Should my partner and I file our taxes as common law?

Time to read: 2 minutes

Sometimes clients ask us about the pros and cons of filing together, and wonder if they should file taxes as common law with their partner. You may be surprised to find out that when it comes to marital status and filing together, there's actually no choice. This post explains common law status for tax purposes.

How does the CRA determine if you’re common law for tax purposes?

Most couples are considered common law for tax purposes once they’ve been living together for 12 months. That’s it – there’s no choice and it’s a relatively short amount of time.

You’ll also be considered common law for tax purposes if you’re living together – for any amount of time – and you have a child together.

This is different from the usual provincial laws around being considered common law.

What happens if you’re common law for tax purposes?

If you're considered common law for tax purposes, then you have to file together – meaning, you include information about each other on your tax returns. The CRA doesn’t provide any options around that.

Even if you’re filing common law, you can still submit your returns at different times and they can even be prepared by different people. There are two options when you’re filing common law: 

• You and your partner could have your returns prepared by the same tax preparer. This option can be more convenient, and may allow your tax professional to identify more tax-saving opportunities for your family.

• You and your partner could have your returns prepared by different tax preparers. With this option, your accountant would need some info from your partner’s return (and they’d need some info from yours) before filing.