Low-Cost Canada-US Tax Accountant for Canadian Businesses and Individuals

For the 2025 tax year the filing and payment deadline is 30 April 2026. If you or your spouse carried on a business, the return itself is due 15 June 2026, but any balance owing is still due 30 April 2026. Interest runs on unpaid amounts after the payment deadline, and a late-filed return with a balance owing also attracts a late-filing penalty. Filing on time keeps benefit and credit payments flowing.

Most tax saving comes from a short list of levers: contributing to an RRSP or a spousal RRSP, holding investments inside a TFSA, FHSA or RESP so growth is sheltered, claiming every deduction and credit you actually qualify for, and splitting income where the rules allow, such as pension income splitting. Business owners add expense timing and salary versus dividend planning. Order matters, so decide before year end rather than at filing time.

Income up to the basic personal amount is effectively untaxed, because that credit offsets the federal tax on it, and each province and territory has its own equivalent amount. Both figures change every year with indexation, so look up the amount for the tax year in question. Other credits, such as the age amount, tuition, or the disability amount, lift the point where tax actually starts. Tax withheld at source below that point comes back as a refund.

For 2025 returns filed in 2026 the CRA service standard is about two weeks for a return filed online, and up to sixteen weeks for a non-resident return. A paper return runs on a considerably longer standard. These are service standards rather than guarantees: a review of your claims, a missing slip, a debt owed to another government programme, or a return filed before the CRA has your slips on file can all hold the money longer.

Payroll treats each cheque as though you earned that amount every period, so a bonus, overtime, retroactive raise or an extra shift makes the cheque look like a higher annual income and more tax comes off it. A change in pay frequency, a new TD1, or a taxable benefit added mid-year does the same. CPP and EI stop for the year once their maximums are reached, so take-home often rises later on. Your return reconciles the total.

As of 2026 the harmonised sales tax is 13% in Ontario and 15% in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island. Nova Scotia has been 14% since 1 April 2025, down from 15%. The other provinces and territories are not harmonised: GST is 5%, with British Columbia PST at 7%, Saskatchewan PST at 6%, Manitoba RST at 7% and Quebec QST at 9.975% on the pre-GST price. Alberta and the territories charge GST only.

There is no general tax exemption card. A certificate of Indian status held by a person registered under the Indian Act supports GST/HST relief on qualifying purchases and Ontario point-of-sale relief. Foreign diplomats and certain international organisations carry their own federal relief documents. Charities and non-profits register with the CRA rather than hold a card, and businesses buying for resale use registration numbers and exemption certificates. The vendor decides on the document shown, so verify the rules first.

Claim everything you are entitled to, and file on time so nothing is clawed back by penalties. Gather every slip, then look at RRSP contributions, childcare and moving costs, medical expenses, tuition, donations, employment or home office expenses and the disability amount. Couples should pool medical and donation claims on one return and split eligible pension income. Carry unused amounts forward instead of losing them, and adjust an earlier return if you missed something.

You cannot write off the income itself, but you deduct the costs of earning it. Common current expenses are mortgage interest (not principal), property tax, insurance, utilities you pay, condo fees, advertising, property management, and repairs that maintain the property. Improvements that better the property are capital and depreciated instead. Only the rented portion counts where you also live there. Keep invoices for six years from the end of the tax year they relate to.

Generally no. Exports of goods and most services supplied to a non-resident are zero-rated, so no tax is charged, you still report the sale, and you still claim input tax credits on your costs. Exceptions apply, including services relating to real property in Canada and supplies to a non-resident who is registered here. Within Canada the place-of-supply rules follow the customer, so an Ontario business billing a Quebec customer charges 5% GST rather than 13% HST, using 2026 rates.

A reasonable allowance paid to cover meals and incidental costs while you travel for work on your employer's business is generally not taxable and is not reported as income. It becomes taxable when it is not tied to travel, is really extra pay, or exceeds what the costs reasonably require. Overtime meal allowances and allowances for travel inside your normal work area follow their own rules, so check the CRA's employer guide on allowances before treating a payment as tax free.

There is no federal renters credit. Several provinces give rent-based relief through the provincial credits filed with your T1, including Ontario's energy and property tax credit, Manitoba's renters tax credit and Quebec's solidarity tax credit. Eligibility generally turns on residing in that province at the end of the year, having paid rent on a principal residence, and income below a phase-out level. Keep receipts and your landlord's details, and claim it each year you qualify.