Affordable Bank Financing Support for Canadian Businesses

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.

There is no single rate. Federal personal income tax for 2026 runs through five brackets: 14%, then 20.5%, 26%, 29% and 33% on the highest band, and your province's brackets stack on top, so your combined marginal rate is the federal rate plus the provincial one. The 2026 federal basic personal amount is $16,452, tapering to $14,829 as net income rises from $181,440 to $258,482. Capital gains and Canadian dividends are taxed on a different basis.

Income tax is tax charged on the income you earn in a year, levied by both the federal government and your province or territory. Rates are graduated, so successive slices of taxable income are taxed at higher rates, and credits such as the basic personal amount reduce the tax calculated. Employment income is taxed through payroll withholding and settled on your T1 return. Quebec residents also file a separate provincial return with Revenu Quebec.

For 2025 returns filed in 2026, most online returns are processed in about two weeks, and a non-resident return can take up to sixteen weeks. A paper return runs on a considerably longer standard because it is handled manually. Those timeframes assume a complete return that is not pulled for review. Register direct deposit and track progress in CRA My Account rather than waiting on a posted cheque.

If you owe nothing, no penalty applies, but a refund and benefit payments such as the Canada child benefit and the GST/HST credit are held up until the return is processed. If you owe, a late-filing penalty is charged and interest runs on the balance and compounds daily from the day after the due date. For the 2025 tax year the deadline was 30 April 2026. File even if you cannot pay, because the penalty is driven by filing, not payment.

Medical costs give a non-refundable credit rather than a deduction. Eligible items include prescription drugs, dental work, eyeglasses and contact lenses, fees paid to medical practitioners authorised to practise, private health plan premiums, attendant care and travel for treatment unavailable locally. Over-the-counter products and most cosmetic procedures do not qualify. Only the portion above an income-based threshold counts, the claim period may end at any point in the tax year rather than following the calendar year, and pooling the family claim on one spouse usually helps.

A return filed online is usually assessed and refunded in about two weeks, as long as your direct deposit details and address are current in CRA My Account and the return is not selected for review. A non-resident return can take up to sixteen weeks. Amounts you owe the CRA or another government program are applied against the refund first. My Account shows the assessment and the refund once issued, which is the quickest way to check.

In your bank's bill payment list, search Canada Revenue Agency and pick the payee that matches what you are paying: individual tax owing for a year, tax instalments, GST/HST, or payroll source deductions. The account number is your social insurance number for personal tax, or your fifteen-character business number account for business payments. Choosing the wrong payee is the usual reason a payment sits unapplied. My Payment and pre-authorised debit avoid the choice.

Sign in to CRA My Account and check the uncashed cheques list, your balance, and whether any returns are still outstanding, since a refund is only issued once a return is assessed. Missing returns also stop benefit and credit payments. An old CRA cheque never expires; you ask for it to be reissued. Forgotten bank, insurance or pension balances sit with provincial unclaimed-property registries rather than the CRA, so check those separately.

Often yes. An inground pool is a permanent improvement, so your provincial assessment authority can add it to the assessed value of the property, and a higher assessment means a higher municipal tax bill. The increase reflects what the pool adds to market value, not what you spent building it. Permits for excavation and fencing are usually how the assessor finds out. Your assessment notice sets out the review process if the addition looks overstated.

No. Borrowed money is not income, so a bank loan, line of credit or mortgage is not reported on your return, and repaying the principal is not deductible. The interest can be deductible where you borrowed to earn business or investment income. Watch two exceptions: a debt that is forgiven can trigger a tax consequence, and a loan from your own corporation or from your employer can create a taxable benefit or income inclusion.

Canada has no measure by that name; the low income tax offset is an Australian credit. The Canadian equivalents are the federal basic personal amount, which for the 2026 tax year is $16,452 and tapers down to $14,829 at higher net incomes, plus refundable credits such as the Canada workers benefit and the GST/HST credit. Together they leave many low-income filers with no federal tax. You still have to file a return to receive the refundable credits.