Dividend Tax Credit

Most enquiries are settled without a phone call in My Account, My Business Account or Represent a Client, where assessments, balances, slips and CRA mail all sit. When you need a person, use the enquiries line for your programme from the contact page on canada.ca, and have your social insurance or business number plus a figure from a recent return ready for identity checks. Written enquiries go to the tax centre named on your notice of assessment.

Income tax starts once taxable income passes the basic personal amount, and a separate provincial or territorial amount applies on top, so the break-even point shifts every year with indexation and differs by where you live. Look up the current amounts on the CRA site or in the year's return package. Credits for tuition, disability, pension income or dependants push the point higher. Filing can still be worthwhile or required with no tax owing, for benefits and credits.

Usually because the pay for that period is low enough that the basic personal amount covers it. Payroll annualises each cheque, so part-time or irregular hours can produce zero income tax while CPP and EI still come off. Other causes are a TD1 claiming large credits, a claim of exemption from withholding, or being paid as a contractor rather than an employee, in which case nothing is withheld and the tax is yours to set aside and remit.

CIT stands for corporate income tax, the tax a corporation pays on its own profits and reports on a T2 return rather than a personal return. For 2026 a Canadian-controlled private corporation claiming the small business deduction pays a federal rate of 9% on the first $500,000 of active business income, with the federal general net rate at 15%, and a provincial rate applies on top. The T2 return is due six months after the fiscal year end, but the tax itself is due earlier: two months after year end, or three months for a Canadian-controlled private corporation that claims the small business deduction and meets the other conditions.