Expert Tax Accountants in Swift Current

Sign in to CRA My Account, or use the CRA's mobile app, where the return shows as received, in process or assessed, and the refund amount and payment date appear once it has been assessed. The CRA also runs an automated telephone service giving the same information. A representative you have authorised through Represent a Client can check it for you. If the status has not moved past the published processing time, the return is probably under review.

Property tax bills come from your municipality, not the CRA, so ask the city or town that issued it. Most municipalities let you view, print and download bills and statements through an online property tax account opened with your roll number and address, and will reissue a copy by mail or email on request. If property tax is collected with your mortgage payment, your lender's annual statement shows the amount paid on your behalf.

Canada runs three systems. The federal GST is 5% for 2026 and applies nationally. Five participating provinces fold a provincial share into one harmonised rate: 13% in Ontario, 15% in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island, and 14% in Nova Scotia since 1 April 2025. Others add their own tax to the 5% GST, giving 12% in British Columbia and Manitoba, 11% in Saskatchewan and 14.975% in Quebec. Alberta and the territories charge 5% only.

The federal goods and services tax is 5% in 2026, and has been since it dropped from 6% to 5% on 1 January 2008. You pay the 5% on its own in Alberta, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon. In British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Quebec it sits alongside a separate provincial tax, and in the five participating provinces it is folded into the HST rate.

Severance is taxable, and the amount withheld depends on how it is paid. Severance treated as employment income has tax deducted like a bonus, using your pay-period rates. A retiring allowance instead has the CRA's flat lump-sum withholding applied, at a rate that rises with the size of the payment. Either way the final tax is settled on your T1, where the severance is added to your other income for the year.

Yes, and it is usually worth doing. Filing with little or no income is how you claim the GST/HST credit, provincial and territorial credits and, if you have children, the Canada child benefit - these are based on an assessed return each year. Filing also carries forward tuition and other unused amounts, creates RRSP room from any earned income, and keeps your CRA record current for later years.

Owning your home creates no deduction by itself, and mortgage interest and property tax on a personal residence are not deductible in Canada. You do have to report the sale of a home on the return for the year you sell, even when the principal residence exemption removes the whole gain. A home office used for employment or business, a rented portion, or a first home purchase can each change the return.

Saskatchewan residents pay federal income tax plus Saskatchewan provincial income tax, filed together on one T1 return, with the provincial share set by its own brackets and credits. Purchases carry federal GST plus the Saskatchewan provincial sales tax, applied separately rather than blended into a harmonised rate, and businesses register for and remit each one separately. Property tax and education levies are billed municipally. Confirm current rates against the latest provincial budget before quoting them.

Canada has no tax-lien certificate market like the United States. Where property taxes go unpaid, the municipality eventually sells the property itself at a tax sale under provincial rules, with public notice, a minimum bid and tight deposit deadlines; you buy the land, not a lien, and often with limited ability to inspect it. CRA liens are not sold to investors. Any profit on resale is taxable, as business income or a capital gain depending on your intent.

File a normal T1. EI benefits are taxable and arrive on their own slip, so report them with any employment income earned before the job ended, severance, and any RRSP withdrawals you made. Tax withheld on EI is often less than the tax due, so a balance can be owing. Moving expenses may be claimable if you relocated for work. Filing also keeps credits and benefit payments flowing, so file even for a low-income year.

There is no single cut-off. The Canada Child Benefit starts from a maximum per child and is reduced once adjusted family net income passes a first threshold, at a reduction rate that depends on how many children you have, with a different rate applying above a second threshold. A family with several children can still receive something at a fairly high income, while a one-child family phases out sooner. The CRA's child benefit calculator gives your own figure.

A pattern of owing usually means withholding is set too low for your actual situation rather than an error on the return. Two employers, an employer plus a pension, commission income, tips or a side business each produce a combined income taxed at a higher rate than any single payer withholds for. Ask your main payer to deduct extra tax each pay, and set aside a share of untaxed income yourself. Repeated large balances can also bring instalment requirements.