Expert Tax Accountants in Miramichi

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.

Paper returns go to the CRA tax centre that serves your province or territory of residence, not to one national address. The correct address is printed in the paper return package and listed on canada.ca under mailing addresses for individual returns, and it differs for non-residents and for business returns. Filing electronically is much faster: for the 2025 tax year the CRA aims to issue a refund on an online return in about two weeks, against a considerably longer standard on paper.

Property tax bills come from your municipality, not the CRA, so ask the city or town that issued it. Most municipalities let you view, print and download bills and statements through an online property tax account opened with your roll number and address, and will reissue a copy by mail or email on request. If property tax is collected with your mortgage payment, your lender's annual statement shows the amount paid on your behalf.

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.

Canada has no dependent claim for a spouse in the American sense. Instead, if you supported your spouse or common-law partner and their net income was low, you may claim the spouse or common-law partner amount, a non-refundable credit that shrinks as their income rises and disappears once it passes a set level. You report their net income on your own return, and only one of you can claim the other. Preparing both returns together keeps the calculation consistent.

A return filed online is usually assessed and refunded in about two weeks, as long as your direct deposit details and address are current in CRA My Account and the return is not selected for review. A non-resident return can take up to sixteen weeks. Amounts you owe the CRA or another government program are applied against the refund first. My Account shows the assessment and the refund once issued, which is the quickest way to check.

The slip reporting employment insurance benefits is issued in February following the year you received them, ahead of the filing deadline. Look for it in your My Service Canada Account and in CRA My Account; a paper copy is mailed if you have not chosen electronic delivery. EI benefits are taxable, and the tax withheld at source is often less than the tax finally due, so expect a balance owing if you had other income that year.

A tax preparer or adviser collects your slips and records, prepares and files the return, claims the deductions and credits you qualify for, and handles CRA questions or a review afterwards. Look for someone who works regularly in your situation, whether employment, self-employment, rental or cross-border, who quotes a fixed fee before starting and explains their reasoning. We agree the fee before any work begins, and you pay after the service.

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.

An FHSA cannot stay open indefinitely, and it often has to close well before 15 years. Under the rules in place since 2023 and still current for 2026, it must be closed by 31 December of the year in which the earliest of these happens: the 15th anniversary of opening your first FHSA, the year you turn 71, or the year following your first qualifying withdrawal. Anything left can be transferred directly to an RRSP or RRIF without using RRSP deduction room.

For a 2025 personal return filed online the CRA targets about two weeks, and a non-resident return up to sixteen weeks. A paper return runs on a considerably longer standard because it is handled manually. Anything selected for review, filed with missing slips or sent with an out-of-date address takes longer. Online filing for 2025 returns opened 23 February 2026 and closes 29 January 2027.

Check your status first. A genuine employee should have income tax, CPP and EI withheld and receive a T4, while an independent contractor gets no withholding and reports the income on a T2125 with their own instalments. If you are an employee and nothing is withheld, raise it with your employer, since the employer is liable for the deductions plus penalties. Either way the tax is still yours to pay, so set money aside rather than facing a large spring balance.