TX19: Asking for a Clearance Certificate
A clearance certificate is the CRA's confirmation that all taxes, CPP, EI, interest and penalties for a person, estate, trust or corporation have been paid or secured. The legal representative uses form TX19 to ask for it before distributing the property.
Download the official TX19 form (canada.ca)Opens the current version on the Government of Canada website — always the up-to-date form, straight from the source.
Why the certificate matters
If you're the legal representative — an executor or administrator of an estate, or the person winding up a corporation or trust — and you distribute the property without a clearance certificate, you can be held personally liable for any amounts the CRA is still owed. The certificate is what protects you before you hand anything out.
Estates vs corporate wind-ups
For a deceased person's estate, the certificate normally comes after the final returns are filed and assessed. For a corporation or trust that's winding up, you also provide a statement of how the assets have been and will be distributed. Either way, the returns generally have to be filed and settled before the CRA will issue the certificate.
It's usually the last step
Because the CRA has to be satisfied everything is filed and paid, the clearance certificate tends to be the final piece — after the returns are done. If those returns are behind or complicated, that's the part to sort out first.
FAQ
The legal representative — an executor or administrator of an estate, or the person winding up a corporation or trust. It's not something the beneficiaries apply for.
As legal representative you can be held personally liable for taxes the CRA is still owed. The clearance certificate is what protects you before you distribute the property.
Generally after the final returns are filed and assessed. For a corporate or trust wind-up you also submit a statement showing how the assets are being distributed.
The returns behind a clearance certificate — a final return or a corporate wind-up — are complex. Book a free consultation and we'll walk through what's involved and whether it's something we take on for your situation.
Settling an estate or winding up a corporation?
The clearance certificate comes after the returns are filed and cleared — and being personally caught for missed tax is the real risk. Book a free consultation and we'll map what's needed.
Book a Free Consultation — 15 minRelated help
Other CRA forms
General information only, not tax advice. This is a copy of publicly available information about an official Government of Canada form; the form itself is published by the CRA. Verify details for your situation on canada.ca or with us.