Affordable Digital Asset Accounting 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.

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.

Yes, the CRA does telephone people, usually about a balance owing, a missing return, an audit or to verify information, and calls can come from many different numbers, so caller ID proves nothing either way. A real agent never demands payment by gift card, cryptocurrency or e-transfer, never threatens immediate arrest or deportation, and never asks for a password. If a call feels wrong, hang up, check your balance and mail in My Account, then call back using a number from canada.ca.

First Nations, Inuit and Métis individuals pay the same federal and provincial taxes as everyone else, with one narrow exception. Under the Indian Act, a registered status Indian is exempt on income situated on a reserve, judged by connecting factors such as where the work is performed and where the employer is based. Off-reserve employment income is taxable. Related rules can relieve GST/HST on goods delivered to a reserve. Métis and non-status individuals do not get the exemption.

Service Canada issues the T4E, not your employer. The quickest route is My Service Canada Account, where the slip sits under tax information and can be printed. A paper copy also goes to the address on file, and the slip is loaded into CRA My Account, so tax software using Auto-fill my return can pull it in directly. If nothing appears, call Service Canada, and report the benefits on your return even while waiting for the slip.

Usually yes. Severance, retiring allowances, bonuses, back pay, commuted pensions and RRSP withdrawals are taxable in the year received, and the payer withholds at a flat lump-sum rate that may be higher or lower than your real marginal rate, so a refund or balance can appear at filing. A qualifying retroactive lump sum covering earlier years can be spread back over them on request. Amounts transferred directly to an RRSP defer the tax.

Generally no. Counselling is an eligible medical expense only when the person providing it is a medical practitioner authorized to practise in your province and that profession appears on the CRA's list, a psychologist for instance. Counselling from someone outside that list, including many marriage and relationship counsellors, does not qualify. Legal fees to obtain support payments follow separate, narrow rules. Keep receipts and check the CRA's list of authorized medical practitioners for your province before claiming.

A gratuity is a tip for service, voluntary in Canada and customary in restaurants, bars, taxis and personal services. Tax treatment turns on who sets it. A tip you choose to add is not subject to GST/HST, while a mandatory service charge the business imposes, such as an automatic charge for a large group, forms part of the taxable price. For the worker, tips are taxable income and must be reported on the T1 return, including cash tips.

Tax incentives are deliberate reductions in tax meant to encourage an activity. Canadian examples include the scientific research and experimental development credit for eligible work, accelerated write-offs for certain equipment, clean-economy investment credits, the small business deduction for a Canadian-controlled private corporation, and registered plans such as an RRSP, TFSA or FHSA on the personal side. Each has its own eligibility test and filing deadline, so claim it in the year the rules allow.

Get a social insurance number, then gather every slip, including T4, T4A, T5, tuition and rent receipts, and file a T1 return for the year. Tax software approved by the CRA for electronic filing can send it, and a first-time filer can usually file online, though the CRA sometimes requires a paper return until it has a record of you. For the 2025 year the deadline was 30 April 2026, or 15 June for self-employment with payment still due 30 April.

Payroll withholding is only an estimate. Your employer taxes each pay period as though the year continues unchanged, using nothing but the credits on your TD1. Anything payroll cannot take into account — RRSP contributions, donations, medical costs, a second job, a mid-year job change — settles only when you file, and a bonus can leave a gap as well, because the tax withheld on it is only an estimate of what the extra income will ultimately attract. Over-withholding gives you a refund; under-withholding leaves a balance owing. A refund is your own money coming back.

To add tax, multiply the price by one plus the rate: in Ontario, $100 times 1.13 gives $113 with 13% HST. To find the tax alone, multiply by the rate itself. To strip tax out of a tax-included total, divide by that same figure, so $113 divided by 1.13 returns $100. Quebec is a two-step case, since GST at 5% and QST at 9.975% both apply to the pre-GST price.