If you dispose of Canadian securities, you may have a gain or loss on income account (as opposed to the more likely capital gain or loss). However, in the year you dispose of Canadian securities, you can elect to report such a gain or loss as a capital gain or loss. If you make this election for a tax year, we will consider every Canadian security you owned in that year and later years to be capital properties. A trader or dealer in securities (other than a mutual fund trust or a mutual fund corporation) or anyone who was a non resident of Canada when the security was sold cannot make this election.
If a partnership owns Canadian securities, each partner is treated as owning the security. When the partnership disposes of the security, each partner can elect to treat the security as capital property. An election by one partner will not result in each partner being treated as having made the election.
To make this election, complete Form T123, Election on Disposition of Canadian Securities, and attach it to your 2011 income tax and benefit return. Once you make this election, you cannot reverse your decision.
For more information on this election as well as what constitutes a gain on income account versus a capital gain, see Interpretation Bulletin IT-479R, Transactions in securities, and its Special Release.
To report your capital gain or losses from the disposition of Canadian securities on the Schedule 3, see Publicly traded shares, mutual fund units and other shares.
Attach a completed Form T123, Election on Disposition of Canadian Securities, to your income tax and benefit return.