Budget-Friendly US Business Tax Filing for Canadian Businesses

Most people pay through online or telephone banking, adding the CRA as a payee and choosing the exact account and year, such as a personal balance owing or an instalment. The alternatives are CRA My Payment with a debit card, pre-authorised debit scheduled in My Account, a credit card or e-transfer through a third-party provider that charges its own fee, or paying at your bank with a remittance voucher. For the 2025 tax year the balance was due 30 April 2026.

The route depends on the structure. A sole proprietor or partner reports business income on Form T2125 and files it with the personal T1 return; for the 2025 year the self-employed filing deadline was 15 June 2026, while any balance owing was due 30 April 2026. An incorporated business files a separate T2 corporate return for each fiscal year, due six months after that year end, on top of whatever the owner reports personally.

A tax return reports a calendar year of income and settles your account with the CRA. You file a T1, list the income from your slips along with any self-employment or investment income, claim deductions and credits, and the return calculates the tax owed. Tax already withheld from your pay is credited against that figure, leaving either a refund or a balance to pay. For the 2025 tax year the deadline was 30 April 2026, and an online return for that year is usually processed in about two weeks.

Yes. In Canada the Income Tax Act requires residents to report their worldwide income and pay tax on it, and the Excise Tax Act does the same for GST/HST. Filing is mandatory when you owe tax or when the CRA asks for a return; self-assessment means you calculate the amount yourself, not that paying is optional. Arguments that no law compels payment have failed in Canadian courts and lead to penalties, interest and collection action.

Workers' compensation benefits are not taxed, but they are not ignored either. The provincial board issues a slip, you report the amount as income on your T1 and then claim an offsetting deduction, so no tax results. Reporting still matters because the amount counts in net income used to test credits and benefits. Any top-up your employer pays, or wages paid while a claim is pending, is ordinary employment income and taxed in the normal way.

Canada taxes residents on worldwide income. If you are resident for tax purposes you report income from every source, inside and outside the country, and can usually claim a foreign tax credit for tax already paid abroad so the same income is not taxed twice. Non-residents are taxed only on Canadian-source income and on certain Canadian property. Residency is decided on your ties to Canada, not on citizenship or which passport you hold.

No. A private appraisal you order for a mortgage, a separation or an estate is a report to you and is not sent to the assessment authority, so it does not move your property tax bill. Municipal tax is billed on an assessed value set by the provincial assessment body on its own cycle. Renovation permits, a reassessment or a sale can change that value. For income tax, an appraisal only documents value; it creates no tax by itself.

Double taxation is lawful, and relief comes through credits and treaties rather than exemption. A Canadian resident taxed abroad on foreign income normally claims a foreign tax credit, while Canada's tax treaties cap withholding and decide which country taxes first. Inside Canada, corporate profits paid out as dividends carry a gross-up and dividend tax credit so the combined burden approximates a single level of tax. US LLCs are a common trap, since Canada usually treats one as a corporation.

The TD1, Personal Tax Credits Return, tells an employer or payer how much tax to withhold from each payment. You complete a federal TD1 and a provincial or territorial one when you start a job or begin drawing a pension, and again whenever your circumstances change, claiming the credits you are entitled to. More credits claimed means less tax withheld. For deductions the TD1 does not cover, such as RRSP contributions or support payments, use Form T1213 instead.

Drugs prescribed by a medical practitioner and recorded by a pharmacist are eligible medical expenses. Over-the-counter products are not eligible even when a doctor recommends them, and most vitamins and supplements fall outside the rules too. Ask the pharmacy for an annual printout instead of saving till receipts, because it shows the prescribing detail the CRA expects. Only the total above an income-based floor produces a credit, and reimbursed amounts must be excluded.

Periodic spousal support paid under a written separation agreement or a court order is taxable to the person who receives it and deductible to the person who pays it. Child support under most current orders is neither taxable nor deductible, and lump-sum settlements generally attract no deduction. Both former spouses should report matching figures and keep the order on file, because mismatched claims are a common review trigger.

None of it, if you are a resident of Canada for tax purposes. Residents report worldwide income in Canadian dollars, whatever tax was already paid abroad. Relief comes from the foreign tax credit and from treaty rules, so double taxation is reduced rather than the income being ignored. Non-residents are taxed only on Canadian-source income. Holding foreign property above a reporting threshold also triggers a separate annual information return, which is a disclosure obligation rather than a tax.