Expert Tax Accountants in Toronto

Most people pay through online or telephone banking, adding the CRA as a payee and choosing the exact account and year, such as a personal balance owing or an instalment. The alternatives are CRA My Payment with a debit card, pre-authorised debit scheduled in My Account, a credit card or e-transfer through a third-party provider that charges its own fee, or paying at your bank with a remittance voucher. For the 2025 tax year the balance was due 30 April 2026.

A refund is the tax already paid minus the tax actually owed. Add the income tax withheld on your slips to any instalments you paid, work out tax payable on your total income after deductions and credits, and the difference comes back if the first figure is larger. Large refunds usually trace to over-withholding on employment income, RRSP contributions, or credits transferred to you. Run the numbers through the CRA's or a commercial estimator before you file.

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.

First Nations, Inuit and Métis individuals pay the same federal and provincial taxes as everyone else, with one narrow exception. Under the Indian Act, a registered status Indian is exempt on income situated on a reserve, judged by connecting factors such as where the work is performed and where the employer is based. Off-reserve employment income is taxable. Related rules can relieve GST/HST on goods delivered to a reserve. Métis and non-status individuals do not get the exemption.

The business number is the single identifier the CRA uses for your business, with a separate programme account opened under it for each obligation: GST/HST, payroll deductions, corporate income tax, import and export. Register through Business Registration Online, by phone or by mail, or receive one automatically when you incorporate federally. You need it before you can remit payroll or file GST/HST. Provincial registration is separate in some provinces, notably Quebec, where Revenu Québec administers its own accounts.

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.

A deposit labelled Canada Pro in Ontario is normally the Ontario Trillium Benefit, which bundles the Ontario energy and property tax credit, the Northern Ontario energy credit and the Ontario sales tax credit. One labelled Canada FED is a federal payment such as the GST/HST credit or the Canada workers benefit. Both are calculated from your filed T1, so file every year even with no income. Sign in to CRA My Account to see exactly what was paid and why.

No. A refund happens only when the tax withheld on your slips plus any instalments you paid exceed the tax you actually owe for the year. Employees often see refunds because payroll withholding ignores claims like RRSP contributions, tuition or medical expenses. People with self-employment, investment or several pension incomes frequently owe instead, because little or nothing was withheld. Filing settles the difference either way, and it is also what keeps benefit payments flowing.

Take-out and delivered prepared food is taxable in Ontario, so 13% HST normally applies. Ontario's point-of-sale rebate removes the provincial part on qualifying prepared food and beverages sold under a set dollar limit, leaving only the 5% federal part, which is why a small coffee-and-muffin order can show less tax than a large one. Basic groceries you take home, such as bread, milk and produce, are zero-rated and carry no GST/HST at all.

A ratepayer is someone who pays municipal rates, meaning property taxes and local utility charges, on property they own or occupy. The municipality sets a rate against assessed value, bills the ratepayer, and funds local services from what it collects; ratepayer associations speak for owners in an area. Property tax is municipal and quite separate from income tax, though on a rental or business property it is generally deductible against that income.

Often yes. Filing is required when you owe tax, but also when the CRA asks you to file, when you disposed of capital property, when benefits have to be repaid, and in several other situations. Even where no rule forces you, filing is how credits such as the GST/HST credit and the Canada child benefit are calculated, and how RRSP room is created. For the 2025 tax year the personal deadline was 30 April 2026.

Automobile insurance premiums in Ontario carry no HST, because insurance is treated as an exempt financial service for GST/HST purposes. Ontario also applies a provincial retail sales tax to certain insurance premiums, but automobile insurance is not one of them, so the premium the insurer quotes is the amount you pay. Group life and health benefit premiums are treated differently, so read the invoice wording carefully on those.