Expert Tax Accountants in Kelowna

Sign in to CRA My Account, go to the tax returns area and open the assessed return for the year you need. The T1 General is the return itself, so the copy you download there is what lenders, landlords and immigration officers usually ask for, normally alongside the notice of assessment. If the year is too old to appear online, request a copy by phone or in writing and expect it by mail.

Non-taxable income is money you receive that never enters taxable income. Common examples are lottery and most gambling winnings, gifts and inheritances, growth and withdrawals inside a TFSA, the GST/HST credit and Canada child benefit, most life insurance death benefits, and child support under current-rule agreements. A few amounts are reported and then deducted, such as workers' compensation and social assistance, because they still affect benefit calculations, so report anything that arrives on a slip even when no tax results.

Some services only. BC's 7% PST reaches legal services, telecommunication services, accommodation, and work performed on goods such as repair, maintenance and installation. Many other services, including most professional and consulting fees, fall outside PST, though the 5% GST still applies to them. Because the list is specific rather than general, check the province's PST bulletin for your line of work before you register, charge tax or price a quote.

British Columbia's speculation and vacancy tax works by declaration: every owner of residential property in a designated taxable area must file a declaration each year, even when they owe nothing, because exemptions such as using the home as a principal residence are only granted through that declaration. Each owner on title declares separately, using the letter the province mails with your declaration codes. Miss it and you are billed at the maximum rate. Deadlines and areas are on the BC government's speculation and vacancy tax page.

Extra withholding usually traces to a one-off amount: a bonus, retroactive raise, overtime, commission or vacation payout. Payroll taxes each cheque as if that amount repeated every period all year, so a bigger cheque is taxed at a higher implied rate. A third pay date in the month, a taxable benefit newly added to your earnings, or CPP and EI restarting in January also move the total. Over-withholding comes back when your return is assessed.

It is an annual British Columbia tax on residential property in designated urban areas that sits empty. Every owner of residential property in those areas has to file a declaration each year, even when fully exempt, or be billed by default. The usual exemptions are using the home as your principal residence or renting it to a tenant for at least the minimum period the rules require. The rate differs for Canadian residents and foreign owners.

No. British Columbia exempts books from PST, so a printed book normally carries only the 5% GST. The exemption is aimed at printed books carrying an International Standard Book Number, and newspapers and qualifying magazines get similar treatment. Audiobooks, e-books and digital subscriptions are handled differently, so check the province's PST exemption bulletin for those. The GST still applies either way, and no provincial tax is added at the till.

A gratuity is a tip for service, voluntary in Canada and customary in restaurants, bars, taxis and personal services. Tax treatment turns on who sets it. A tip you choose to add is not subject to GST/HST, while a mandatory service charge the business imposes, such as an automatic charge for a large group, forms part of the taxable price. For the worker, tips are taxable income and must be reported on the T1 return, including cash tips.

For the 2025 personal tax year the balance owing was due 30 April 2026, and that payment date applied even to self-employed filers whose return was not due until 15 June 2026. Corporations pay the balance 2 months after the fiscal year end, or 3 months for an eligible Canadian-controlled private corporation claiming the small business deduction, with the return itself due 6 months after year end. Interest runs daily on anything left unpaid.

The duty to declare does not depend on the letter arriving. If you own residential property in a designated area of British Columbia and no declaration package reached you, contact the provincial speculation and vacancy tax office, get your identification numbers and declare before the annual deadline. Missing the declaration has you assessed at the highest rate for your situation, which you then have to unwind. Update your mailing address and keep proof of the declaration.

You collect it as an agent, so it never belongs to your business. You remit it to the CRA with your GST/HST return, after subtracting input tax credits for tax you paid on business purchases. The CRA keeps the federal part, the 5% GST, and transfers the provincial part to the harmonised province. Quebec is different: Revenu Quebec administers GST and QST there. Because it is money held for someone else, keep it out of operating cash.

No. Income tax, CPP contributions and EI premiums are three separate deductions taken from pay and remitted together, each in its own box on a T4. Only the income tax withheld is credited against the tax your return calculates and refunded if too much was taken. The CPP and EI amounts still do work of their own: employee EI premiums and the base part of CPP contributions give non-refundable credits, and the enhanced part of the CPP contribution is a deduction from income.