Economical Break-Even Analysis for Canadian Businesses

Sign in to CRA My Account, or use the CRA's mobile app, where the return shows as received, in process or assessed, and the refund amount and payment date appear once it has been assessed. The CRA also runs an automated telephone service giving the same information. A representative you have authorised through Represent a Client can check it for you. If the status has not moved past the published processing time, the return is probably under review.

A tax deduction is an amount subtracted from your income before tax is worked out, so it reduces the income being taxed rather than the tax bill directly. Its worth depends on your marginal rate: the higher the rate, the more the deduction saves. Common examples are RRSP contributions, child care costs, union dues, moving expenses and business expenses. Credits work the other way, reducing the tax calculated on that income.

Yes. Most people file electronically through NETFILE using CRA-certified software, which submits the return directly and confirms receipt immediately. Filing online is also what makes a fast refund possible: for 2025 returns filed in 2026 the CRA service standard is about two weeks online, against a considerably longer standard for a paper return, and registering direct deposit removes the cheque step. CRA online filing for 2025 returns opened 23 February 2026 and closes 29 January 2027.

Your marginal tax rate is the rate on your next dollar of income, not on your income as a whole. Federally for 2026 that is 14%, 20.5%, 26%, 29% or 33% depending on the bracket you have reached, and your province's rate stacks on top, so an Ontario earner in the 26% federal band adds the Ontario rate for their own band. The two sets of thresholds rarely line up, so add the two rates together.

Yes, once you are registered, because consulting is a taxable service. A registrant charges the rate for the client's province: 13% in Ontario, 15% in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island, 14% in Nova Scotia, and 5% GST in the western provinces and the territories, for 2026. Registration is required once taxable revenue passes $30,000 across four consecutive calendar quarters or within one quarter. Below that you may register voluntarily to claim input tax credits.

Usually your pay for the period is low enough that the credits claimed on the personal tax credits form you gave your employer cancel the tax out, or more was claimed on that form than should have been. Other causes: you were set up as a contractor rather than an employee, the payment was a non-taxable reimbursement, or payroll is simply misconfigured. Nothing withheld does not mean nothing owed, so raise it with payroll early.

It is the GST/HST credit, a quarterly tax-free payment for people with modest incomes, which appears on statements under a label such as Canada GST/HST credit. You do not apply for it: the CRA works out entitlement from your filed return, so the return must be filed even with no income. The amount reflects family net income, marital status and the number of children. Payments stop when a return is missing.

Sign in to CRA My Account and open the tax returns section, where you can view and print your assessed T1 return and notices of assessment for past years. If you have not registered, you set up My Account using your social insurance number, date of birth and an amount from a recent return, or you sign in through a participating bank. A representative can pull the same records once you authorise them, usually with an AUT-01.

Yes. A television is an ordinary taxable good, so GST at 5% for 2026 applies, or HST instead in the HST provinces: 13% in Ontario, and 14% in Nova Scotia since 1 April 2025. In British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec, provincial sales tax or QST is charged alongside the GST. Electronic recycling or environmental handling fees may appear on the receipt and are generally taxable themselves.

Reportable income is every amount you have to show on your return, which is wider than the amount you finally pay tax on. It takes in employment income, self-employment and side income, tips, interest, dividends, capital gains, rent, pensions and most benefits, slip or no slip. Foreign income is reportable too, even where tax was already paid abroad. Report everything first, then claim the deductions and credits that reduce what is taxable and what you owe.

Selling a home is not automatically taxable, but every sale must be reported on your return. If it was your principal residence for all the years you owned it, the gain is usually fully exempt; otherwise the taxable portion is a capital gain, included at one-half (50%) for 2025 and 2026. What you do with the proceeds does not change the tax on the sale itself, though moving cash into a TFSA, RRSP or FHSA shelters future growth within your available room.

No. A return can be filed with software approved for NETFILE or on paper without ever registering. My Account is still worth setting up: it holds the slips that Auto-fill pulls into your return, shows RRSP and TFSA room, carries notices of assessment, and lets you add direct deposit and track a refund. Registration asks for figures from a recent return, so it is easiest to set up after you have filed at least once.