Tax guides
Personal tax under Canadian federal and provincial rules.
Canadian tax residence usually follows where you keep significant residential ties, especially a home, spouse or dependants. Citizenship, immigration status, work location and a simple day count do not decide it. You may remain resident while spending fewer than 183 days in Canada. A tax treaty can change the result if both countries treat you as resident.
Individuals
Identify each year you had to file, collect CRA slips and your own records, and prepare a T1 for each year using that year's rules. Respond promptly to any CRA demand. File even if you cannot pay: a late-filing penalty depends on tax owing, while missing returns can interrupt benefits and put older refunds out of reach.
Individuals · Self-employed
On your first Canadian return, report worldwide income earned from the date you became a tax resident, plus any Canadian income taxable before that date. Pre-arrival foreign income is generally excluded from taxable income but may be needed for benefits and credits. Record the arrival-date value of property you already owned. The T1135 exception applies when you first become a Canadian resident.
Individuals
If you are a Canadian tax resident, generally report foreign income in Canadian dollars even when it stays abroad. Report the gross amount of reportable income on the return line for its type, then calculate eligible foreign tax credits by country. The credit is limited by Canadian tax on that income; treaty exemptions and excess withholding need separate treatment.
Individuals · Self-employed
Reply by the CRA letter’s date with proof of foreign income, final tax, payments and refunds. For paper-filed US claims, include the applicable W-2, return and IRS account transcript. If denied, send missing proof and file a timely objection; you owe any remaining tax and interest. Quebec residents must separately address a Quebec reassessment.
Individuals · Self-employed
If you become a non-resident of Canada, you report worldwide income up to your departure date and may owe tax on gains from a deemed sale of investments and other property. Canadian real estate and registered plans are generally excluded. Your final return may need Forms T1161 and T1243; Form T1244 can defer payment. Canadian-source income may still be taxed afterward.
Individuals
Confirm Canadian and treaty residence first. For eligible pension or plan income received while non-resident, including after departure, file a section 217 return by June 30 if it lowers Canadian tax; pay any balance by April 30. An approved NR5 for that election requires a return, unlike treaty-only NR5. File T1136 for OAS by April 30 unless the filing-year treaty exception applies.
Individuals
Dividends usually have no personal tax withheld. The gross-up raises reported income; a credit lowers tax. You owe any balance by April 30 of the following year. File then, or by June 15 if you or your cohabiting spouse or common-law partner ran an unincorporated business. If short, file, pay what you can, arrange CRA payments; interest continues. Quebec tax is separate.
Individuals · Corporations
A Canadian home sale can be tax-free when its capital gain is covered by the principal residence exemption. Business income cannot use it; selling after less than 365 consecutive days may trigger the flipping rule, subject to exceptions. Claimants must report the sale and designate the home even if exempt. Other homes, rental use, excess land or non-resident years may limit relief.
Individuals
A gain from selling a Canadian home, rental unit or housing purchase right held under 365 days is generally business income unless a listed life event caused the sale. A business loss in respect of flipped property is deemed nil. A longer hold does not guarantee capital-gain treatment; your purpose and conduct still matter. BC may charge a separate tax.
Individuals · Self-employed
If you are a Canadian tax resident, report rent from property abroad on your Canadian return even when the money stays overseas. Report a sale in Canadian dollars, using the property's Canadian tax cost to calculate any gain. Foreign tax may qualify for a credit; an inherited property or one owned before immigration needs a careful cost calculation.
Individuals
First confirm treaty residence and record where you work. Canadian tax residents report worldwide pay: employees report gross wages, while sole proprietors report net profit and pay their own tax and CPP or QPP. Canada taxes work done here; workdays abroad may also be taxed there. Ask a foreign employer about Canadian payroll and EI, check instalments, and seek a foreign refund for refundable withholding on Canadian work.
Individuals · Self-employed
Canadian residents generally add net rent after eligible expenses to other personal income, taxed at regular federal and provincial or territorial rates. Calculate it on Form T776 and report gross rent and your net share on the personal return. Genuine roommate cost sharing differs; personal costs and certain short-term rental costs cannot be deducted.
Individuals
For a Canadian resident selling a rental held as capital property, 50% of the capital gain is included in income. If you deducted building depreciation, called capital cost allowance (CCA), some may be added back in full as rental income; this is recapture. Split land and building, then report the gain on Schedule 3 and recapture on Form T776.
Individuals
A CRA instalment reminder is not a bill. Personal instalments are generally required only if net tax owing exceeds $3,000 ($1,800 in Quebec) this year and in either of the previous two years. Paying the printed amounts on time avoids instalment interest. Missed September 15? Check the test and pay any shortfall now. Quebec residents also check Revenu Québec.
Individuals · Self-employed · Corporations
Receiving your parent's property is generally not taxable income to you. The executor files a final T1 reporting income to death and any taxable gain from the property's deemed sale at death, and pays that tax from the estate. Later estate rent or sales may need a T3. The executor must get CRA clearance before distribution or risk personal liability.
Individuals
You, the holder, owe 1% of each month's highest TFSA excess. A non-resident contribution also incurs 1% monthly, even with room, until full designated withdrawal or renewed residency. Remove any continuing excess; file RC243 with the relevant schedules and pay by June 30 after the year. CRA may cancel either tax for reasonable error and prompt withdrawal, including related gains.
Individuals
Canada has no separate gift tax on a house given to a child, but you are generally treated as selling it at fair market value and may owe tax on a gain. A qualifying transfer to a spouse usually rolls over at cost. Adding a name to title depends on whether beneficial ownership actually changes; provincial transfer taxes can also apply.
Individuals
Changing a Canadian home to a rental, or a rental to your home, normally counts as a sale at fair market value even without a buyer. A principal residence exemption may shelter an accrued gain. A section 45(2) or 45(3) election can defer the deemed sale, but CCA and principal residence designations can change the result.
Individuals
Yes. You can ask the CRA to change an assessed return, or apply under its Voluntary Disclosures Program (VDP) if the omission is at least one year past the filing due date and meets the program's other conditions. An accepted VDP application may reduce penalties and interest and protect against prosecution for the disclosed issue. Any tax owing remains payable.
Individuals · Self-employed
Yes. You can prepare and file your own Canadian personal tax return; an accountant is optional. Employment slips and routine credits often fit certified tax software, and a free clinic may help if you qualify. Consider an accountant for business, rental, property sale, foreign, or missed-year issues. You remain responsible for the return you authorize.
Individuals · Self-employed
Not sure which rules apply?