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HST combines the 5% federal GST with a provincial component in five participating provinces. For 2026 the combined rates are 13% in Ontario, 15% in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island, and 14% in Nova Scotia since 1 April 2025. Elsewhere you charge the 5% GST alone, or GST plus a separate provincial tax. The rate follows the province of supply, not where your business sits.

For the 2025 tax year the filing and payment deadline is 30 April 2026. If you or your spouse carried on a business, the return itself is due 15 June 2026, but any balance owing is still due 30 April 2026. Interest runs on unpaid amounts after the payment deadline, and a late-filed return with a balance owing also attracts a late-filing penalty. Filing on time keeps benefit and credit payments flowing.

For the 2026 tax year, federal rates are 14% on the first $58,523 of taxable income, 20.5% from there to $117,045, 26% to $181,440, 29% to $258,482, and 33% above that. Each rate applies only to the income inside its own band, so moving into a higher bracket does not raise the tax on the income below it. Provincial or territorial tax is added on top.

Reportable income is every amount you have to show on your return, which is wider than the amount you finally pay tax on. It takes in employment income, self-employment and side income, tips, interest, dividends, capital gains, rent, pensions and most benefits, slip or no slip. Foreign income is reportable too, even where tax was already paid abroad. Report everything first, then claim the deductions and credits that reduce what is taxable and what you owe.

Yes. Canada uses a social insurance number rather than a social security number, and if you are not eligible for a SIN you can apply to the CRA for an individual tax number and file with that. Apply before or together with your first return, and allow processing time. Without one of those identifiers the CRA cannot match the return to you. Non-residents with Canadian income most often file using an individual tax number.

Land transfer tax is a tax the buyer pays on closing when title changes hands, levied by most provinces — Alberta and Saskatchewan instead charge land title registration fees, and in Nova Scotia the deed transfer tax is set municipally. Where a province does levy it, the scale is usually graduated and applied to the purchase price, so a higher price attracts a higher effective rate. Some municipalities charge a second land transfer tax of their own, and several provinces, including Ontario and British Columbia, offer first-time buyer relief, as does the City of Toronto on its own municipal tax. Your lawyer collects and remits it at closing, so check your province's current schedule before you budget.

Start with total income: employment, business, investment, pension and other slip amounts. Subtract deductions such as RRSP contributions, union dues, child care and support paid to reach net income. Subtract the deductions allowed at the following step to reach taxable income, which is the figure the tax brackets apply to. Credits, including the basic personal amount, then reduce the calculated tax rather than the income itself.

Basic groceries are zero-rated for GST/HST, so milk, bread, vegetables, meat, eggs and similar staples carry no tax. Tax applies to food the rules treat as something other than a basic grocery: carbonated drinks, candy, snack foods, most prepared or heated meals, restaurant orders, single servings of many products, and food sold together with a service. The combined rate depends on the province of supply, so check the rate where the sale takes place.