Canada’s tax system is a self-reporting one which depends almost entirely on the voluntary compliance of Canadian taxpayers. Almost every Canadian is required to complete and file a tax return annually and, while it’s likely that few of them look forward to doing so, the rate of voluntary compliance among Canadian taxpayers is actually very high. Last year, nearly 34 million individual income tax returns (for the 2024 tax year) were filed with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
This year, most Canadian taxpayers are required to file a return for the 2025 tax year on or before Thursday, April 30, 2026. Self-employed taxpayers and their spouses, however, have until Monday, June 15, 2026 to file their returns for 2025.
It’s important to note that, regardless of the applicable tax return filing deadline, all Canadian individual taxpayers must pay any balance of tax owed for the 2025 tax year on or before Thursday April 30, 2026. There are no exceptions to this deadline and, absent very unusual circumstances, no extensions are possible. Where taxes owed for 2025 aren’t paid in full on or before the April 30, 2026 deadline, interest charges will begin to accrue beginning on May 1.
Interest charges levied by the CRA on unpaid tax amounts can be significant, for two reasons. First, by law, the prescribed interest rate levied by the Agency is higher than ordinary commercial rates. That prescribed interest rate is set quarterly and the applicable rate for the second calendar quarter of 2026 (April 1 to June 30) is 7%. Second, all interest charges levied by the CRA on unpaid tax amounts are compounded daily, meaning that on each successive day interest is levied on interest amounts that were charged for the previous day.
A summary of filing and payment due dates for returns for the 2025 tax year can be found on the CRA website at https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/important-dates-individuals.html.
In order to determine whether there will be a tax balance owed on filing for the 2025 tax year it is, of course, necessary to complete and file a return for 2025. And, while there is little to no flexibility with respect to the deadlines by which returns must be filed and tax amounts owing paid, taxpayers do have choices when it comes to how to get their tax return completed and filed.
For the vast majority of Canadian taxpayers, that means paying someone else to complete and file the return. Canada’s tax system has a well-deserved reputation for complexity, and it seems most Canadians feel either unable or unwilling to tackle the chore of completing their tax return themselves.
Most such Canadians choose to file their return for the year using the CRA’s EFILE service – last year, 60% of returns filed were filed through EFILE. Where a taxpayer chooses to file using EFILE, their return is filed online by a third party, who must be certified as an EFILER by the Canada Revenue Agency. Such EFILE services are provided by accountants, by tax preparation services which operate either year-around or only during tax filing season, or by tax discounters. Almost always, the E-FILE service provider also prepares the return which they are filing.
Taxpayers who wish to use EFILE to file their return for the 2025 tax year can find information on using a tax return preparation service on the CRA website at https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/e-services-individuals/efile-individuals.html. That website also provides a current listing (searchable by postal code) of certified E-FILE service providers across Canada; the listing can be found at https://apps.cra-arc.gc.ca/ebci/efes/epcs/prot/ntr.action.
Taxpayers who want to file online and are able and willing to prepare their own tax returns can use the CRA’s NETFILE service (which was available for the filing of returns for 2025 as of Monday, February 23, 2026); information on that service can be found at https://www.canada.ca/en/services/taxes/income-tax/personal-income-tax/how-file/tax-software/send-return/netfile.html. While there are some kinds of returns which cannot be filed using NETFILE (for instance, a return for a non-resident of Canada, or for a deceased taxpayer), the vast majority of Canadians who wish to do so will be able to NETFILE their return.
A return can be filed using NETFILE only where it is prepared using tax return preparation software which has been certified by the CRA. While such software can be found for sale just about everywhere at this time of year, approved software which can be used free of charge, or for a nominal charge, is also available. A listing of third-party tax return software certified for use in preparing individual returns for 2025 is maintained (with links to the software product websites) on the CRA website at https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/e-services-individuals/netfile-overview/certified-software-netfile-program.html.
A smaller but still significant number of Canadians prefer to complete their tax return on paper: last year, just under two and a half million returns were prepared and filed in this way. The CRA has, for many years, been urging Canadian taxpayers to file their returns online and, at the same time, has reduced the options available to Canadians who wish to obtain a tax guide and return package in hard copy. For instance, the CRA previously mailed a tax guide and return package to taxpayers who had paper-filed in the previous year; this year, however, it has discontinued that practice.
Notwithstanding those difficulties it is still possible to obtain hard copy of the tax guide and return, in the following ways.
The first method is to go onto the CRA website at https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/tax-packages-years/general-income-tax-benefit-package.html, select the return for your province or territory of residence as of the end of 2025, and then download and print that document.
Those who do not wish to or cannot download or print a hard copy of the return package can order a tax return package online at https://apps.cra-arc.gc.ca/ebci/cjcf/fpos-scfp/pub/rdr. That package will then be sent to the taxpayer by regular mail.
Finally, it’s still possible to order hard copy of the return package by calling the CRA’s automated forms and publications line at 1-855-330-3305. That line is available from 6 a.m. to 3 a.m. Eastern Time, 7 days a week. This year, for the first time, taxpayers who request a form or publication through the automated telephone service are required to provide their social insurance number in order to receive that service.
Finally, taxpayers who are unable or unwilling to complete and file the 2025 tax return on their own but lack the financial wherewithal to pay someone else to do so have another option. Volunteers at a number of Community Volunteer Income Tax Clinics across the country will prepare and file simple returns on behalf of lower-income taxpayers, free of charge. Those Community Volunteer Income Tax Clinics are generally found in community centres or libraries, and a searchable database listing such Clinics across Canada can be found on the CRA website at https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/community-volunteer-income-tax-program.html.
If you would like help with dealing with the CRA or would like to know more about taxable benefits, please feel free to call us at (905) 305-9722 or email us at info@eigenmachtcrackower.com and we will help you out!
