Expert Tax Accountants in Pembroke

Ontario HST is 13% for 2026: the 5% federal GST plus an 8% provincial component, unchanged since 1 July 2010, and the CRA collects all of it. A $100 taxable purchase therefore carries $13 of HST. The rate follows the place of supply, so an Ontario delivery takes 13% even if you invoice from another province. Basic groceries and prescription drugs are zero-rated; most long-term residential rent is exempt and carries no HST.

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.

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.

Ontario applies 13% HST to mobile service, so a $60 plan bills at $67.80. The tax covers the monthly fee, overage, roaming within Canada, device instalment charges and most add-ons, and a handset bought outright carries 13% as well. Regulatory and service fees on the invoice are generally taxed the same way. A business registered for GST/HST can claim input tax credits on the share of the bill used for commercial activity, so keep the itemised invoice.

Employer-paid premiums for a private health or dental plan are generally not a taxable benefit for federal income tax, so they stay out of the employee's income. Quebec treats them as a taxable benefit for provincial purposes. Employer-paid life insurance premiums are taxable everywhere. If the employer simply reimburses dental bills outside a qualifying plan, the treatment can change, so check the CRA's employers' guide to benefits and allowances before setting the plan up.

Commodity tax is the practitioner's term for taxes charged on transactions in goods and services rather than on income. In Canada it covers GST at 5% for 2025 and 2026, the HST in participating provinces, provincial sales taxes, Quebec's QST, and excise and fuel levies. The seller collects the tax and remits it to the government, so the business acts as collector while the buyer ultimately bears the cost.

Yes. Taxi and limousine fares are taxable services, so HST at 13% applies in Ontario and appears on the meter total or receipt. Ride-share trips are treated the same way, and the driver or platform is responsible for collecting and remitting the tax. Drivers who operate a taxi or limousine business must register for GST/HST regardless of revenue: the $30,000 small-supplier threshold does not shelter them. See the CRA's guidance for taxi and ride-sharing drivers.

Sometimes. The CRA pays refund interest when it holds your overpayment beyond the point its rules set, broadly the latest of the day after the balance-due date, the day you filed the return, and the day the overpayment arose. No interest is paid on a refund issued promptly after an on-time return, and an online return is usually processed in about two weeks. Refund interest received is itself taxable income.

No tax applies when you buy a gift card or gift certificate. It counts as a form of payment rather than a supply of goods or services, so nothing should be charged on the face value at the till. HST is charged later, when the card is redeemed for taxable goods or services, at the rate in force then. Activation or reload fees charged by the issuer can be taxable, and a card bought at a discount is still redeemed at full value.

Yes, prepared food and drinks are taxable. Ontario runs a point-of-sale rebate that removes the provincial part of the HST on qualifying prepared food and beverages sold at or below a set price limit, so those orders are taxed at 5% instead of 13%. Combos and larger orders above the limit carry the full 13%. The rebate is applied per sale, which is why two similar items can be taxed differently. Ontario's point-of-sale rebate page gives the current limit.

Each province sets its own top bracket, which sits on top of the federal top bracket, so the highest combined marginal rate depends on where you live, and both rates and thresholds are adjusted each year. Look up the current combined table for your province rather than relying on a single national figure. It is a marginal rate: only the income above the threshold is taxed at it, never your whole income.

A refund is applied against any balance you owe before anything is paid out, so an older amount owing is cleared first and only the remainder reaches you. Benefit and credit payments can be offset the same way. Where this year's return calculates a refund larger than the outstanding balance, the difference is paid to you. Filing online with direct deposit is the quickest route for whatever is left over.