Expert Tax Accountants in Camrose

Online banking is the simplest route: add the CRA as a payee, select the account and tax year precisely, and pay from your chequing account. CRA My Payment takes debit card payments, and pre-authorised debit can be scheduled in My Account or My Business Account for a single amount or a run of instalments. Corporations and GST/HST registrants use the same channels under their business number. Keep the confirmation number and allow several days for the payment to post.

For 2025 returns filed in 2026, most online returns are processed in about two weeks, and a non-resident return can take up to sixteen weeks. A paper return runs on a considerably longer standard because it is handled manually. Those timeframes assume a complete return that is not pulled for review. Register direct deposit and track progress in CRA My Account rather than waiting on a posted cheque.

A balance owing means the tax withheld or paid by instalments during the year came to less than the tax your return calculates. Common causes are two employers each withholding as though theirs was your only job, self-employment or gig income with nothing withheld, investment or rental income, an RRSP or RRIF withdrawal where only the base amount was held back, pension and OAS payments taken without deductions, or a benefit you have to repay.

Zero-rated means the supply is taxable but the rate is 0%: you charge no tax to the customer and still claim input tax credits on what you buy to make the sale. The main categories are basic groceries, prescription drugs, many medical devices, most agricultural and fishing products, and exports along with freight leaving Canada. Exempt is the weaker outcome, with no tax charged and no credits recoverable. Registering is worth it for a zero-rated business, because the credits refund.

For a return filed online the CRA usually issues the refund in about two weeks. A non-resident return can take up to sixteen weeks. Timing slips if the CRA reviews a claim and asks for receipts, if the return is filed on paper, or if the refund is applied against an existing balance or a debt to another government program. Setting up direct deposit in CRA My Account is the fastest way to receive it.

Most insurance is an exempt financial service, so no GST or HST is charged on the premium. That covers auto, home and life policies. Because the premium is exempt, a business cannot claim an input tax credit on it, although it may still deduct the premium as a business expense where the coverage relates to earning income. Some provinces tax certain premiums under their own system, outside GST/HST. Check each line on the insurer's statement.

File a regular T1 showing zero income. There is no minimum income to file, and a nil return is what keeps money flowing to you: the GST/HST credit, the Canada child benefit and provincial credits are all calculated from a filed return. Filing also carries forward tuition amounts, capital losses and RRSP room. File online with software the CRA has approved for the purpose, or on paper. The 2025 return was due 30 April 2026, and late nil returns can still be filed.

Yes. Social assistance is reported on a slip and included in income, then offset by a matching deduction, so it does not create tax, but it does count when benefits are calculated. Filing is how you receive refundable amounts: the GST/HST credit, the Canada child benefit, provincial credits, and any tax withheld on other income during the year. Many people on assistance get money back only because they filed, so file every year even with no tax payable.

Slips for employment insurance, Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security benefits follow the same timing as employment slips: they are issued by the last day of February for the previous calendar year. Service Canada posts them in My Service Canada Account and mails paper copies to the address it has on file. They also appear in CRA My Account, where the auto-fill feature in tax software can pull them straight into your return.

An RRSP contribution is a deduction, so it lowers taxable income and saves tax at your marginal rate: the higher your top bracket, the more each dollar contributed is worth. Lower net income can also lift income-tested benefits. Each year's new room is 18% of prior-year earned income, capped at that year's dollar limit — $32,490 for 2025 and $33,810 for 2026 — then reduced by any pension adjustment; unused room carried forward from earlier years is added on top of that cap, so banked room can put your total well above the annual limit. You may contribute now and claim the deduction in a later, higher-income year.

TRACS is Alberta's Tax and Revenue Administration Client Self-Service portal. Corporations and other filers use it to submit and view Alberta provincial returns, make payments, check balances and authorise representatives. It matters because Alberta does not have the CRA administer its corporate income tax: an Alberta corporation files a federal T2 with the CRA and a separate Alberta corporate return with the province through TRACS. Quebec runs a comparable system.

To add tax, multiply the price by one plus the rate: in Ontario, $100 times 1.13 gives $113 with 13% HST. To find the tax alone, multiply by the rate itself. To strip tax out of a tax-included total, divide by that same figure, so $113 divided by 1.13 returns $100. Quebec is a two-step case, since GST at 5% and QST at 9.975% both apply to the pre-GST price.