Expert Tax Accountants in Kawartha Lakes

Sales tax in Ontario is 13% HST for 2026, made up of the 5% federal GST and an 8% provincial share, and it has applied at that rate since 1 July 2010. There is no separate Ontario retail sales tax on top, and the CRA administers the whole 13%. Basic groceries and prescription drugs are zero-rated, so they carry nothing. Income tax is a separate calculation with its own federal and Ontario brackets.

Canada uses a basic personal amount rather than an exemption. For 2026 it is $16,452, tapering to $14,829 as net income runs from $181,440 to $258,482. It works as a non-refundable credit, so income up to that level attracts no federal tax, and each province sets its own equivalent amount. Separately, CPP contributions for 2026 ignore the first $3,500 of pensionable earnings; that basic exemption belongs to payroll, not to income tax.

Up to $4,000 of provincial land transfer tax, the maximum since 1 January 2017. That cancels the tax completely on a home of roughly $368,000 and reduces it on anything dearer. You must be at least 18, a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, and have never owned a home anywhere in the world; your spouse or common-law partner must not have owned a home anywhere in the world at any time while you were spouses; and you must occupy the home within nine months.

Three different calculations go by that name. For sales tax, multiply the price by the harmonised rate that applies to the province of supply. For income tax, apply the federal brackets and then the Ontario brackets to taxable income and subtract your credits. For payroll, the CRA payroll deductions calculator handles income tax withholding along with CPP and EI for each pay period. Look up the rates and brackets published for the year you are calculating, since they change annually.

You can file a Canadian personal return at no cost using CRA-certified free tax software, which sends the return through NETFILE. Volunteer clinics run by community organisations also prepare simple returns free of charge for people with modest income. Paper filing costs only postage. Free software suits straightforward employment and pension income; self-employment, rental or foreign property usually needs a preparer. CRA online filing for 2025 returns opened 23 February 2026 and closes 29 January 2027.

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.

T1 is the personal income tax and benefit return, so the T1 program is the CRA's handling of individual returns: intake, assessment, the notice of assessment, refunds or balances owing, reviews and later adjustments. Corporations sit in the T2 program and trusts in the T3 program instead. When T1 appears on a CRA letter or in My Account, it points at your personal return for the tax year named on that notice.

You charge the rate of the province where the supply is made, not where your business sits. For goods that is generally where they are delivered; for most services it is the customer's address in your records. So an Ontario business bills 13% to an Ontario customer, 5% GST to an Alberta customer and 15% to a New Brunswick customer. Quebec and the separate provincial sales tax provinces have their own registration rules worth checking.

Caller ID proves nothing either way. Genuine CRA calls can show a blocked or unfamiliar number, and scammers routinely spoof real CRA lines, toll-free prefixes and even local mobile numbers, so treat the display as no evidence at all. Verify instead: ask for the agent's name and office, hang up, and call back on a number published on canada.ca. Genuine files also show in My Account, and a real agent never demands immediate payment.

Three separate taxes can apply. Annual municipal property tax is the assessed value multiplied by the rate your municipality sets each year. Buying triggers land transfer tax or registration fees in most provinces, and a newly built home carries GST or HST, with rebates available to some buyers. Selling is tax-free where the home was your principal residence for every year you owned it; otherwise half the gain is taxable for 2025 and 2026.

There is no automatic senior discount, but most provinces and many municipalities run relief programmes seniors can apply for. They take the form of a deferral, where the province or municipality registers a charge against the property and recovers the tax later, a rebate or credit for lower-income owners, or a cap on annual increases. Some provincial programmes are claimed with the personal tax return instead of through the city. Most are income-tested and need a fresh application each year.

Canada has no general dependant exemption of the kind used in the United States, but you may claim the spouse or common-law partner amount where you supported a partner with low net income. The credit is reduced dollar for dollar by that partner's net income and disappears once it passes the threshold for the year, so both returns should be prepared together. A partner with an impairment may also qualify you for the Canada caregiver amount.