Expert Tax Accountants in Warman

As the rules stand for the 2025 tax year filed in 2026, the late-filing penalty is 5% of the balance owing plus 1% of that balance for each full month the return is late, to a maximum of 12 months, so 17% at worst. It rises to 10% plus 2% per month for up to 20 months, a 50% maximum, but only where the CRA formally demanded the return and had already charged a late-filing penalty for any of the three preceding tax years. Interest compounds daily.

A balance owing means the tax withheld or paid by instalments during the year came to less than the tax your return calculates. Common causes are two employers each withholding as though theirs was your only job, self-employment or gig income with nothing withheld, investment or rental income, an RRSP or RRIF withdrawal where only the base amount was held back, pension and OAS payments taken without deductions, or a benefit you have to repay.

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.

Start with the assessment, because the bill is assessed value times the municipal rate and only the assessment is open to challenge. Ask the provincial assessment authority to reconsider your value, and if that does not work appeal to the assessment appeal tribunal in your province by the deadline printed on your notice. Also check the rebate, exemption and deferral programmes your municipality runs, and confirm the property class and recorded features are correct.

A flat monthly car allowance is generally taxable, added to employment income on the T4 with source deductions taken. A per-kilometre reimbursement is different: if it is based on business kilometres actually driven at a reasonable rate, it is not taxable. For 2026 the CRA treats 73 cents per kilometre for the first 5,000 kilometres and 67 cents after as reasonable, with 4 cents more in the territories; the 2025 rates were 72 and 66 cents.

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.

For the 2025 personal tax year the balance is due 30 April 2026, even if you are self-employed and file by 15 June 2026. Employees pay through payroll deductions across the year, while the self-employed and people with investment income may owe quarterly instalments. A corporation's balance is due two months after year end, or three months for an eligible CCPC claiming the small business deduction. Interest runs from the day after the due date.

Basic groceries are zero-rated for GST/HST, so no federal or harmonised tax is charged on bread, milk, produce, meat and similar staples. Snack foods, candy, carbonated drinks and prepared meals are excluded and taxable. On the provincial side, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba exempt food for human consumption from PST and RST, so groceries carry no provincial retail sales tax either. Quebec's QST follows the federal zero-rating for basic groceries.

Selling a home is not automatically taxable, but every sale must be reported on your return. If it was your principal residence for all the years you owned it, the gain is usually fully exempt; otherwise the taxable portion is a capital gain, included at one-half (50%) for 2025 and 2026. What you do with the proceeds does not change the tax on the sale itself, though moving cash into a TFSA, RRSP or FHSA shelters future growth within your available room.

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.

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.

You cannot appeal the tax rate, but you can challenge the assessed value the tax is calculated on. Each province has an assessment authority that issues a notice of assessed value, and a request for reconsideration or an appeal must be filed with it by the deadline printed on that notice. Support the claim with recent selling prices of comparable properties and evidence of anything that reduces value. A successful reduction adjusts the tax for the years in question.