Quick Ratio

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.

Multiply the assessed value of the property by the tax rate for its property class. Assessment is set by a provincial assessment authority on its own cycle and increases are often phased in, so the value lags the market. The rate is set each year by the municipality out of its budget, with an education portion added by the province. Both figures appear on your notice, which is why identical homes in different municipalities carry different bills.

A personal return is the T1: identification pages, then pages that total income, subtract deductions to reach taxable income, apply federal and provincial credits, and finish with a balance owing or a refund. Behind it sit schedules and forms for specific items, such as a self-employment statement or a capital gains schedule, plus the slips supporting each figure. The notice of assessment the CRA issues afterwards is a separate document, not the return itself.

A new assessed value or municipal rate applies for the tax year the municipality sets it for, not from the day you receive the notice. Provincial assessment bodies value properties as at a fixed valuation date and phase increases in over a cycle, then councils set the annual rates, which appear on the final bill rather than the interim one. A reassessment after a renovation or a change in use can be billed back to its effective date.