If an investment is listed under my name and I decide to share 80% or 100% of it with my spouse (my income is higher), do I need to complete another T3 or T5 entry?

[TurboTaxKim · Accepted solution]

As a rule, if an investment tax slip is issued in one spouse's name only, the income is entered entirely on that spouse's tax return. If you are sharing this income with your spouse, only enter the tax slip "once" and specify on that slip the percentage that is being reported on the spouse's return. 

According to CRA Attribution rules, what you need to do is determine who contributed to the investment and what percentage. You report the interest earned in the same proportion as the funds that were contributed into the account that earned the income. So if these were "your" funds, then you would claim the income on the T3 & T5 slips 100% in your name, even if both names are on the tax slip.

You cannot change the amounts strictly for tax advantages, and you should continue to report it with the same percentages each year, as changing this each year can trigger a review and possible reassessment from CRA.  Generally spouse's claim 50/50.

[retired1701]

So if I select 50% as my percentage on a T3, do I enter the same information for my spouse and select 50% as well or does the program only require one entry as there is only one name on the T3 slip.  Contributions came from a joint account so 50% is correct.

[TurboTaxHeba]

No, you don't have to enter this slip again in your spouse's return. 

Whether you use TurboTax Online or TurboTax Desktop, if you are filing your return with your spouse together, the software will transfer the information to the spouse return when you enter 50% in the "your share" or " your spouse share" box.