Canadian Departure Tax Calculator

How this calculator works (the actual rules)

• The deemed disposition: on ceasing Canadian residence you are deemed to dispose of most property at fair market value and reacquire it at that value (Income Tax Act s. 128.1(4)(b) and (c)). Canadian real property and "excluded rights or interests" (RRSPs, RRIFs, TFSAs and other registered plans, s. 128.1(10)) sit outside the deemed sale.
• The taxable half: one half of a capital gain is taxable (s. 38(a)).
• Losses net against gains: a loss on one holding comes off a gain on another. The immediate deemed reacquisition at s. 128.1(4)(c) does not make that loss superficial, because the definition of "superficial loss" in s. 54 names section 128.1 in its own exclusion list, and s. 3(b) then sets the year's allowable capital losses against its taxable capital gains. If the whole deemed disposition nets to a loss, the departure tax on it is nil and one half of the loss is an allowable capital loss (s. 38(b)) that s. 111(1)(b) carries back three years or forward. A net loss isn't worth nothing, so it's worth getting right.
• Form T1161: required when the total fair market value of your reportable property exceeds $25,000 (s. 128.1(9)); a kept Canadian home escapes the deemed sale but still counts here. Personal-use items worth under $10,000 each stay off the T1161 list (they are still technically part of the deemed sale, though household goods rarely produce a taxable gain). The late-filing penalty is $25 a day, minimum $100, maximum $2,500 (s. 162(7)).
• Deferring the bill: you can elect to pay the departure tax only when you actually sell, by your balance-due day for the departure year (s. 220(4.5), Form T1244). Security is deemed accepted up to a floor that s. 220(4.51) sets by formula rather than by printing a number; CRA puts that floor at $16,500 of federal departure tax, or $13,777.50 for former residents of Quebec, and adds that you may also be required to post security for any provincial or territorial tax payable.
• The short-term resident exception: if you were resident 60 months or less in the 120 months before leaving, two kinds of property sit outside the deemed sale: what you owned at the time you last became a resident of Canada, and what you acquired by inheritance or bequest after that time (s. 128.1(4)(b)(iv)). Tick the box on the left and the calculator asks for both, so it can take them out of the number instead of only warning you about them.
• Full walk-throughs: what the departure tax is, the forms and a worked example, and the leaving-Canada checklist.

This tool provides general information and rough estimates only, not tax advice for your situation. Methodology checked against the statutes linked above; figures current to the 2026 filing year.