How Much Does T1135 Preparation Cost?

Filing Form T1135 yourself costs nothing beyond your time, and individuals can e-file it. Published preparer prices we found for the form run from $100 at Cross Border Specialized Tax Solutions to “starting at $500” at Toronto Tax Consulting. At Blue Cloud, the T1135 is included in our US Expat Compliance package, from $1,745 per person. Filing late costs $25 a day, up to $2,500 for each year’s form. Our full price list is on what cross-border tax help costs.

What does it cost to file a T1135 yourself?

Nothing in fees. CRA says individuals can file Form T1135 electronically through EFILE or NETFILE for 2017 and later years, and it’s due on the same date as your income tax return. The cost is the work of pulling the cost amount of every foreign holding, by month, from your statements. On a single account, that’s not much; on a brokerage account with dozens of positions, it is.

The test uses what you paid. CRA’s T1135 questions and answers say the threshold “is based on the cost amount,” which is generally the adjusted cost base. It counts across all your foreign property: CRA’s own example adds $75,000 of shares in a foreign corporation to a $35,000 US bank account and gets $110,000, so the form is required. You file even if you sold everything before December 31, as long as you crossed $100,000 at some point.

Some property and some years stay off the form. Personal-use property, such as a vacation home used mainly as your own residence, isn’t reported. In the year you first become resident, you don’t file one at all, and in the year you leave, CRA only wants the period you were resident. The T1135 filing guide covers what counts as specified foreign property.

What do preparers charge for a T1135?

The form is usually priced as an add-on to a T1. Published prices we found for the T1135 run from $100 to “starting at $500,” and the gap likely reflects whether the firm is pricing the simple Part A case or every case. Read each line for what it covers.

Firm	What the price covers	Published price	Checked
Cross Border Specialized Tax Solutions	”T1135 Forms,” base rate, e-filing included	$100 (no currency stated)	2026-10-18
Toronto Tax Consulting	Add-on forms including the T1135: “Each form or schedule is prepared starting at $500”	Starting at $500 (no currency stated)	2026-10-18
Blue Cloud CPA	Included in US Expat Compliance with the FBAR (up to 10 accounts) and Form 8938	Package from $1,745 USD per person	2026-10-18

Cross Border Specialized Tax Solutions says its prices are base rates that rise if more reporting is needed. We don’t publish a stand-alone T1135 price; on its own, it’s quoted in writing after the Diagnostic.

What pushes a T1135 fee up?

Crossing $250,000. In Part A you tick a box for each type of property and give the top three countries. In Part B, CRA wants each property listed in its category, so a US brokerage account with 40 positions means 40 lines instead of one tick box. That’s likely a big part of the gap between a $100 base rate and a $500 starting price.

• Number of accounts and countries. Each one is another set of month-end cost amounts.
• Holdings in a non-Canadian account. A US stock held in a UK brokerage account still needs the right country code, per CRA’s Q&A.
• Late years. Each missed year is its own form and its own penalty, and the cleanup often goes through relief or the voluntary disclosure route; see late T1135s for US accounts.
• The income itself. The tax on income from the property goes on your T1, with any foreign tax credit, which is separate work; see reporting US income on a Canadian return.

Is the T1135 included in a cross-border package?

At Blue Cloud it is, if you’re a US citizen or green-card holder living in Canada. Our US Expat Compliance package, from $1,745 per person, covers the US and Canadian returns together, with the FBAR for up to 10 accounts, Form 8938 and the T1135. Accounts beyond 10 on the FBAR are $10 each. A spouse’s second separate return is typically 50%.

The reason to price them together is that the same accounts feed all three forms. The T1135 works from each holding’s cost amount, while the FBAR asks for each account’s maximum value during the year. Doing them in one pass means one account list, checked once. The FBAR cost guide prices that form on its own, and our package figure is a starting point, fixed in writing at the Diagnostic.

If you’re a Canadian with no US filing, the T1135 rides on your T1. We bill Canadian returns in Canadian dollars, with a T1 from $250 CAD; a T1135 on top of that is quoted after the Diagnostic.

What does a late or missing T1135 cost?

At least $25 a day. Under CRA’s penalty table, a late T1135 costs $25 a day for up to 100 days, minimum $100, maximum $2,500, for each year’s form. If the failure is knowing or grossly negligent, it’s $500 a month for up to 24 months, a maximum of $12,000, less penalties already charged.

It can go higher. If CRA has sent a demand to file and you knowingly don’t comply, the penalty is $1,000 a month for up to 24 months, maximum $24,000. After 24 months, a further penalty of 5% of the cost of the foreign property applies, less what’s already been charged, under ITA 162(10.1). A false statement or omission made knowingly or through gross negligence carries the greater of $24,000 or 5% of the property’s cost. And if you didn’t report income from the property and the T1135 was late, CRA gets 3 more years to reassess that year.

What should I do next?

Add up the cost, not the value, of everything you hold outside Canada, and check the highest point during the year. Over $100,000 means you file; $250,000 or more at any point means Part B. If you’ve missed years, don’t file them one at a time before reading the options.

• How the penalties are assessed and argued: CRA T1135 penalties.
• Renting out a US property: reporting US Airbnb income on your Canadian return.

This guide is general information, not tax advice for your specific situation. Which points apply, and how, depends on your facts.