Overhead is the ongoing cost of running a business that is not directly tied to producing a specific product or service, such as rent, administration and insurance.
Overhead covers the indirect costs that keep the business operating regardless of any single sale, rent, utilities, administrative salaries, insurance, software. It contrasts with direct costs (cost of goods sold) that are tied to producing what you sell.
Understanding overhead is essential to pricing and profitability: gross margin must cover overhead before any profit remains. Businesses often analyse overhead as a percentage of revenue and watch whether it grows faster than sales, a warning sign for margins.
A consulting firm's overhead, office rent, admin staff, software and insurance, totals $200,000 a year. Its billings must exceed that overhead plus direct costs before it earns any profit.
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A tax return is the annual filing that reports your income, deductions and credits to the CRA so the final tax for the year can be settled. Payers withhold tax during the year and the return reconciles that against what you actually owe, producing either a refund or a balance to pay. For 2025 returns filed in 2026, refunds usually arrive in about two weeks for an online return, while a paper return runs on a considerably longer standard because it is handled manually.
Taxable income is what is left after you total the income the tax rules include and subtract the deductions you are allowed. Employment and self-employment earnings, most pensions, EI and CPP benefits, interest, dividends, rental profit, the taxable portion of capital gains, RRSP and RRIF withdrawals and most taxable benefits from work all go into the total. Tax is then calculated on that figure and reduced by non-refundable credits such as the basic personal amount.
The T1 General is the Canadian personal income tax and benefit return. It reports your income, deductions and credits for the calendar year and works out the tax owing or the refund, with provincial forms and schedules attached to it. Download the package for your province of residence from canada.ca, or let certified software build it for you. Filed copies and assessment summaries for past years stay available in CRA My Account. The 2025 return was due 30 April 2026.
Each province sets its own top bracket, which sits on top of the federal top bracket, so the highest combined marginal rate depends on where you live, and both rates and thresholds are adjusted each year. Look up the current combined table for your province rather than relying on a single national figure. It is a marginal rate: only the income above the threshold is taxed at it, never your whole income.
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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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