Why Your Qtrade T5008 May Not Reflect Your True ACB

What the Qtrade T5008 does and does not tell you

Qtrade Direct Investing issues a T5008, and a Relevé 18 in Quebec, for dispositions in a non-registered account, reported in Canadian dollars. Its Tax Centre is direct about what Box 20 is worth. The amount “may or may not reflect your adjusted cost base (ACB),” you “need to make the adjustments, as required,” and, in a line of its own, “The book cost reported on the T5008 is not guaranteed.”

Qtrade also sends a Trading Disposition Summary, the TDS, which lists the dispositions in your non-registered accounts with a cost and a gain or loss. Qtrade’s tax FAQ says it “is not an official tax document and is not reported to the CRA,” that it leaves out money market funds, high interest savings accounts and GICs, and that Qtrade “cannot guarantee the absolute accuracy of this information for tax reporting purposes.” Where the cost is unknown the TDS shows N/A, which Qtrade says can mean a position was transferred in without its original cost.

Three things in particular fall outside the slip.

• Return of capital needs checking. Reconcile your cost base with the fund’s distribution breakdown and your tax slips. The Qtrade sample used to develop the parser contains ROC COST ADJ rows without amounts, so those rows alone cannot supply an ACB adjustment. See ETF return of capital and ACB.
• Other accounts and other brokers. Identical securities pool across your non-registered accounts. If you or an affiliated person acquires identical property, or a right to acquire it, within 30 days before or after a loss sale, all or part of the loss can be denied. The rule also requires that you or an affiliated person still owns, or has a right to acquire, replacement property 30 days after the sale. See the superficial loss rule. A registered-plan replacement can make a denied loss permanent instead of increasing taxable ACB.
• US-dollar accounts. Qtrade says its T3 and T5013 slips for US-dollar accounts are converted at the CRA’s annual average rate. A capital gain is worked out differently, with cost at the rate on the purchase date and proceeds at the rate on the sale date.

The slip also does not say whether a sale is a capital gain or business income. That is yours to decide. See is a T5008 capital gains or investment income, and read about the adjusted cost base rules the slip leaves to you.

Why the Account history export is the better source file

Qtrade describes Account history as showing “all transactions on your account since inception including buys, sells, transfers, deposits, stock splits, and dividends.” Request the widest available export range and check the earliest row against your records. History visible on screen is not a guarantee that a single download includes it all. ActiveACB calculates from the supported rows in the files you supply.

• ACB pooling: one average cost per security across your uploaded non-registered accounts and brokers
• Superficial loss: the 61-day window is checked against the taxable trades you supply. Missing account history can change the result
• Return of capital: applied from issuer data for more than 200 Canadian ETFs, when factors for the fund and year are available
• Fund distributions: recorded as income under the fund, ready to check against your T3
• Transfers between your accounts: named on their own card, never treated as a sale, which matters for a Norbert’s gambit

These broker files are imported as non-registered accounts. Review registered-plan and affiliated-person purchases separately. They can affect a superficial loss even when they are absent from your uploaded history.

Some ROC COST ADJ rows in the sample carry no amount. ActiveACB lists these as unapplied rows and uses issuer factors for the funds and years it covers. For other holdings, obtain the amounts and distribution dates from the fund or broker and reconcile them with your T3 before entering the missing adjustments.

When the Qtrade slips arrive

Qtrade’s Tax Centre lists the week each document is available online and mailed. For the 2025 tax year the non-registered schedule was as follows.

Duplicate slips are under Accounts, Service Centre, eDocuments.

How to export the right file from Qtrade

The full walk-through is in the Qtrade export guide. Follow the four steps below to prepare your file for the ACB calculator. Your first calculation is free.

1. Open Account history from your account summary.
2. Set the date range to the full life of the account and press Go.
3. Download the Excel file with the page icon, and leave it as downloaded.
4. Upload to ActiveACB. The file is recognized by its nine column names and read directly.

Qtrade T5008 vs Account history: coverage table

Frequently asked questions

Does Qtrade track my ACB?

Qtrade keeps a book cost for each holding and reports it in Box 20 of the T5008 and on the Trading Disposition Summary. Its Tax Centre says the amount in Box 20 may or may not reflect your adjusted cost base and that the book cost reported on the T5008 is not guaranteed. You are expected to make the adjustments.

How does ActiveACB handle ROC COST ADJ rows?

The sample used to develop the parser contains ROC COST ADJ rows without amounts. ActiveACB lists these as unapplied and uses issuer return-of-capital factors where it covers the fund and year. Otherwise, obtain the distribution breakdown from the fund or broker, reconcile it with your T3, and enter the amounts on their applicable dates. A blank adjustment row alone cannot establish your ACB.

Is the Trading Disposition Summary filed with the CRA?

No. Qtrade says the TDS is not an official tax document and is not reported to the CRA, and that it is not meant to substitute for any tax form. The T5008 is what the CRA receives. The TDS is a working paper that Qtrade says it cannot guarantee for tax reporting.

Why does my Qtrade report show N/A for the cost?

Qtrade reports N/A when it could not obtain a proper adjusted cost, and says this may mean the position was transferred in without an original cost base. Use a statement from the earlier institution, or upload that broker’s history alongside your Qtrade file.

I have a US-dollar Qtrade account. Is the slip’s conversion good enough?

Not for capital gains. Qtrade says its T3 and T5013 slips for US-dollar accounts use the CRA’s annual average rate. A gain or loss is computed with the cost converted at the rate on the day you bought and the proceeds at the rate on the day you sold. The Qtrade account-history file carries no currency column, so tell support before uploading the US-dollar side of an account.

What if the T5008 and ActiveACB totals match?

Matching totals are a useful cross-check, but do not prove that the history is complete or the ACB is correct. Check transfers, return of capital and missing transactions against your records. The built-in T5008 checker compares slip totals to the calculation and helps explain differences.