Affordable Personal Tax Filing Services for Individuals in Canada

Canadian income tax is built up in layers. You total your income for the year, subtract the deductions you qualify for to arrive at taxable income, then apply the federal brackets and your province's brackets to that figure. Each bracket rate applies only to the income sitting inside it, so earning more never retaxes the dollars below. Non-refundable credits, starting with the basic personal amount, come off the tax afterwards. Look up the CRA bracket table for the tax year you are filing.

Rent on your home is not deductible on a Canadian return. Two situations change that. Self-employed people, and employees who meet the work-space-in-the-home conditions, may claim the share of rent tied to the area used for work. Several provinces also run a property tax or rent based credit, applied for on the provincial schedule filed with your T1, where rent paid affects the amount. Keep receipts and your landlord's details either way.

EI benefits are taxable income. Service Canada withholds income tax before each payment reaches you, and the total benefits plus the tax withheld appear on your T4E for the year. That withholding follows a basic calculation rather than your full marginal rate, so people who also worked during the year often end up with a balance owing at filing. Asking Service Canada to withhold more, or setting money aside yourself, avoids a surprise. Higher-income claimants can also have to repay part of their regular benefits through the return.

Ontario charges its own graduated personal rates, plus a surtax and the Ontario Health Premium, on top of federal tax, so the combined marginal rate climbs with income. For corporations in 2026 the Ontario small business rate is 3.2%, falling to 2.2% effective 1 July 2026, which gives a combined federal and provincial small business rate of 12.2% falling to 11.2%; a 31 December 2026 year end blends to roughly 11.7%. The Ontario combined general rate for 2026 is 26.5%.

Gather your slips and receipts, then use NETFILE certified software and its auto-fill feature to pull in the slips the CRA already holds. Add what the CRA cannot see, such as self-employment income, medical expenses, donations and child care, review the summary line by line, and file electronically. For the 2025 tax year the deadline was 30 April 2026, or 15 June 2026 where you or your spouse were self-employed, with any balance still due 30 April 2026.

Yes. Property tax is charged by your municipality and is owed whether or not the home carries a mortgage. Many lenders collect it alongside your mortgage payment and remit it for you, which is why it can look like a single bill; other lenders leave you to pay the municipality directly. Your mortgage statement shows which arrangement applies. Property tax on your own home is not deductible, though it is on a rental or a home office share.

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.

Call the individual tax enquiries line listed on the CRA's contact page on canada.ca; the automated menu leads to an agent during business hours. Have your social insurance number, date of birth and an amount from a recent return ready, because the agent cannot open your file without them. Walk-in counter service is not offered, and in-person help is limited and by appointment. If you would rather not deal with the CRA yourself, authorise a representative in My Account or with an AUT-01.

Canada has no tax-lien certificate market like the United States. Where property taxes go unpaid, the municipality eventually sells the property itself at a tax sale under provincial rules, with public notice, a minimum bid and tight deposit deadlines; you buy the land, not a lien, and often with limited ability to inspect it. CRA liens are not sold to investors. Any profit on resale is taxable, as business income or a capital gain depending on your intent.

Line 48400 is the refund line on the T1 personal return. It shows what the CRA owes you once your credits, withholdings and instalments are compared with the tax calculated on your income, and the same figure appears on your notice of assessment. If tax is owing instead, the amount lands on the balance-owing line just below. An online return is normally processed in about two weeks (2025 tax year).

A T4E is the slip Service Canada issues for Employment Insurance and certain related benefits. It shows the total benefits paid, income tax already withheld, any benefits you had to repay and any benefit repayment required because of your income level. Report the amounts on your personal return on the line for Employment Insurance and other benefits, not on the employment income line — EI benefits are taxable but they are not employment income. Keep the slip even where no tax was withheld, because the benefits remain taxable and the CRA already holds a copy.

There is no federal renters credit. Some provinces give relief based on rent paid: Ontario counts rent in the energy and property tax credit portion of the Ontario Trillium Benefit, and Manitoba runs its own renters credit. Rent for a room generally counts, provided you actually paid it and municipal property tax is paid on that property. Rent paid to a parent whose home you live in may not qualify. Check your province's rules on the CRA site.