Expert Tax Accountants in Peterborough

It is the line on the T1 where you pay back part of your Employment Insurance benefits or Old Age Security pension because your income for the year was above the threshold set for that year. The return works the amount out from your slips and your net income, then adds it to what you owe. For Old Age Security, the CRA normally recovers it through reduced monthly payments over the following year. Check the CRA's threshold for the year you are filing.

Payroll treats each cheque as though you earned that amount every period, so a bonus, overtime, retroactive raise or an extra shift makes the cheque look like a higher annual income and more tax comes off it. A change in pay frequency, a new TD1, or a taxable benefit added mid-year does the same. CPP and EI stop for the year once their maximums are reached, so take-home often rises later on. Your return reconciles the total.

Once you stop being a small supplier. That happens when your taxable revenue passes $30,000 measured over four consecutive calendar quarters, or within a single calendar quarter - and if you cross the threshold inside one quarter, you must charge GST/HST on the very sale that takes you over. You then register and file returns for the assigned period. You can also register voluntarily below the threshold to recover input tax credits.

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.

Where a municipality has passed a by-law imposing it, yes. The accommodation provider must charge it on short-term stays and remit it to the city or its collecting agent, and platforms often collect on a host's behalf. It is a municipal tax rather than a CRA one, so the rate, exemptions and the stays covered vary from city to city. HST applies as well, and generally applies to the accommodation tax amount too.

Ontario auto insurance premiums carry no HST, because insurance is an exempt financial service rather than a taxable supply. Ontario has no PST; it does levy its own retail sales tax on certain premiums, mainly group life and health plans and some benefit-plan contributions, and automobile insurance premiums are not among them. That premium tax is not recoverable the way an input tax credit is. Confirm current details on the Ontario Ministry of Finance insurance premium page.

If you are incorporated, you can take salary, dividends, or a mix of both. Salary is deductible to the corporation, builds RRSP room and CPP entitlement, and requires payroll registration and regular remittances. Dividends need no payroll but come out of after-tax corporate income and create no RRSP room. Sole proprietors and partners simply draw money and pay tax on the business profit. The right mix depends on your cash needs and the corporation's tax position, so model both.

Yes. Wages you pay a nanny are child care expenses if the care let you work, run a business or attend school, and you can support the payments with receipts showing the caregiver's name and social insurance number. The claim generally goes on the lower-income spouse's return and is limited by the child's age and earned income. Paying a nanny in your home usually makes you an employer, so payroll deductions and a T4 apply. See the CRA child care expenses page.

No. QST is a separate Quebec tax administered by Revenu Quebec, and it cannot be recovered on your federal GST/HST return. Only a business registered for QST can claim input tax refunds for the 9.975% QST it pays, and registration normally follows from making taxable supplies in Quebec. An Ontario business with no QST registration treats the QST on a Quebec invoice as part of the cost of the expense. Check Revenu Quebec for the registration rules.

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.

Most people pay through online banking by adding the CRA as a payee, then choosing the account the money is for, such as personal income tax, GST/HST or payroll, and the exact year or period. You can also pay from CRA My Account or My Business Account, set up pre-authorised debit, or use a third-party card provider. Always apply a payment to the right period, otherwise it sits unallocated and interest keeps running.

Request it from Ontario's Ministry of Finance through their online tax compliance verification service. You sign in, identify the business, and the system checks your provincial tax accounts; if everything is filed and paid, the number is issued immediately. If an account is in arrears or a return is outstanding, the request is refused until you fix it, so file and pay first. Sole proprietors and corporations both use the same service.