Expert Tax Accountants in Airdrie

Property tax is billed by your municipality, not the CRA, so payment goes to the city or town that issued the bill. Most municipalities accept online or telephone banking once you add the property tax roll number as a payee, pre-authorised instalment plans, cheque, or payment at your bank. If your mortgage lender collects tax with your mortgage payment, the lender remits it for you. Condominium owners get their own bill, separate from monthly condo fees.

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.

A refund is the tax already paid minus the tax actually owed. Add the income tax withheld on your slips to any instalments you paid, work out tax payable on your total income after deductions and credits, and the difference comes back if the first figure is larger. Large refunds usually trace to over-withholding on employment income, RRSP contributions, or credits transferred to you. Run the numbers through the CRA's or a commercial estimator before you file.

Most tax saving comes from a short list of levers: contributing to an RRSP or a spousal RRSP, holding investments inside a TFSA, FHSA or RESP so growth is sheltered, claiming every deduction and credit you actually qualify for, and splitting income where the rules allow, such as pension income splitting. Business owners add expense timing and salary versus dividend planning. Order matters, so decide before year end rather than at filing time.

Most enquiries are settled without a phone call in My Account, My Business Account or Represent a Client, where assessments, balances, slips and CRA mail all sit. When you need a person, use the enquiries line for your programme from the contact page on canada.ca, and have your social insurance or business number plus a figure from a recent return ready for identity checks. Written enquiries go to the tax centre named on your notice of assessment.

Your return tells you: if the tax withheld from your pay plus your credits exceed the tax owing on the year's income, the difference is a refund, and the bottom of the T1 shows it. After you file, CRA My Account shows the assessed amount and the deposit date, and your notice of assessment confirms whether the CRA agreed with your figures. An online return is usually processed in about two weeks.

Yes. Termination and severance pay are employment income, taxable in the year you receive them and reported on a slip from the employer. Withholding is at a flat lump-sum rate that often differs from your marginal rate, so a balance can be owing at filing. An eligible retiring allowance may be transferred directly to an RRSP within your available room, deferring the tax. Legal fees paid to collect the amount are generally deductible against it.

Most of the gap is not income tax alone. Employers withhold federal and provincial income tax plus CPP at 5.95% and EI at $1.63 per $100 of insurable earnings for 2026, and often pension contributions, union dues and benefit premiums as well. Income tax is calculated as though the current pay repeats every period all year, so a bonus or heavy overtime is over-withheld and returns to you as a refund. Compare the deduction lines on your stub with your T4.

Your notice of assessment shows the final refund figure, and it appears in CRA My Account under the tax year, usually before the deposit lands. The refund calculated on your filed return is only an estimate until the CRA assesses it, and a review of a credit, or an amount you owe elsewhere, can change it. Register for direct deposit and the money arrives roughly two weeks after an online filing.

Most municipalities let you spread the bill over several instalments or a pre-authorized monthly withdrawal instead of two lump sums, and many lenders will collect it with the mortgage payment and remit it for you. Several provinces and municipalities also run deferral programs for seniors, people with disabilities, or lower-income owners, with the deferred amount plus interest repaid when the property is sold. Contact the municipal tax office before a payment is missed.

Property tax is levied for a full calendar year, so it is an annual tax. Municipalities normally bill it in two or more instalments, often an interim bill early in the year and a final bill once council sets the budget and the assessment roll is returned. Many owners still pay monthly, either on a preauthorised municipal plan or through a mortgage payment that includes a tax portion. The yearly total is the same either way.

Treat a municipal tax sale as a legal exercise rather than a bargain hunt. The municipality is selling to recover unpaid property tax, and you generally buy without vacant possession, without a survey and without the title protections of a normal purchase; some interests, including certain Crown claims, can survive the sale. GST/HST may apply to the price, and a quick resale can be business income instead of a capital gain. Get property-specific legal advice before bidding.