Affordable SR&ED Audit Support for Canadian Businesses

For individuals the tax year is the calendar year, 1 January to 31 December, and the return covering it is filed the following spring. The 2025 return was due 30 April 2026, or 15 June 2026 where you or your spouse were self-employed, though any balance owing was still payable by 30 April 2026. Corporations work differently: a corporation chooses its own fiscal year end and files a T2 six months after it.

Call the individual or business tax enquiries line listed on the CRA's Contact us page, then work through the automated menu to reach an agent. Have your social insurance number or business number, your date of birth and a line amount from your last assessed return ready, because the agent cannot discuss your file without them. Wait times are longest right after the filing deadline. My Account answers many questions without a call.

Pay through your bank's online bill payment, CRA My Payment, pre-authorised debit set up in My Account, a credit card through a third-party provider, or at a Canadian financial institution with a remittance voucher. Interest runs daily on an unpaid balance from the due date, so pay what you can even if you cannot clear it all. If you cannot pay in full, call the CRA to arrange a payment plan; penalty and interest relief is requested on form RC4288.

Call the CRA's individual or business enquiries line, both listed on the Contact the CRA page at canada.ca. Have your social insurance number or business number, your date of birth, and a line amount from a recent return ready, because the agent verifies you before discussing anything. Lines are quietest early in the morning and outside filing season. You can also authorise someone to call on your behalf using form AUT-01.

No. Filing and paying are legal obligations, not choices. What is voluntary is the self-assessment design: you report your own income and calculate the tax, and the CRA verifies afterwards. Ignoring the obligation leads to penalties, compounding interest, an assessment raised without your figures, and collection action such as garnishing wages. Arguments that income tax does not apply to individuals have failed in court every time. If you have unfiled years, ask about the CRA's voluntary disclosure route before it contacts you.

A refund is paid as one amount for the return it relates to, not in instalments. With direct deposit it usually arrives about two weeks after an online return is filed. The CRA can reduce or hold it to cover tax you owe for another year, or a debt it collects for another government program. If you file several years at once, each return produces its own separate refund.

All of it, at your own marginal rate rather than a special tip rate. Tips are added to your other income, so the tax depends on the bracket that income falls into: federal rates for 2026 start at 14% and rise through 20.5%, 26% and 29% to 33%, with provincial tax on top. Controlled tips paid through payroll already have income tax, CPP and EI withheld; tips received directly you report yourself.

The parent who paid the child care and had the child living with them claims it for that period. If you separated during the year, each parent claims what they paid while the child was in their care. Where parents live apart for the whole year and share the child, each claims their own payments, and the usual rule that the lower-income spouse must claim does not apply. Keep receipts showing the caregiver's name and social insurance number.

Daycare and preschool fees are deductible as child care expenses when the care allows a parent to work, run a business or study. The deduction normally goes to the lower-income spouse and is limited by the child's age and by a share of that spouse's earned income. Preschool counts as child care rather than education, so it qualifies; kindergarten inside a school system does not. Ask for receipts showing the provider's name, and their SIN for an individual carer.

There is no single cut-off. The Canada Child Benefit starts from a maximum per child and is reduced once adjusted family net income passes a first threshold, at a reduction rate that depends on how many children you have, with a different rate applying above a second threshold. A family with several children can still receive something at a fairly high income, while a one-child family phases out sooner. The CRA's child benefit calculator gives your own figure.

Yes. Dividends reinvested through a dividend reinvestment plan are taxed exactly like dividends taken in cash, in the year they are credited, and you get a T5 or T3 reporting them even though no money reached your bank account. Each reinvestment also adds to the adjusted cost base of your holding, which reduces the capital gain when you eventually sell, so keep every statement. Inside a TFSA, RRSP or FHSA there is nothing to report.

Have each new employee complete federal and provincial TD1 forms, then use the CRA payroll deductions online calculator or payroll software to work out income tax, CPP and EI for every pay period; a Quebec employee also needs Revenu Québec's calculator for Quebec provincial tax, QPP and QPIP, remitted to Revenu Québec and reported on an RL-1 alongside the T4. Remit the employee withholding together with the employer share by your assigned remitter due date, and report the totals on T4 slips after the calendar year ends. Late or short remittances attract penalties and interest.