Why Your Questrade T5008 May Not Reflect Your True ACB
Questrade gives you a T5008 for every security you sold. The figure in Box 20 can look final, but the CRA says it may or may not reflect your adjusted cost base.
The Questrade T5008 and what Box 20 actually means
The CRA's own T5008 instructions state that Box 20 "may or may not reflect your adjusted cost base." That warning matters. Questrade reports an internal book-cost figure, but Canadian tax law requires your true ACB under pooled-cost rules; T5008 and Schedule 3 explains the difference in detail.
- Questrade tracks book cost within a single account only.
- It does not apply the superficial loss rule.
- It does not account for positions held at other brokers or in separate non-registered accounts.
- It does not track your USD cash pool ACB or the annual $200 FX exemption.
Questrade says much of this itself. As of August 2026 its tax-season help states the Box 20 amount "may or may not represent the actual adjusted cost base," lists a security transferred in from another institution with no cost data as a reason Box 20 can show zero, and notes that it generally does not amend T5008 amounts. Your available online transaction-history range can depend on Questrade's platform and account settings, and the slips usually land in the tax documents hub by the end of February.
Box 21 deserves the same scepticism as Box 20. CRA instructs filers to report proceeds gross of commission, but practice varies, and claiming the commission again as an outlay on Schedule 3 deducts it twice. See T5008 Box 20 and Box 21 explained.
What the Activity Report XLSX gives you
The Questrade Activity Report XLSX is the correct input for a Canadian ACB calculation because it includes every transaction event the engine needs: trades, dates, quantities, prices, commissions, dividends, interest, and corporate actions. DRIP reinvestments are recognized and treated as share purchases that add to your ACB, not as income.
That raw activity is more useful than a slip summary because it lets the calculation rebuild your ACB chronologically from inception.
How to export from Questrade
The full screenshot guide is at activeacb.ca/guide-questrade. Here is the short version. Run your own broker export through the ACB calculator. Your first calculation is free.
- Log in to Questrade. Open Reports, then the account activity and transaction history page. Menu labels have shifted with the platform redesign, but the report still lives under Reports.
- Set the date range. Use your full trading history from inception. Questrade's own tax guidance uses settlement-aware ranges for a single year, which is one more reason to export everything and let the calculation pick the tax year.
- Export as XLSX. Choose the Activity Report export.
- Upload to ActiveACB. The engine parses the file and calculates your CRA figures.
T5008 vs Activity Report: coverage table
| Rule or workflow | T5008 Box 20 | Activity Report + ActiveACB |
|---|---|---|
| ACB pooling | Partial, account-level book value only | Full: rebuilt chronologically |
| Superficial loss | Not applied | Full: includes 61-day rule |
| Cross-account detection | No | Yes: across uploaded accounts |
| FX cash ACB | No | Yes: per-leg Bank of Canada rates, USD pool ACB, and the $200 exemption |
| Options linking | No | Yes: exercise and assignment handling |
| Corporate actions | Partial | Yes: splits, renames, and ROC processed from activity history; unresolved events are flagged |
Frequently asked questions
My T5008 shows a different gain or loss than ActiveACB. Which is right?
If your history includes repeat buys, superficial losses, multiple accounts, USD cash, or corporate actions, the ActiveACB figure is the one aligned to CRA ACB rules. The T5008 is a broker slip, not a full Canadian tax calculation. Use the built-in T5008 checker by typing your slip's Box 21 and Box 20 totals, and ActiveACB shows the difference and explains what causes it, such as superficial losses, ROC, or FX method.
Questrade shows my book value but it seems right. Why would it be wrong?
For simple single-account buy-and-hold positions, it may be close. The problem appears when you repurchase after a loss, hold the same security elsewhere, or have currency and corporate-action adjustments the slip does not model.
Do I need to upload my full history or just this year?
Upload your full history from inception whenever possible. ACB pooling depends on earlier purchases, and the selected tax year only affects which dispositions are reported, not how the pool is built.
I have accounts at both Questrade and IBKR. What do I upload?
Upload both, with season access. Use your Questrade Activity Report XLSX and your IBKR Flex Query XML in the same session so the engine can pool positions correctly and detect cross-account superficial losses.
What if I have corporate actions not reflected in the Activity Report?
Use the built-in trade editor on the results page to add the missing event and re-run the calculation, with no re-upload needed. The Raw Trades XLSX round-trip also works for bulk edits.
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