Accounts receivable is the money owed to your business by customers for goods or services you have delivered but not yet been paid for.
Accounts receivable (AR) is a current asset. When you invoice a customer on credit terms, the amount owed becomes a receivable until they pay. Because AR represents cash you have earned but not collected, an ageing receivables list is one of the most important reports a business owner watches.
Under accrual accounting the sale is recognised as revenue when invoiced, and any GST/HST you charged becomes payable to the CRA on your return, even if the customer has not paid you yet. That timing mismatch, tax due before cash arrives, is exactly why collecting receivables promptly matters.
You invoice a client $5,000 plus $650 HST. Your AR is $5,650. On your next HST return you must remit the $650 to the CRA based on the invoice date, so slow-paying clients can leave you funding the tax out of pocket until they pay.
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Canada runs three systems. The federal GST is 5% for 2026 and applies nationally. Five participating provinces fold a provincial share into one harmonised rate: 13% in Ontario, 15% in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island, and 14% in Nova Scotia since 1 April 2025. Others add their own tax to the 5% GST, giving 12% in British Columbia and Manitoba, 11% in Saskatchewan and 14.975% in Quebec. Alberta and the territories charge 5% only.
Federal tax is the share of income tax that goes to the federal government, charged on taxable income in graduated brackets that are the same everywhere in Canada. Your total bill is that federal amount plus your province or territory's own tax, less the credits you claim. Payroll deductions shown on a T4 cover both layers. Quebec residents receive a refundable abatement of their federal tax because Quebec opted out of certain federal-provincial programs and funds them itself; separately, Quebec also collects its provincial tax through its own return.
Family allowance is the older name for Canada's monthly child benefit. The current federal programme is the Canada Child Benefit, a tax-free monthly payment to the person primarily responsible for a child, with the amount driven by the number and ages of the children and by family adjusted net income. Several provinces add their own child benefit paid in the same deposit, and Quebec pays its Family Allowance separately through Retraite Quebec.
Open the forms and publications section of canada.ca, search by form number or title, and choose the PDF for the tax year you need, because forms change from year to year and prior-year versions stay available in the same place. Most personal filers need no printed forms at all, since software approved for NETFILE builds the T1 and transmits it. Paper filers should print the version for their province or territory of residence.
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Reviewed and fact-checked by Udit Gupta
Ex Big 4 — Ernst & Young, Deloitte · International & cross-border tax specialist · CPA Canada (In-Depth Tax Program) · Chartered accountant, ICAI & MIA
Udit Gupta has over 15 years of experience helping corporations and business owners with corporate structuring, corporate tax filing, bookkeeping, payroll, GST/HST, cross-border tax and CRA representation. Big 4 trained at Ernst & Young and Deloitte, and qualified as a chartered accountant in India and again in Malaysia, he founded his accounting practice in 2014 to serve entrepreneurs, startups and non-resident business owners across Canada. View full member bio.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India — member 521458 · Malaysian Institute of Accountants — member CA 44667 · Ex Big 4: Ernst & Young, Deloitte · CPA Canada (In-Depth Tax Program), completed 19 Dec 2023 · In-Depth GST/HST Part I, 12 Jul 2022 · Part II, 5 Jul 2023
Editorial policy. Every page is researched against primary sources — the Income Tax Act, CRA publications and CPA Canada guidance — and every rate or threshold is stated with the tax year it applies to.
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