Pocket-Friendly CRA Payment Arrangement for Canadian Businesses and Individuals

There is no single tax-free amount that applies to everyone. Federal and provincial basic personal amounts each shelter a band of income, so someone whose income stays within those amounts pays no income tax. The federal amount is reduced for higher earners, and every province sets its own figure that changes each year. Look up the basic personal amount for your province and tax year, and remember CPP and EI still come off employment income.

No. If you cannot pay the full balance, file on time anyway and then ask the CRA for a payment arrangement - instalments over a period you can manage, set up in My Account or by phone. Interest keeps accruing on the unpaid amount, but filing on time avoids the separate late-filing penalty. If your income is largely untaxed at source, the CRA may also ask you to pay next year's tax by quarterly instalments.

Not on a Canadian personal return. Net income there is total income minus deductions such as RRSP contributions and union dues, worked out before any tax is applied, and it is the figure used to test income-tested benefits and credits. In everyday payroll language, net pay does mean what reaches your account after tax and other withholdings. For a corporation it depends on the statement: accounting net income is normally after tax, while the return starts from income before tax.

Revenue Canada is the former name of the Canada Revenue Agency. The CRA is the federal body that administers income tax, GST/HST, payroll deductions and benefit payments such as the Canada child benefit, and it collects provincial income tax for every province except Quebec, which runs its own personal system through Revenu Québec. The old name is still in everyday use, so paying Revenue Canada means paying the CRA, and a letter from either is the same agency.

The CRA publishes its numbers on the Contact the Canada Revenue Agency page, with separate lines for individual enquiries, business enquiries and benefits. We do not quote them here because they change and vary by service. Have your social insurance number or business number, a recent return and your postal code ready, since the agent will verify your identity before discussing your account. Automated self-service handles balances, and My Account answers many questions without a call.

The CRA does not usually move a due date, but you can ask for a payment arrangement that spreads the balance over time. Interest keeps running while you pay. Apply through My Account, My Business Account, or the CRA's debt management call centre. Where interest or penalties arose from circumstances beyond your control, ask for relief using form RC4288. British Columbia's property tax deferment program is a separate provincial scheme with its own application.

Yes. GST/HST you charge customers is collected on the government's behalf, so it sits as a liability until you remit it. Input tax credits on your purchases reduce that balance, and the net amount is what the GST/HST return reports. Record the tax in its own account at the point of sale; treating collected tax as revenue overstates sales and hides what you owe. Reconcile the account every filing period against the return.

It means the sales tax that applies where the sale takes place. Federal GST is 5%. In Ontario the HST is 13%; in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island it is 15%; Nova Scotia is 14% from 1 April 2025. British Columbia adds 7% PST and Saskatchewan 6% on top of GST, Manitoba adds 7% RST, and Quebec charges 9.975% QST on the pre-GST price for 14.975% combined. Alberta and the territories have GST only.

Canada runs a self-assessment system: you report your own income, deductions and credits, and the CRA checks the return afterwards. The agency receives your slips but not your rent, medical costs, childcare, donations, tuition or business expenses, so a return prepared for you from slips alone would miss deductions. The CRA does help part way, filling slip data into approved tax software automatically and inviting some filers with simple, lower-income situations to file by phone or online.

Adjusted family net income is your net income plus your spouse's or common-law partner's net income, minus any universal child care benefit and registered disability savings plan income received, plus any of those amounts repaid. CRA uses the figure to test income-based benefits such as the Canada child benefit, the GST/HST credit and the Canada workers benefit. It is taken from the previous year's returns, which is why both partners have to file each year to keep payments flowing.

Sometimes, as a credit rather than a deduction. Examination fees paid to a professional body can qualify for the tuition tax credit when the exam is required to obtain a professional status or licence recognised by statute, and the fee is above the CRA minimum. Study materials, travel and annual membership dues do not count. You need a receipt or official tax slip from the body. Check the CRA page on examination fees for licensing or certification.

Tax free means no tax is payable on the amount at all, as with growth inside a TFSA, most gifts and inheritances, lottery winnings and certain non-taxable employee benefits. It differs from tax-deferred, where an RRSP only postpones tax until withdrawal. In sales tax it means something narrower again: zero-rated supplies are taxed at nil while exempt supplies sit outside GST/HST, which decides whether the seller can recover tax paid on costs.