Low-Cost Charity Financial Audit for Canadian Non-Profits and Charities

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.

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.

Multiply the pre-tax price by the combined rate for the province where the supply is made, then add that amount to the price. If the price already includes tax, divide the total by one plus the rate to get the pre-tax amount, and the difference is the tax. The rate depends on the province of supply rather than where your business sits, so verify the current rate for that province and confirm the item is not zero-rated or exempt.

Current and prior-year forms and publications are free to download from canada.ca, and tax software builds most of them for you as you enter your information. You can also order a paper package by phone or pick one up at participating postal and service outlets during filing season. Which forms apply depends on your situation: a T1 with your slips for employment income, T2125 for self-employment, a T2 for a corporation, T1-ADJ to change a return already filed.

Tax exempt describes an amount or a transaction that tax does not apply to at all, which is different from a deduction or credit that merely reduces tax. Common examples are supplies that are exempt or zero-rated for GST/HST, investment income earned inside a TFSA, and specific receipts Parliament has excluded from income. Registered charities and non-profits can be exempt from income tax while still carrying filing duties. Exemption is never automatic; the rule must fit your facts.

Yes. Licensed daycare, nursery school, day camp and after-school care generally qualify as child care expenses, deducted from income rather than claimed as a credit. The lower-income spouse normally has to make the claim, and the deduction is capped by the child's age and by that spouse's earned income. You need receipts showing the provider's name and, for an individual caregiver, their social insurance number. The CRA's child care expenses page carries the current limits.

Massage therapy is generally taxable rather than exempt. The health care exemption reaches a practitioner's service only where the profession is regulated widely enough to meet the test in the legislation, and massage therapy has not met it, so a therapist charges GST/HST once past the $30,000 small-supplier threshold that applies for 2026. Proposals to exempt it have been raised but not enacted. The offset is input tax credits on rent, table, linens and supplies.

Sometimes, depending on the type. A non-refundable credit reduces tax payable and can only take it to zero, so once you owe nothing, extra non-refundable credits add nothing to a refund. A refundable credit is paid out even when no tax is owing, so it does increase what you get back. Deductions work differently again, lowering taxable income before the rates apply. If you already owe nothing, look for refundable credits and benefits instead.

Coffee bought ready to drink from a cafe or restaurant is taxable at the GST/HST rate where you buy it, so 5% GST alone in Alberta, 13% HST in Ontario, 14% in Nova Scotia since 1 April 2025. Coffee beans, ground coffee and instant coffee sold in a grocery store are basic groceries and are zero-rated, so no GST/HST applies. Provincial sales tax follows its own food rules.

Gross annual income is what you earn before any deduction. On a salary, use the yearly figure in your employment agreement. Paid hourly, multiply your rate by the hours you work in a week, then by the weeks you work in the year. Paid by period, multiply gross pay per period by the number of pay periods in the year. Self-employed, use total revenue before expenses. Then add tips, bonuses, interest, rental income and support payments.

Yes. Where the balance cannot be paid at once, ask the CRA for a payment arrangement through My Account or by phone; you propose the amounts and dates and the CRA reviews what you can afford, sometimes asking for income and expense details. Interest keeps running until the balance clears, so pay as much as possible up front. Separately, the CRA can require instalment payments toward the current year when tax withheld at source does not cover enough of it.

Taxable value is the amount a tax is actually calculated on, after the exemptions and adjustments that apply to that particular tax. For property tax it is the assessed value your assessment authority sets. For sales tax it is the price charged for the supply, though Quebec applies QST of 9.975% to the pre-GST price. For income tax the equivalent is taxable income. Where a value has to be estimated, the usual standard is fair market value on the relevant date.