Expert Tax Accountants in Moose Jaw

Property tax is an annual municipal levy on real estate, charged by the city or town where the property sits rather than by the CRA. The bill is the assessed value of the property multiplied by the tax rate the municipality sets each year, and it funds local services such as roads, waste collection, policing and the education portion the province adds. Assessed value is set by a provincial assessment authority, so it is not the price you paid.

Yes, the CRA does telephone people, usually about a balance owing, a missing return, an audit or to verify information, and calls can come from many different numbers, so caller ID proves nothing either way. A real agent never demands payment by gift card, cryptocurrency or e-transfer, never threatens immediate arrest or deportation, and never asks for a password. If a call feels wrong, hang up, check your balance and mail in My Account, then call back using a number from canada.ca.

Multiply the pre-tax price by the rate for the province of supply. On a $100 purchase in 2026 that is $13.00 in Ontario (13%), $14.00 in Nova Scotia (14%), and $15.00 in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador or Prince Edward Island (15%). In the non-participating provinces and the three territories only the 5% GST applies, so $5.00, plus any provincial sales tax billed separately.

There is no single percentage. Canada uses graduated brackets, so the rate climbs as income climbs and each rate applies only to the income falling inside its own bracket. Your total combines a federal bracket with your province's bracket and is then reduced by credits, which is why two people on the same salary in different provinces pay different amounts. The share withheld from a paycheque also covers CPP or QPP and EI. Check the CRA bracket table for the year concerned.

Sign in to My Account and open the sections for filed returns and notices, where past returns, notices of assessment, slips and carry-forward amounts can be viewed, printed or saved. Without online access, ask the CRA by phone or in writing at the tax centre shown on your notice, or ask whoever prepared the return for their copy. Keep your own records six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to.

Call the individual or business enquiries line published on the CRA contact page at canada.ca. Have your social insurance number or business number, your date of birth and a figure from a recent return ready, because the agent verifies your identity before discussing anything. Lines are busiest just after filing season opens and near deadlines, so early morning usually connects faster. You can also send a secure message from My Account, or authorise a representative to call on your behalf.

Sign in to CRA My Account and check your account balance and your latest notice of assessment: they show tax owing, instalments credited and any refund due. Without online access, call the CRA's individual enquiries line, or ask for the balance in writing. Filing an outstanding return is often what triggers a refund, since credits and benefits are only calculated once the return is assessed.

Line numbers appear on the T1 return itself and on your notice of assessment, and both are stored in CRA My Account under your tax returns. Line 10100 is employment income from your slips; line 31200 is the employment insurance premiums you paid. If the CRA asks for a line amount to verify your identity by phone, it wants the figure from a specific prior year's assessed return, so use the assessment for that exact year.

Not everyone owes income tax, though almost everyone touches the system. Income tax starts once taxable income passes your personal credits; the federal basic personal amount for 2026 is $16,452, tapering to $14,829 at higher net income. Filing still matters with nothing owing, because benefits and credits are calculated from the return. Sales tax, payroll contributions and fuel or tobacco taxes reach people who pay no income tax at all.

Largely no. PST in British Columbia and Saskatchewan and RST in Manitoba are retail sales taxes, not value-added taxes, so PST paid on business purchases is generally a cost rather than a credit. Relief comes from claiming an exemption at the time of purchase, such as goods bought for resale or certain production equipment, not from a return. Quebec's QST, 9.975% for 2025 and 2026, is different and is recoverable through input tax refunds, Quebec's equivalent of input tax credits.

Workers' compensation benefits are not taxed. The provincial board issues a slip, you report the amount on your return, and an offsetting deduction takes it out of taxable income. It still counts in net income, so it can reduce income-tested credits and benefits. Wage-loss payments from a private disability plan your employer paid for are different and are employment income. An employer top-up of board payments is also taxable and appears on your T4.

Saskatchewan charges 6% provincial sales tax on top of the 5% federal GST for 2026, so 11% combined on a taxable sale. The province is not harmonised, so each tax has its own registration, return and remittance schedule: the CRA for GST, Saskatchewan for PST. The provincial base differs from GST and reaches items GST treats differently, including certain insurance contracts, and provincial tax paid on business purchases is usually a cost rather than a recoverable credit.