Low-cost Online Bookkeeping Services for Canadian Businesses

Multiply the price by the tax rate written as a decimal, then add that result to the price. The quicker version is to multiply the price by one plus the rate in decimal form, which produces the total in a single step. Use the combined rate for the province where the sale takes place, because the place of supply is what sets the rate. Look the current rate up first, since the provincial portion is not the same across the country.

GST or HST is calculated on the selling price of a taxable supply and shown separately on the invoice. Place-of-supply rules decide which province's rate applies, and that is usually where the customer receives the goods or service rather than where you operate. A registrant remits the tax collected less input tax credits for GST or HST paid on business purchases, so the amount sent to the CRA with each return is the net figure, not everything collected.

Non-taxable income is money you receive that never enters taxable income. Common examples are lottery and most gambling winnings, gifts and inheritances, growth and withdrawals inside a TFSA, the GST/HST credit and Canada child benefit, most life insurance death benefits, and child support under current-rule agreements. A few amounts are reported and then deducted, such as workers' compensation and social assistance, because they still affect benefit calculations, so report anything that arrives on a slip even when no tax results.

You can pay through CRA My Business Account or My Payment, through your own financial institution's online banking by adding the CRA GST/HST payment as a payee under your business number, or by pre-authorised debit arranged in My Business Account. Third-party providers accept credit cards for a fee. Payment is due by the deadline for your reporting period, and filing the return does not by itself move the money, so schedule the two separately.

HST stands for harmonized sales tax: the federal 5% GST blended with a participating province's sales tax into one rate the CRA administers. For 2026 that is 13% in Ontario, 14% in Nova Scotia since 1 April 2025, and 15% in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island. Provinces that did not harmonise keep a separate provincial tax on top of the 5% GST, and Alberta, Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut charge 5% only.

Rental income is revenue, not an asset. In double-entry bookkeeping you credit a rental income account and debit cash or accounts receivable, so the income sits on the income statement while the receivable or bank balance sits on the balance sheet. The property itself is the asset, and the rent it produces is periodic revenue. Rent collected in advance is a liability, deferred revenue, until the month it relates to arrives.

Sign in to CRA My Account and open the tax returns and tax information slips sections. Slips your employers, banks and payers filed with the CRA appear there, including T4, T4A and T5, usually by late March for the previous year. You can also download notices of assessment, prior-year returns and your RRSP and TFSA room statements. Slips arrive at different times, so confirm everything you expect is listed before you file.

Payroll liabilities are amounts you owe because you paid staff but have not yet handed over: income tax, CPP and EI withheld from pay, the employer's share of CPP and EI, and accrued wages and vacation pay. Withheld amounts are held in trust, so late remittance draws penalties and interest. For 2026, CPP is 5.95% each for employee and employer, and EI is $1.63 per $100 for employees with the employer paying 1.4 times that.

No. Line 101 reports total sales and other revenue for the reporting period, excluding the GST/HST you charged. The tax collected and collectible goes on its own line further down the return. Use the same basis as your accounting records, and expect the CRA to compare line 101 with the revenue reported on your T1 or T2, since an unexplained gap between the two is a common review trigger.

It refers to the spouse or common-law partner amount, a non-refundable credit for supporting a spouse whose own net income for the year was low. The credit shrinks as their net income rises and disappears once it passes the threshold, and only one partner can claim it. Your employer's personal tax credits form asks the same question, so tax withheld at source can be reduced. Claim it on the supporting partner's return and enter the spouse's net income accurately, since the credit is calculated from it.

Usually yes, if you are not registered. Non-resident digital suppliers such as ad networks and software subscriptions must register under CRA's digital economy rules and charge GST/HST to Canadian customers who are not registered themselves. If you give the platform a valid GST/HST number, it generally stops charging the tax and you account for it yourself where the rules require. Tax charged on genuine business purchases is normally recoverable as an input tax credit once you are registered.

An employer does not pay the employee income tax, it withholds and remits it. What the employer bears on top of wages is its matching share of Canada Pension Plan or Quebec Pension Plan contributions and its share of Employment Insurance, which is a set multiple of the employee premium. Provincial employer levies can apply as well, such as the Ontario employer health tax or the Quebec health services fund. Everything withheld and matched goes in with the payroll remittance.