Expert Tax Accountants in Timmins

Your employer withholds federal and Ontario income tax using the pay period, your annual rate of pay and the claim codes from the TD1 forms you signed, then adds CPP contributions and EI premiums until the yearly maximums are reached. Because the tax portion follows brackets, the percentage held back rises as pay rises. For an exact figure, run your gross pay through the CRA's Payroll Deductions Online Calculator, which applies the current year's tables.

Medical costs give a non-refundable credit rather than a deduction. Eligible items include prescription drugs, dental work, eyeglasses and contact lenses, fees paid to medical practitioners authorised to practise, private health plan premiums, attendant care and travel for treatment unavailable locally. Over-the-counter products and most cosmetic procedures do not qualify. Only the portion above an income-based threshold counts, the claim period may end at any point in the tax year rather than following the calendar year, and pooling the family claim on one spouse usually helps.

There is no single income floor that triggers a return. Filing is required if you owe tax, if the CRA asks you to file, if you disposed of property, or if you have to repay a benefit. Filing with little or no income is usually still worth doing, because that return is how the GST/HST credit, the Canada child benefit and provincial benefits are calculated, and how RRSP room and unused credits get recorded for later years.

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.

No single legal definition exists. The CRA does not publish a low-income line; instead each benefit and credit has its own income test, and payments such as the GST/HST credit, the Canada workers benefit and the Ontario Trillium Benefit phase out as family net income rises. Statistics Canada's low-income measures vary by household size and community. File a return even on very little income, because those benefits are calculated from the return.

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.

Ontario does not issue its own refund; the Canada Revenue Agency assesses your T1 and pays the combined federal and Ontario amount. A return filed online is usually processed in about two weeks, and a non-resident return can take up to 16 weeks. Filing for the 2025 tax year opened 23 February 2026. Register for direct deposit and watch My Account for the assessment, and note that amounts you owe the CRA or certain other agencies can be applied against a refund.

Yes, and it is usually worth doing. Filing with little or no income keeps benefits flowing, because the GST/HST credit, the Canada Child Benefit and provincial credits are all recalculated from a filed return. It also lets you carry forward tuition and other unused amounts. Report EI benefits, severance and any RRSP withdrawals: those slips are income even in a year you were not working. New RRSP room needs earned income.

File T5 slips and the related summary electronically through the CRA's internet file transfer or web forms service, reached from My Business Account, and give each recipient a copy of their own slip. The filing is due by the end of February for the previous calendar year. Web forms suits a handful of slips; internet file transfer suits an XML file exported from accounting software. Late slips draw a penalty that scales with slip count and lateness.

Most goods and services carry GST or HST: 5% GST, or 13% HST in Ontario, 15% in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island, and 14% in Nova Scotia since 1 April 2025. Basic groceries, prescription drugs and medical devices are zero-rated, so no tax applies but the seller still claims input credits. Rent, most health care and tuition are exempt. Provincial sales taxes add a second layer in some provinces.

The annual statement or receipt from your municipality shows the total billed and paid for the year. A municipal online tax account normally lists payments by year and by instalment, and where property tax is collected with your mortgage, the lender's year-end statement reports what was remitted. Municipal property records are usually searchable by address or roll number. Keep that figure if you are claiming a rental, business or workspace share, or a provincial property tax credit.

Different deductions, not different rules. Withholding follows the TD1 forms you filed, so a colleague claiming more credits, tuition or a disability amount has less tax taken off. Other causes are a different province of employment, a second job where each employer applies the basic personal amount, taxable benefits added to your pay, a higher salary reaching the next bracket, and pay-period timing. CPP and EI also stop at their annual maximums, which higher earners reach sooner.