it happens, and the CRA says you must file a return to report a disposition even when you owe no tax. A capital loss first applies against taxable gains in the same year; any remaining net capital loss can be carried back three years or forward. Our capital gains term gives more detail, and special superficial loss rules apply to some repurchases of the same property.

Foreign investment income and currency

Foreign interest, dividends and gains are reported in Canadian dollars. In general you convert each amount using the Bank of Canada exchange rate in effect on the day it arose. For a capital gain on a foreign-currency sale, the CRA says to convert the proceeds at the rate in effect on the sale date, the cost at the rate on the date you bought and each expense at the rate on the date you incurred it.

Do not subtract foreign tax withheld from the income you report. Report the gross amount and then consider the foreign tax credit, which can reduce federal and provincial tax. A tax treaty can affect eligibility. If your foreign holdings are large, there may also be separate foreign property reporting; our article on foreign income and property covers that.

Expenses, family accounts and records

Some costs of earning investment income can be claimed on line 22100 as carrying charges, including fees to manage your investments and most interest on money borrowed to earn income such as interest and dividends. The CRA lists exclusions: fees for services connected with an RRSP, TFSA or FHSA, interest on money borrowed to contribute to those plans, and brokerage commissions, which belong in your capital gain calculation instead. Interest is not claimable when the only earnings an investment can produce are capital gains.

Family arrangements matter. Income from property you lend or transfer to a spouse or common-law partner, or to a related minor under 18, may have to be reported by you. The CRA also notes that you generally report income from investments held in a child’s name, although interest on Canada child benefit payments deposited in the child’s own account is included in the child’s income. Keep purchase confirmations, annual statements and notes on reinvested distributions. The CRA says you do not need to attach proof of purchases and sales to your return, but you should keep it in case you are asked.

Common mistakes and when to get help

The usual errors are leaving off a small account, using the cash received instead of the taxable dividend amount, forgetting the cost of reinvested distributions when calculating a gain, treating a registered-account transaction as taxable, and missing a slip that arrives late. A corrected slip after you file may require a reassessment request, as covered in our guide to how to dispute a CRA assessment.

Bring every slip, December statements, trade confirmations, the original cost of long-held positions and your answers on family loans to your accountant. Ask whether regular trading may be treated as business income, which is a separate question from ordinary investing. If investments sit inside a corporation, the rules differ; see our article on passive investments inside a corporation. Our personal tax service can review the return.

Sources & editorial notes

Sources checked October 24, 2026. The examples are illustrative and provide general information. Discuss how the guidance applies to your circumstances with your accountant.

Rules and guidance can change. Use the current official source and confirm the treatment for your facts. To flag an error, contact Sora.