Affordable Personal Tax Filing Services

File a T1 return for the year, sending it electronically with CRA-certified software or mailing a paper return. Gather your slips and receipts first and check them against the ones listed in My Account. For the 2025 tax year the filing and payment deadline was 30 April 2026, or 15 June 2026 to file if you or your spouse were self-employed, with payment still due 30 April 2026. CRA online filing for 2025 returns closes 29 January 2027.

Most people file electronically with software the CRA approves for NETFILE, or have a preparer send the return through EFILE. Paper filing is still accepted and takes far longer to process. Before starting, set up My Account, confirm your direct deposit details, and download the slips the CRA already holds so your return matches its records. For the 2025 tax year the deadline was 30 April 2026, with any balance owing due the same day; a 2025 return not yet filed is late, so file it now to stop the late-filing penalty growing.

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.

Most municipalities do not take credit cards for property tax directly. They accept pre-authorised debit, online or telephone banking, cheque, and in-person payment. Third-party payment processors will charge a property tax bill to a card for a service fee, which normally costs more than the rewards earned. The CRA works the same way for income tax and GST/HST: no direct card payment, but authorised third-party providers accept cards for a fee.

Yes. A personal T1 can be prepared and filed by the taxpayer through CRA-certified software, and a straightforward year of employment slips and a few credits is manageable. Corporate filing is harder: a T2 has to reconcile to financial statements, and for tax years beginning after 2023 electronic filing is mandatory for essentially every corporation regardless of gross revenue. Self-employment, rental property, investments sold during the year, a move between provinces and foreign income are where self-filed returns most often go wrong.

You can file a Canadian personal return at no cost using CRA-certified free tax software, which sends the return through NETFILE. Volunteer clinics run by community organisations also prepare simple returns free of charge for people with modest income. Paper filing costs only postage. Free software suits straightforward employment and pension income; self-employment, rental or foreign property usually needs a preparer. CRA online filing for 2025 returns opened 23 February 2026 and closes 29 January 2027.

Yes. The CRA answers individual, business and benefit enquiries by phone, and its Contact the CRA page lists the current numbers and hours for each line. Have your social insurance number or business number, a recent return and your notice of assessment ready, because the agent will verify your identity before discussing an account. For account details, balances and slips, My Account often answers the question faster than the phone.

Rent paid is not deductible on the federal return. Relief comes instead through provincial credits claimed on the provincial form filed with your T1, such as Ontario's energy and property tax credit, Manitoba's renters credit and Quebec's solidarity tax credit, each with its own residency and income tests. Rent is deductible only as a business or employment cost: the work-space-in-the-home share on a T2125, or with an employer-signed form where an employee is required to work from home.

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.

Federal personal income tax arrived in 1917, when the Income War Tax Act was passed as a temporary measure to help finance the First World War. It reached only a small number of high earners at first, and although it was passed as a temporary wartime measure the tax was never withdrawn: the Income War Tax Act was replaced by a new Income Tax Act after the Second World War, and today's Act descends from that line. A federal tax on business profits had been introduced the year before, and the personal system broadened steadily over the following decades as rates, credits and withholding were added.