Expert Tax Accountants in Kitchener

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.

The Ontario HST rate is 13% for 2026, and it has been 13% since 1 July 2010. That single rate carries a 5% federal component and an 8% Ontario component, and the CRA collects and administers all of it. Place-of-supply rules decide which province's rate applies, so goods delivered in Ontario take 13% and a delivery into Nova Scotia takes 14%. Basic groceries are zero-rated at 0%, while exempt supplies such as most long-term residential rent carry no HST and no input tax recovery.

Personal income tax deadlines are federal, so Ontario residents follow the same dates as everyone else: 30 April 2026 for the 2025 return and any balance owing, and 15 June 2026 to file if you are self-employed, with payment still due 30 April 2026. Property tax is a separate matter, set and billed by your municipality on its own instalment schedule, so check your city or town for those dates.

About $12,475 at 2026 rates on an $800,000 purchase outside Toronto: $275 on the first $55,000, $1,950 up to $250,000, $2,250 up to $400,000, and $8,000 on the remaining $400,000. A $500,000 purchase works out to $6,475. If the property sits inside the City of Toronto, the city charges its own municipal land transfer tax on top of this amount.

Rent from an Ontario property is taxed the same way as anywhere else in Canada: you report gross rent, deduct allowable expenses, and pay tax on the net amount at your combined federal and Ontario rates. Residential rent charged to a tenant carries no HST, though commercial rent generally does at 13%. Ontario landlords also cannot deduct the cost of the building itself, only capital cost allowance, which can affect a later sale.

Interest compounds daily on an unpaid balance from the day after the payment due date, at a prescribed rate the CRA sets each quarter and publishes on canada.ca, so check the current quarter rather than an older figure. A separate late-filing penalty applies if the return itself is late, calculated on the balance owing and growing for each month it stays outstanding. Paying part of the balance reduces the interest that keeps accruing.

Call the CRA's individual enquiries line and ask to have the account unlocked; the number is on the Contact the Canada Revenue Agency page. Accounts lock after repeated failed sign-ins, and the CRA also revokes access itself when it suspects credentials were compromised. The agent verifies you with your social insurance number, date of birth, address and a figure from a recently filed return, so have a copy of it in front of you.

Yes. Tips and gratuities are taxable income in Ontario, whether they arrive through payroll, a card terminal, a tip pool or straight cash. Where your employer controls and distributes them, they are normally run through payroll with income tax, CPP and EI withheld. Tips paid to you directly are yours to report on your own return. Keep a running daily record, because unreported tips are a common focus of CRA review in hospitality.

Interest starts the day after your balance-due date and compounds daily until you pay. For the 2025 tax year, a personal balance was due 30 April 2026, so interest ran from 1 May 2026, including for self-employed filers whose return was not due until 15 June 2026. A corporation's balance is due two months after its year end, or three months for an eligible small-business corporation. The prescribed interest rate changes quarterly.

Toronto property tax is your assessed value multiplied by the year's combined city and education tax rate, so the amount differs for every property. Council sets the rate in its annual budget and the provincial assessment authority sets the value. Use the City of Toronto property tax lookup with your assessment roll number to see the exact levy and instalment dates for your address. Rates change each year, so work from the current one rather than an older figure.

You owe a balance when the tax withheld or paid during the year came to less than your total tax for the year. Common causes are two employers each applying the basic personal amount, self-employment or rental income with no withholding at all, investment income, RRSP withdrawals taxed at a flat rate, and CPP or OAS with little tax taken off. For the 2025 tax year the balance was due 30 April 2026. Extra withholding or instalments stops it recurring.

A land value tax charges the value of the land alone and ignores the buildings on it, so improving a property does not raise the bill. No Canadian municipality levies a pure land value tax. Canadian property tax works differently: an assessed value covering land and buildings together is multiplied by the rate council sets for your property class. A few municipalities weight land and improvements differently within that system, which is not the same thing.