Important Personal and Business Tax Deadlines 2023

It is getting to be the time to start preparing your taxes for the next year. We will go over what deadlines are important for this year and the penalties for missing those deadlines.

Personal Deadlines

May 1st, 2023 is the major date to file your taxes for the 2022 tax year since April 30th falls on a Sunday in 2023. Also, NETFILE will be available to file early in February of 2023. If you or your spouse are self-employed you have until June 15th, 2023 to file your taxes. 

If you have a balance due your you need to pay that balance by April 30th, 2023. This is the same deadline if you are self-employed as well.

As long as they receive either your tax filing or payment on or before May 1st, 2023 or your taxes have been postmarked on or before May 1st, 2023, then they will accept it.

What happens if you miss a deadline?

If you miss the deadline for filing your taxes, some benefits may be disrupted, and you will be charged penalties. The benefits that could be disrupted include GST/HST credit, Canada child benefit (CCB) and Old age security (OAS) benefits. As for the penalties, you will be charged a late-filing penalty. 

The late-filing penalty is 5% of what you owe on your 2021 taxes plus an additional 1% per month after the filing deadline. This is based on how late you take to file your taxes. The additional 1% will then increase up to a maximum of 12 months.

There are additional penalties if you have filed your taxes late in any of the previous three tax years. The CRA also has to request a formal demand for a return. The penalty will increase to 10% of what you owe, and 2% per month for up to 20 months. If for reasons out of your control you can’t meet your tax obligations, you are able to request to cancel or waive your penalties. The CRA is only able to waive the penalties if it has happened in the past ten years.

Small Business Deadlines

If your business is a sole proprietorship or a partnership, then on the 15th of each month, you need to send your Employment Insurance premiums, Canada Pension Plan contributions and payroll deductions from employees’ remuneration.

For self-employed individuals, tax instalment payments and CPP contributions can be made quarterly. The deadlines for each quarter are on the 15th of March, June, September and December. Returns will need to be submitted by May 1st, 2023 as long as the business’s fiscal year matches with the calendar year. If your business’s fiscal year does not follow the calendar year, then the returns are due six months following the end of the fiscal year.

Your T4 and T4A slips are due on the last day of February. Partnerships must file partnership information if required by March 31st.

You need to pay your previous tax balance and file taxes for the previous year by April 30th. Self-employed people and their common-law partners or spouses can file their taxes by June 15th.

Farmers and fishers must calculate and pay the current-year instalment payment by December 31st.

Late filing penalties

Similar to personal income tax filing penalties, how much you need to pay is determined by how late you file your taxes. The penalty then is 5% of the unpaid taxes. It is also increased by 1% per month past the deadline up to a maximum of 12 months.

Corporate Deadlines

On the 15th of each month, CPP contributions, EI premiums and payroll deductions from your employees’ wages need to be sent to the CRA. On the last day of each month or quarter, corporations have to pay their income tax instalments. The T4 and T4A slips need to be filed and should be distributed to your employees on the last day of February. The income tax payable needs to be paid two months after your tax year-end. Three months after your tax year-end is when Canadian-controlled private corporations that are claiming small business deductions need to pay the balance of their corporation tax. Six months after your tax year-end is when corporations must file a T2. 

Late filing penalties

For corporations, the penalty for filing late is 5% for the taxes that have not been paid. Then an additional 1% is charged for each complete month past the filing deadline for up to 12 months. This penalty will increase if the CRA has given a demand to file the tax return. The CRA will also need to assess that the corporation has failed to file for at least one of three previous tax years. The penalty will increase to 10% for the tax that hasn’t been paid when the tax return was due. This is then increased by 2% per complete month up to 20 months.

Large corporation penalties

A large corporation is a corporation if the taxable amount of capital that is employed in Canada is over $10 million. If a large corporation fails to file the tax return on time then for 40 complete months after the due date the following penalties will be charged. The penalty is a combination of 0.0005% of the taxable capital employed in Canada and 0.25% of the tax payable.

GST/HST Deadlines

The deadlines for filing a GST/HST return depend on your reporting period. This can be found at the top of the personalized GST/HST return form. The filing deadlines could be monthly, quarterly, or annually. More information on when to pay can be found on the CRA’s website.

How we can help

Knowing when to file and keep track of everything is time-consuming and can also be stressful. Take the load off and allow our experts at Headquarters Inc. to help. We offer tax preparation services and also tax & financial services consultations. Also, we offer services for corporations. If you need assistance, don’t hesitate to contact us today!