Low-Cost NUANS Name Search for Canadian Businesses

Paper returns go to the CRA tax centre that serves your province or territory of residence, not to one national address. The correct address is printed in the paper return package and listed on canada.ca under mailing addresses for individual returns, and it differs for non-residents and for business returns. Filing electronically is much faster: for the 2025 tax year the CRA aims to issue a refund on an online return in about two weeks, against a considerably longer standard on paper.

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.

As the rules stand for the 2025 tax year filed in 2026, the late-filing penalty is 5% of the balance owing plus 1% of that balance for each full month the return is late, to a maximum of 12 months, so 17% at worst. It rises to 10% plus 2% per month for up to 20 months, a 50% maximum, but only where the CRA formally demanded the return and had already charged a late-filing penalty for any of the three preceding tax years. Interest compounds daily.

The federal goods and services tax is 5% in 2026, and has been since it dropped from 6% to 5% on 1 January 2008. You pay the 5% on its own in Alberta, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon. In British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Quebec it sits alongside a separate provincial tax, and in the five participating provinces it is folded into the HST rate.

Taxation is the compulsory collection of money by government to pay for public services. In Canada it operates at three levels: federal and provincial income and sales taxes, and municipal property taxes. Income tax is self-assessed, meaning you report your own income and claim your own deductions, and the CRA verifies afterwards through assessment and review. Rates are progressive, so later slices of income are taxed more heavily while the earlier slices stay at lower rates.

Yes. EI benefits are taxable income and Service Canada withholds income tax from each payment. The amount held back is often less than you end up owing, because the withholding looks only at the benefit and ignores employment income you earned earlier in the same year. That is why many people who spent part of a year on EI owe a balance. You get a T4E slip and report the total on your return.

Three separate taxes can apply. Annual municipal property tax is the assessed value multiplied by the rate your municipality sets each year. Buying triggers land transfer tax or registration fees in most provinces, and a newly built home carries GST or HST, with rebates available to some buyers. Selling is tax-free where the home was your principal residence for every year you owned it; otherwise half the gain is taxable for 2025 and 2026.

Rent on your own home is not deductible on a federal return, so most tenants have nothing to claim and no receipt to attach. Keep them anyway in two cases. Some provinces run a credit or benefit that takes rent paid into account, claimed on that province's schedule with the return. And if you are self-employed or work from home under the conditions the CRA sets, part of the rent can support a workspace claim. Receipts are what the CRA asks for if a claim is reviewed.

An Ontario corporation files its initial return with the province, not the CRA. You report the registered office address and the directors and officers through the Ontario Business Registry, signing in with your company key, and there is no fee. It is separate from your federal T2 and from the annual return. The filing is due soon after incorporation and a late filing carries a penalty, so confirm the current deadline on the Ontario Business Registry before you start.

Both, in effect. Most Canadian municipalities issue an interim bill early in the year based on a share of last year's tax, then a final bill once council sets the current budget and rate, so the early instalments are paid before the year's tax is known and the final bill settles it afterwards. On a sale, the lawyers adjust taxes on closing so each side pays for the days it owned the property.

A stipend is taxable unless a specific exemption applies, and what matters is the nature of the payment. Pay for work such as a research or teaching assistantship is employment income. A research grant is reported as income with eligible research expenses deducted against it. An award for study can qualify for the scholarship exemption if you are enrolled in a qualifying programme. The payer issues an information slip, and the box used signals the treatment.

Start with complete expense claims: the business share of vehicle costs backed by a mileage log, home office space, supplies, subcontractors, insurance and professional fees. Business meals and entertainment are only partly deductible, and the restriction applies to the whole bill including tax and tip — record the full amount and apply the limit on the return. Register for GST/HST when the rules require it so input tax credits can be recovered on purchases. Then use RRSP room to level out a strong year, and look at incorporating once profits sit well above what you draw for living costs.