Affordable CRA Source-Deduction Audit Support for Canadian Businesses

A TD1 Personal Tax Credits Return tells your employer which personal credits to build into your income tax withholding, so the right amount comes off each pay. You normally complete a federal TD1 and a provincial or territorial TD1 when you start a job. File a fresh pair whenever your situation changes, for instance a new dependant, tuition, or a second employer, where you should not claim the basic personal amount twice.

By the last day of February following the calendar year the pay relates to. The same date applies to giving employees their copy and to filing the T4 information return with the CRA, and filing late brings a penalty that scales with the number of slips. Filed slips usually appear in CRA My Account within a few weeks. If yours has not arrived, ask your employer first, then fall back on My Account or your own pay records.

Yes. Employment Insurance benefits are taxable income and must be reported on your return. Service Canada issues a T4E slip showing the benefits paid and the tax already withheld, and that withholding is often less than the rate that ends up applying, because it takes no account of employment income earned earlier in the same year. Many claimants therefore owe a balance at filing. If your income for the year is high enough, part of any regular benefits may also be repayable — the repayment never touches maternity, parental or sickness benefits, and it does not apply where you have not received regular benefits in the previous ten years.

Your employer withholds income tax, CPP and EI. For 2026, CPP is 5.95% on earnings between the $3,500 basic exemption and the $74,600 ceiling, plus CPP2 at 4% on earnings up to $85,000, and EI is $1.63 per $100 of insurable earnings up to $68,900. Income tax withheld depends on your pay, your province and the credits you claimed on the personal tax credits return given to your employer. Federal rates for 2026 start at 14%.

Basic groceries, prescription drugs, most medical devices and exports are zero-rated, so they are technically taxable at 0%. A separate list is exempt: most health and dental care, child care, residential rent, most financial services, and many educational courses. The difference matters to sellers, because a business making zero-rated sales can still recover the GST/HST it pays, while a business making exempt sales cannot. Check the CRA's GST/HST guide for the current lists.

Sometimes. Taxpayer relief can cancel penalties and interest where the delay came from circumstances beyond your control, a serious illness or death in the family, a CRA error or processing delay, or an inability to pay. Inconvenience is not enough. You apply in writing on form RC4288, with dates, documents and a reason for each period claimed. There is a limit on how far back a request can reach, so apply early. The tax itself is never cancelled.

Variable. Municipal property tax is your assessed value multiplied by a rate council sets each year, so the bill moves when either one changes. Your assessment can shift after a province-wide reassessment or a major renovation, and the rate shifts with the municipal budget. Property tax is billed by the municipality, not the CRA, and it is not deductible on a personal return unless the property earns rental or business income.

Gross income is everything you earn before anything comes off: employment pay before tax, CPP and EI are withheld, plus self-employment revenue, tips, interest, dividends, rental income and taxable benefits. On a pay stub it is the top line, not the amount deposited. For a return, add the income amounts from every slip you receive, such as T4, T4A and T5, together with income for which no slip was issued, including cash and casual work.

Yes. EI benefits stack on top of any other income for the year, so they can shrink a refund or create a balance owing, because the tax Service Canada withholds is usually less than the rate that applies once the benefits sit above your employment income. Benefits also count in the net income that income-tested credits and benefits are based on. Where the T4E shows a benefit repayment rate, part of the regular benefits must be paid back.

Two things: your property's assessed value and the tax rate your municipality sets each year, plus any education levy. Assessment reflects the market value of comparable properties at a set valuation date, so additions, renovations and rising local sale prices push it up. The bill falls when the assessment drops, a rate is cut, or you qualify for a rebate or a seniors or disability deferral. An assessment you believe is wrong can be appealed by the deadline on the notice.

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.

Yes, in part. The rate applied to the lowest federal bracket was cut part-way through 2025, so the 2025 return uses a blended rate for that bracket and the full reduction applies from 2026 onward. Bracket thresholds and most credit amounts were also indexed. Separately, the proposed increase to the capital gains inclusion rate was never enacted, so one-half remains the inclusion rate for the 2025 and 2026 tax years. CRA's federal tax rates page gives the exact percentages per year.