Economical Outsourced Finance Department Services for Canadian Businesses

For the 2026 tax year, federal rates are 14% on the first $58,523 of taxable income, 20.5% from there to $117,045, 26% to $181,440, 29% to $258,482, and 33% above that. Each rate applies only to the income inside its own band, so moving into a higher bracket does not raise the tax on the income below it. Provincial or territorial tax is added on top.

Pay through your bank's online banking by adding the CRA as a payee and choosing the right account and year, through My Payment with a debit card, by pre-authorised debit scheduled in My Account, by credit card through a third-party provider that charges its own fee, or at a bank counter with a remittance voucher. For 2025 personal returns the payment deadline was 30 April 2026, including for the self-employed, and interest runs daily on anything unpaid after that.

The refund is normally released with the assessment itself, so a direct deposit follows soon after the notice appears in My Account, and a cheque takes longer because it travels by post. If nothing arrives, read the notice: the CRA may have applied the refund against an outstanding balance, family support arrears or another government debt, or held it while the return is reviewed or an earlier year remains unfiled. My Account shows the payment date once it is issued.

Filing is required once tax is owed, and also in several situations regardless of income, including selling property, repaying benefits, splitting pension income, or receiving a request to file from the CRA. Below the basic personal amount most people owe nothing, yet filing still pays: the Canada Child Benefit, the GST/HST credit and provincial credits are all calculated from a filed return. Check the basic personal amount for the year you are filing.

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.

Yes. A mortgage is a liability on the balance sheet, carried at the outstanding principal and normally split between the portion due within twelve months and the long-term remainder. The property sits on the other side as an asset. Only interest is an expense; principal repayments reduce the liability and never reach the income statement. For a rental or business property, that same interest-versus-principal split is what determines the deductible amount on the tax return.

Long-term residential rent is exempt, so no GST/HST is charged on it in 2026. Exempt is different from zero-rated: because the rent is exempt, the landlord also cannot claim input tax credits on repairs, utilities or management fees, and that tax becomes a real cost. Short-term accommodation — a stay of less than one month of continuous occupancy — is taxable at the province's rate in 2026 unless the charge is $20 or less for each day of occupancy, in which case it is exempt no matter how short the stay, and commercial rent is taxable, and a mixed-use property needs its input tax credits apportioned.

Federal excise duty on cigarettes is charged per thousand cigarettes on tobacco packaged for the Canadian duty-paid market, which is why packages carry an excise stamp. The rate is adjusted each year, and most provinces levy their own tobacco tax on top, so the shelf price carries both. Manufacturers and importers remit the duty, not retail buyers. Check the CRA's excise duty rates page for the current amount before pricing or costing stock.

About two weeks for a return filed online, once the CRA has processed it. Direct deposit is the fastest way to receive it. A non-resident return can take up to 16 weeks. Your refund can also be held if the CRA reviews a claim, asks for receipts, or applies it against another balance you owe, including support or student-loan amounts. Track the status in My Account.

A refund is not taxable. It returns tax you already overpaid through withholding or instalments, so it never goes back on a return as income. Interest the CRA pays on a delayed refund is different: that interest is taxable and belongs on the return for the year you receive it. A refund also has no effect on the credits or benefits you claim.

A T5 reports investment income such as interest or dividends paid out to a recipient. Prepare a slip for each recipient plus the summary, file the set electronically through the CRA's internet file transfer or web forms service using your business number and web access code, and give every recipient their copy. The deadline falls early in the year after the income was paid, so confirm the exact date on canada.ca before filing.

Yes. Legal fees, land transfer tax, title searches and survey costs incurred to acquire a property form part of the cost of that property rather than a current expense. They are added to the adjusted cost base of a capital property, or to the capital cost of a depreciable building for capital cost allowance, and so reduce the gain on a later sale. Legal fees to arrange financing are treated differently and are usually deducted over several years.