Empowering Agriculture, Natural Resources & Energy Businesses in Canada With Affordable Tax Filing

Property tax on the home you live in is not deductible. It becomes deductible only where the property earns income: the full amount against the rental income of a property you rent out, the rented or business proportion of a mixed-use property, and the workspace share when you run a business from home. Business and farm properties follow the same principle. Keep the municipal bills, because the CRA can ask to see them.

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.

Car insurance is claimable only for the business or employment use of a vehicle, never for personal driving. Keep a log of business kilometres and total kilometres for the year, then claim that share of insurance along with fuel, repairs, licence fees and loan interest. Employees need their employer to certify in writing that the vehicle was required for the job. Driving between home and a regular workplace counts as personal use.

The CRA does not offer a general public chat line for tax advice. Account-specific service runs through its telephone lines, My Account or My Business Account, and mail, and the Contact the CRA page on canada.ca lists what each option covers, including automated lines for balances and benefit dates. Treat any chat window on a site that is not canada.ca as a phishing risk and never type your social insurance number into one.

Yes, indirectly. Provincial assessment authorities value a home from its characteristics, including lot size, living area, age, construction quality, bedrooms and bathrooms, and recent sales of comparable homes nearby. Your municipality then multiplies that assessed value by its rate. So a bigger lot or more finished square footage generally means a higher assessment and a higher bill, while bedroom count alone matters less than total area. Your assessment notice lists the details on record.

Yes. Property tax is a municipal charge on the property rather than an income tax, and it does not stop at any age. Relief does exist in places: several provinces and municipalities run deferral programs that let older or lower-income owners postpone payment until the property is sold, usually with interest, and some offer a grant or rebate. These are applied for each year through the province or municipality, not on your T1. Check your municipality's tax page for what is offered.

You owe a balance when the tax withheld or paid during the year came to less than your total tax for the year. Common causes are two employers each applying the basic personal amount, self-employment or rental income with no withholding at all, investment income, RRSP withdrawals taxed at a flat rate, and CPP or OAS with little tax taken off. For the 2025 tax year the balance was due 30 April 2026. Extra withholding or instalments stops it recurring.

No, in most cases. Rent from a property is property income rather than self-employment income, so it goes on the rental statement instead of the T2125 business form, it creates no CPP contributions, and it does not count as earned income for the child care expense deduction. Net rental income does count as earned income for RRSP room. Where you provide substantial services beyond a basic tenancy, the CRA may instead treat the activity as a business.

Property tax on the home you live in is not deductible. It becomes deductible only where the property earns income or supports a business: a landlord deducts it against rental income, and a self-employed person with a qualifying work space at home deducts the portion tied to that space, while a salaried employee working from home cannot claim property tax at all and only an employee paid by commission can. Tax on vacant investment land is often added to the land's cost instead. Keep the municipal bills.

Mostly by claiming what the law already allows: deducting genuine business expenses, taking capital cost allowance on equipment and buildings, carrying losses to other years, and paying the small business rate on active income. A Canadian-controlled private corporation pays the federal small business rate of 9% on its first $500,000 of active business income for 2026, against a federal general net rate of 15%. Multinationals also choose where profit is reported, which transfer-pricing rules police.

CRA stands for the Canada Revenue Agency, the federal body that administers income tax, GST/HST, payroll deductions and benefit payments such as the Canada child benefit. It collects for the federal government and, under agreement, for most provinces and territories. Quebec is the main exception: Revenu Quebec administers provincial income tax and the provincial sales tax there. Alberta and Quebec also administer their own corporate income tax.

No. Rent from a room in your home is taxable income reported on your personal return, though you deduct a reasonable share of expenses such as mortgage interest, property tax, insurance, utilities and repairs, normally split by floor area or room count. Claiming capital cost allowance on the house is usually a poor idea because it can put part of your principal residence exemption at risk. Keep records for six years after the tax year ends.