Expert Tax Accountants in St. Catharines

Multiply the assessed value of the property by the tax rate for its property class. Assessment is set by a provincial assessment authority on its own cycle and increases are often phased in, so the value lags the market. The rate is set each year by the municipality out of its budget, with an education portion added by the province. Both figures appear on your notice, which is why identical homes in different municipalities carry different bills.

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.

Most refunds on returns filed online arrive in about two weeks; a non-resident return can take up to sixteen weeks. A longer wait usually means the CRA is reviewing a claim, is waiting on a slip or receipt, holds stale direct deposit details, or has applied the refund against another balance such as tax owing, family support or a student loan. Check My Account for the notice of assessment and for any letter asking you for documents.

Ontario has no single property tax rate. Every municipality sets its own rate each year from its budget, and the province adds an education levy, so the same assessed value produces very different bills across the province. Assessed values come from the provincial assessment corporation rather than from your purchase price. Lower-income homeowners and tenants, and seniors, may qualify for the Ontario energy and property tax credit, which is claimed with the T1 return.

The Ontario Trillium Benefit is issued monthly on a schedule the CRA publishes in advance, unless your yearly entitlement is small enough that it is paid as a single amount instead. The Canada child benefit and the GST/HST credit run on their own dates. Check the CRA benefit payment dates page or My Account for the next deposit. Payments can pause if your return for the prior year has not been filed and assessed, so file on time.

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.

A financial transaction tax is a levy charged on the value of a trade in securities or currency, paid each time an asset changes hands. Canada does not have one, and it has no securities transaction tax of the sort India applies. Canadian investors are taxed on results instead: capital gains at the one-half inclusion rate for 2025 and 2026, plus tax on dividends and interest. Trading fees you pay are commissions, not tax.

For individuals the tax year is the calendar year, January through December. For the 2025 year, online filing opened 23 February 2026 and the filing and payment deadline was 30 April 2026; if you or your spouse were self-employed, filing ran to 15 June 2026 but payment was still due 30 April 2026. A corporation picks its own fiscal year end instead, with the T2 due six months after that date.

A tax debt is not reported to the credit bureaus, so owing the CRA does not by itself move your score. It can still reach your credit indirectly. The CRA may register the debt with the court and secure it against property, and that registration is public, so a lender doing a search can find it. Interest compounds daily in the meantime. If you cannot pay in full, ask about a payment arrangement before collection begins.

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.

Taxable profit is accounting profit adjusted to the rules in the tax law. Start from net income in the financial statements, add back amounts that are not deductible, such as accounting depreciation, reserves and the non-deductible portion of meals and entertainment, then deduct tax-specific claims such as capital cost allowance and losses carried forward. The result is the figure the rates apply to: for 2026, 9% federally on the first $500,000 of active business income for a small corporation.

Line up what gets withheld with what will be assessed. Ask the payer of your largest income source to deduct additional tax each pay, which matters most when you have two employers or a pension alongside employment. Set aside a portion of self-employment, tip, rental or investment income as it arrives, and pay any instalments the CRA has asked for. An RRSP contribution made within the contribution window for that year reduces the taxable income being assessed.