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Individual Tax Series: Tax Filing Basics: Deadlines, Penalties, and Filing Methods
- Rylan Kaliel
- Sep 30
- 7 min read
Updated: Oct 7
Filing your tax return is a crucial responsibility for every Canadian taxpayer. Understanding key deadlines, potential penalties for late filing, and different filing methods can help you stay compliant and avoid unnecessary stress or financial penalties. This blog will guide you through the essential tax filing basics to ensure a smooth and timely submission.
Key Tax Filing Deadlines
Meeting tax deadlines is critical to avoiding penalties and interest charges. The primary tax deadlines for individual taxpayers are:
April 30 – The deadline for most individual tax returns, as well as payment of any taxes owed.
June 15 – The deadline for self-employed individuals to file their tax return (but any balance owing must still be paid by April 30).
March 1 – The deadline for contributing to a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) for the previous tax year.
Please note, these deadlines can vary depending on whether these dates land on a weekend or a holiday. In the case that they land on a weekend or holiday these deadlines are commonly pushed to the next business day (i.e., if June 15th is a Saturday, the next business day would be Monday, June 17th which is now the filing deadline).
It is extremely important for self-employed individuals that while you have to file your return on June 15th, you do still have to pay the tax by April 30th to avoid interest. A common situation we see people not paying until June 15th and accruing interest they were not expecting.
Consider the following, a person owes $30,000 in tax and doesn’t pay until June 15th. At the time, the prescribed rate of interest is 7%. Let’s calculate the interest they owe.
By not paying by April 30th, this person has incurred an additional $265.80 of interest which is now owing. What’s worse is that the person may only pay the $30,000, leaving this $265.80 to continue to grow in interest charges. Please note, the calculation of interest is compounded daily, see our Tax Instalments blog post for more details on how this is calculated.
Often times for those filing on June 15th, we are not aware of what the taxes will be by April 30th and this can make it challenging to determine how much to pay to the CRA. Typically, the best method is to prepare a conservative estimate, often by taking total sales less an estimate of costs and inputting this into a tax return preparation software to come up with an estimate. We would often recommend that more than the estimate be paid to avoid any issues with underpayment. Once the return is filed then these amounts can be recovered. As will be discussed in Penalties and Interest for Late Filing by paying these estimated taxes you can also avoid severe issues with late filing penalties and interest.
Please also note that filing late can result in penalties, even if you do not owe taxes, as it may impact benefits like the GST/HST credit or Canada Child Benefit. Please see below and our Taxes Payable blog post for details on these penalties and how they can impact you.
Tax Slips Required for Filing
There can be several tax slips you may receive for a year that are important for the filing of your taxes. The primary slips we see and their deadlines for filing are as follows:
T4 Statement of Remuneration Paid: Last day of February following the calendar year-end
T5 Statement of Investment Income: Last day of February following the calendar year-end
T5008 Statement of Securities Transactions: Last day of February following the calendar year-end
T3 Statement of Trust Income Allocations and Designations: Last day of March following the calendar year-end
T5013 Statement of Partnership Income: One month before earlier of the filing deadline for partners, which are typically for persons March 31 (one month before April 30) or corporations depends on the corporation’s year-end, however, typically May 31 (one month before June 30)
These tax slips are made available on your CRA My Account and will typically show up a few days after they are filed by the provider. We would expect that most, if not all, slips would be available to you by your filing deadline. See our discussion under CRA My Account – A Helpful Tool for Filing for more information on using CRA My Account when you file your tax return.
Penalties and Interest for Late Filing
Failing to file or pay taxes on time can result in penalties:
Late Filing Penalty: 5% of the balance owing, plus an additional 1% per month for up to 12 months or a maximum penalty of 17%.
Repeated Late Filing: If you have late filed in previous years, penalties may increase to 10% of the balance owing, plus an additional 2% per month up to 20 months or a maximum penalty of 50%.
Interest Charges: Interest accrues daily on unpaid taxes starting the day after the deadline.
This was previously discussed in our Taxes Payable blog post, however, let’s reiterate this. Where you do not file your tax return, especially for multiple years, the interest and penalties can be sever and cause unnecessary costs to add up.
Let’s consider a situation where a person owed $10,000 in 2021 and $15,000 in 2022. It is now September 30th, 2025 and they have not paid either balance, with it being more than 20 months since the date the amounts were due in 2022. They had not previously failed to file before 2021.
As you can see in the above, our interest and penalties are massive on these overdue balances. The penalty alone increases our amounts owing by 37% and interest another 27%, resulting in us now overpaying our original balance owing by 64%, a significant increase. Given this, ensuring that we pay our taxes on time and file our return can have a significant impact on how much we have to pay in taxes.
To avoid penalties, file your return on time even if you cannot pay the full amount owing—this prevents the late filing penalty from being applied.
One thing to note is that these penalties and interest are applied to the balance owing. If you have paid the taxes, penalties and interest should not arise. As such, it is recommended that if a return cannot be filed on time, an estimate of the taxes owing be paid to ensure there is no balance owing, as was discussed in Key Tax Filing Deadlines.
Tax Filing Methods
Canadians have multiple options when it comes to filing their tax returns:
Online Filing (NETFILE):
The fastest and most popular method.
Use CRA-certified tax software to file electronically.
Receive refunds faster via direct deposit.
Paper Filing:
Mail a completed T1 tax return to the CRA.
Takes longer to process, increasing refund wait times.
Tax Preparation Services:
Professional accountants and tax preparers can help ensure accuracy and maximize deductions.
Fees may apply, but professional services can be beneficial for complex tax situations.
Community Volunteer Tax Clinics:
Free tax help for low-income individuals through CRA-supported programs.
CRA My Account – A Helpful Tool for Filing
Registering for CRA My Account provides access to:
Your tax slips (T4s, T5s, etc.).
Past tax returns and Notices of Assessment.
RRSP and TFSA contribution limits.
Direct deposit setup for faster refunds.
Authorizing representatives, such as tax preparers to access information that is critical to the preparation of your return.
Updates to your mailing address and other personal information is streamlined.
Please note, the value of CRA My Account will be discussed more in a future blog, however, the information in this section is important to understand as it relates to preparing your tax return.
CRA My Account is an extremely important tool for preparing your tax returns. This site will typically provide you with the majority of the information to file your tax returns, especially if you are not self-employed. Self-employed persons will typically be required to prepare their own business records for purposes of the return, however, this site will still contain considerable information that will be of assistance.
We recommend that you ensure that you have access to your CRA My Account to ensure that you can review and input the appropriate information and check any mail you’ve received from the CRA for important information.
One such key document that will be available on your CRA My Account after filing is your Notice of Assessment or Notice of Reassessment. These will be discussed more in a future blog, however, it is important to understand these documents and how they relate to the preparation of your return. In short, these documents can be described as follows:
Notice of Assessment: A notice sent from the CRA to you that confirms that the CRA agrees with the information in your return and have accepted the return as you filed it.
Notice of Reassessment: A notice sent from the CRA that notes they disagree with the filed return and explains the changes the CRA made to the return. Often the Notice of Reassessment will result in an increase in taxes payable that you are required to pay.
Please note, the CRA may issue a Notice of Assessment and then later review your return and revise this to a Notice of Reassessment. It is therefore very important that you review your CRA My Account regularly and enable email notifications for new mail to keep on top of any changes the CRA has made. As a final note, if you receive a Notice of Reassessment, this does not mean you need to accept the changes made by the CRA. Read our Amending Tax Returns and Handling CRA Reassessments blog post to learn more about amending your tax return and handling CRA reassessments.
Tips for a Smooth Filing Process
To ensure an efficient and stress-free tax filing experience:
Gather all tax slips (T4, T5, RRSP contribution slips, etc.) before filing. You can use CRA My Account to ease this process.
Double-check personal information (SIN, address, banking details).
Use CRA-certified tax software to minimize errors.
Review your return for missing deductions or credits before submission.
File early to avoid system delays and last-minute stress.
Summary
Filing your taxes correctly and on time is essential for avoiding penalties and ensuring eligibility for government benefits. Understanding key deadlines, choosing the right filing method, and using CRA tools like CRA My Account can help simplify the process and prevent costly mistakes.
Stay tuned for our next blog, where we’ll explore how to amend returns and handle reassessments from the CRA.
KLV Accounting, a Calgary-based accounting firm, is here to help. Contact us today to enhance your financial strategy, minimize your taxes, and drive business success! For a free consultation, call us at 403-679-3772 or email us at info@klvaccounting.ca.
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