50 timely tax tips to help you file your 2025 income tax return

Filing your taxes for the first time can be an intimidating prospect, whether you are new to Canada, or have simply moved into your income earning years. Be assured that there are both government resources and many capable professionals you can consult. These five tips cover fundamental filing knowledge to get you going.

1. Due date and late penalties
You have until Thursday April 30, 2026 to file your 2025 personal income tax return. Even so, it’s a good idea to get on the task sooner if you can, with the 2025 personal income tax package scheduled to be released by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) by Tuesday, January 20, 2026. Late-filed returns face a penalty of 5% of tax owing, or 10% if you were charged a late-filing penalty within the last three years. On top of that, interest is charged on the amount of overdue tax, sitting at 7% in 2026-Q1, adjusted quarterly with changes in economic conditions. Bottom line: File on time.

2. “My Account” with CRA
Though it is possible to file a paper return, there are many advantages to establishing a digital connection with the CRA. The online communication portal with CRA is your personal My Account. Once registered, you can submit or change current and past returns, track refunds, establish direct deposit, and monitor retirement plan limits and other tax-related benefits.

3. Getting help getting started
CRA keeps a list of certified tax-filing software on its website and will ‘auto-fill’ parts of your return when you use certified software. For those with low income, you can attend a free tax clinic through CRA’s Community Volunteer Income Tax Program.

4. RRSPs – Registered retirement savings plans … and refunds!
You get a refund when more tax was withheld during the year than you actually owe. This is often because your employer didn’t know about your out-of-workplace RRSP contributions – which, like all RRSP contributions, are deductible against taxable income – whether that was over the course of the past year, or in the first 60 days of the current year as many people like to do. Either way, more was withheld than you owed, and now you get that excess back. When you file online, CRA can usually asses your return and direct deposit your refund within eight business days.

5. Tax filing and tax planning
Filing your tax return is about reporting what happened last year. It is not “tax planning” because you can’t plan the past. Still, this is a good time to consider what you may have missed out on and where opportunities lie, so you can better plan for the current year and for your future beyond.

Special note about tax credits: Following the 2025 election, the lowest bracket tax rate was reduced from 15% to 14%. This generally provided tax relief, but it also reduced the value of tax credits calculated using that rate. In response, a further provision was introduced to allow the tax credit rate to remain 15% for tax years from 2025 to 2030.

For more information from CRA: Get ready to do your taxes

Being a parent brings great joy and great responsibility, but raising children can put a financial strain on you and the whole family. CRA uses the information in the tax system to determine your eligibility for a variety of family-related financial supports. With that in mind, tax-filing is not just about paying-up, but also about lining-up that public assistance.

6. CCB – Canada child benefit
The CCB is a tax-free monthly benefit paid to families with young children. It is reduced as adjusted family net income (AFNI) exceeds the respective annually indexed threshold. [Note that here and throughout this document, dollar fgures are generally rounded to integers for ease of illustration.]
• For July-2025-to-June-2026, the maximum is $666 for children under 6, and $562 for children from 6 to 17, reduced as 2024 AFNI exceeds $37,487.
• For July-2026-to-June-2027, the maximum is $680 for children under 6, and $574 for children from 6 to 17, reduced as 2025 AFNI exceeds $38,237.

7. CDB – Child disability benefit
The CDB is a tax-free monthly benefit paid to families eligible for the CCB, if the child qualifies for the disability tax credit (DTC, discussed further ahead under Disability needs).
• For July-2025-to-June-2026, the maximum is $284, reduced as 2024 AFNI exceed s $81,222
• For July-2026-to-June-2027, the maximum is $290, reduced as 2025 AFNI exceed s $82,847

8. GST/HST credit – Goods and services tax / harmonized sales tax credit
The GST/HST credit is refundable, meaning it is paid even if you don’t owe tax. It is a tax-free quarterly amount paid to adults as a way to offset GST/HST paid during the year. The amount of the credit is increased if you are married/common-law or have children under 19.
• For July-2025-to-April-2026, the quarterly credit is $87 for an eligible adult plus $46 for each qualified child under 19, $87 equivalent-to-spouse amount for single parents or $46 supplement for single adults, with amounts reduced as 2024 AFNI exceeds $45,521.
• Figures are indexed annually, with any reductions in July-2026-to-April-2027 based on 2025 AFNI.

9. Child care expenses
You may deduct child care expense incurred to allow you to earn income, carry on a business, go to school or conduct research. Generally, these expenses are claimed by the lower income spouse. The deduction is allowed for child care expenses only; child tuition/education, leisure and recreation costs do not qualify.

10. Adoption expenses
You can claim a credit for many of the costs related to adopting a child, including adoption agency fees, court/administrative costs, and travel. The eligible time period can range from the ministry application date through to when the child begins living with you.

Our income tax system is based on each individual being a tax filer, or what is known technically as the taxable unit. Practically though, it could impose undue burden or unintended benefits if spousal relationships were ignored. Accordingly, there are mechanisms designed to acknowledge and account for this reality.

11. Filing together
You must let CRA know whether you have a spouse (legally married) or common law partner (CLP). CLP applies if you are currently in a conjugal relationship that has lasted 12 continuous months, or you live with someone with whom you have a child together by birth or adoption.

12. Spouse credit
You can claim both a provincial and federal credit if you supported a spouse/CLP. The full credit is available if the spouse/CLP’s net income is zero, and the amount of the credit is reduced proportionately for spouse/CLP net income up to the maximum reference amount. Each province sets its own amount. The federal amount is $16,129 for 2025, but if your own income is between the top federal brackets from $177,882 to $253,414, the amount is incrementally reduced to $14,538 over that income range.

13. Spousal attribution rules
If your spouse earned investment income in the year on property that was a gift from you at any time in the past, that income is generally attributed to you, requiring that you report it on your return. If your spouse instead used that gift to earn business income or gave you something of equal fair market value in return, attribution will not apply.

14. Spousal loans
Rather than face the spousal attribution rules when there is a gift, a couple could set up a spousal loan. The borrowing spouse records the investment income without attribution applying. Interest must be paid at no less than the CRA prescribed rate (3% in 2026-Q1, adjusted quarterly), which is a deduction to the borrower and income to the lender. The rate can remain at the level set when the loan was advanced, as long as interest is paid annually or within 30 days of year-end. As interest rates have risen in recent years, these loans are not as desirable to establish presently, but that in turn reinforces the importance of properly servicing existing loans so that they continue to benefit from their original low interest rate.

15. Separation
If you were living and filing as common-law, you must be separated 90 days to be considered separated on December 31, 2025. If you were legally married, it is sufficient to be legally separated (under family law) at year-end, without having to meet the 90-day element.

For more information from CRA: Spouse and common-law partner

A good education lays the foundation for your life’s interests and your livelihood ahead. As parents and their student-children know though, it can be quite costly. By educating yourself on government support directly, and about how private sources and expenses are treated, you can get some relief so you can focus on your studies.

16. RESP – Registered education savings plan
Contributions to registered education savings plans aren’t deductible, but 20% matching grants worth up to $500 per year can provide a nice savings boost. Unused grant room may be carried forward, but it can be lost if you wait too long, so parents should look into RESPs early in a child’s life. Grants are generally available up to age 17.

17. Tuition expenses, including transfers to parents
You get a federal tax credit for paying tuition to a qualifying educational institution, and for examination fees related to a profession or trade. You must claim enough to reduce your taxes to zero, then you may transfer up to $5,000 to a spouse/common law partner (CLP), parent or grandparent for the current year. Remaining amounts may be carried forward for your own use in a future year. Amounts reimbursed by an employer (to you or to a parent) are ineligible.

18. Repaying student loans, with interest
If you obtained a federal or provincial government sponsored student loan, the interest that you pay on that loan is deductible, but only for the borrowing student (ie., non-transferrable). This treatment is lost if the loan is combined with other loans, renegotiated or moved to another financial institution.

19. LLP – RRSP lifelong learning plan
You may withdraw up to $20,000 from your RRSP (limited to $10,000 in any calendar year) to help pay for eligible full-time training or education for you or your spouse/CLP. You have 10 years to pay it back into your RRSP (else each unrepaid amount becomes taxable), with your first payment due in the year the student was not engaged in eligible schooling for at least three months in both that year and the preceding year, and in any case no later than five years after the first LLP withdrawal.

20. Moving expenses
If you moved at least 40 km closer to your educational institution to engage in full-time post-secondary study, you may deduct moving expenses, but only against scholarships, fellowships and grants included in your income. You may also qualify if you move for summer employment or go back to post-secondary school after a co-operative work placement.

For more information from CRA: Students

Putting a roof over your family’s head is a fundamental need. For most of us, it is our largest lifetime purchase and among our largest year-to-year carrying costs, particularly once maintenance is taken into consideration. There are a number of tax breaks given to homeowners, mostly focusing on the year of acquisition or sale.

21. HBC – Home buyers’ credit
As a first-time homebuyer, you may qualify for a tax credit worth $1,500. You are “first-time” if you didn’t live in a home owned by you or your spouse in any of the four preceding years. If you claim the disability tax credit (DTC, discussed further ahead under Disability needs), the first-time requirement is waived.

22. HBP – RRSP home buyers’ plan
You may withdraw up to $60,000 from your RRSP for a down payment used to buy or build a home. This is a per-person maximum, so if there are two (or more) purchasers then each may make use of this program. Generally, it is for a first-time purchaser, but you may qualify if you are recently separated or claim the disability tax credit. You have 15 years to pay it back into your RRSP (else each unrepaid amount becomes taxable), with your first payment generally due the second year after the year of withdrawal – However, as a short-term measure, the repayment period is extended to five years if the first withdrawal occurred in 2022 up to the end of 2025.

23. FHSA – First time home buyers savings account
Introduced for first use in 2023, this account allows first time home buyers to contribute up to $8,000/year or $40,000 lifetime to a FHSA to save for the down payment towards the purchase of a home. Like the HBP, contributions to a FHSA are tax-deductible. But unlike the HBP, withdrawals are tax-free as long as they are used for a first home purchase, and there is no payback requirement. Current legislation allows the use of both the HBP and FHSA on the same home purchase.

24. MHRTC – Multigenerational home renovation tax credit
The MHRTC credit is refundable, meaning it is paid even if you don’t owe tax. If you are eligible, you could claim this for certain renovation expenses to create a self-contained secondary unit for someone related to you who is age 65+ or is an adult who is eligible for the DTC. Eligible individuals can claim up to $7,500, calculated as 15% of qualifying expenditures up to a maximum of $50,000 per renovation. The credit is claimed in the year when the renovation is completed, and specifically cannot be claimed in stages over multiple years.

25. Principal residence exemption
When you sell your principal residence there is no tax on its gain in value. Since 2016, you must report those dispositions on Schedule 3, Capital Gains (or Losses) of your tax return in the year of sale, and also file Form T2091(IND), Designation of a Property as a Principal Residence. There is still no tax on the gain, but penalties apply if you are late to report.

For more information from CRA: Homeowners

As you move into your later years and begin to draw off a lifetime of savings, you need to be conscious of where you can find tax efficiencies. In particular, if you’re retired or 65 years or older, then your sources of income may change. Fortunately, the tax system has a number of features to help seniors and retirees manage.

26. Pension income splitting
You may split up to half your annual income from a registered pension plan (RPP), registered annuity or registered retirement income fund (RRIF) with a lower income spouse/common law partner (CLP). For RRIF and registered annuity income, you usually must be 65 or over, but for RPP income it applies at any age. You make a joint election on your two income tax returns to give effect to the income split.

27. Pension credit
You may be able to claim a federal tax credit on up to $2,000 of eligible pension income from a registered annuity, RPP or RRIF, lowering your federal tax bill by up to $300. Another $100 or so of tax savings is available through your provincial pension credit. If you have used pension income splitting (see above) with your spouse/CLP, he/she may also be able to claim the pension credit on those split amounts.

28. Age 65 credit
If you were 65 or over at the end of 2025, the federal age amount is $9,028, which reduces your taxes by up to $1,354. It truly is “up to” though, as the amount begins being clawed back as income goes past $45,522. Each province has its own age credit and clawback, though it is not as lucrative as the federal one.

29. Home accessibility credit
For someone 65 years of age or over who is eligible for the disability tax credit, this tax credit is worth as much as $3,000 based on spending up to $20,000 of annual expenses required to make a dwelling safer or more accessible. It may be claimed by that person or possibly by an eligible caregiver.

30. Medical expense credit
This credit is open to all, but as we age we may have more frequent and larger medical costs. It can be based on any 12-month period ending in the tax year, so examine when costs were incurred to decide how best to make your claim. It applies once qualifying medical expenses exceed the lesser of  3% of net income and $2,833 (this latter being the 2026 indexed figure).

For more information from CRA: Seniors

Having a disability can present obstacles that others in society do not face. This is true in the daily life of a person with a disability, and in many unavoidable costs the person and family may have to incur to manage their condition and participate in the community. A wide variety of tax measures are in place to ease these financial challenges.

31. DTC – Disability tax credit
The DTC gives tax relief to someone with a severe and prolonged impairment. You must have a medical practitioner complete Form T2201 and submit it to the CRA. For 2025, the federal credit is worth $1,521 and the disability supplement (if the person is under age 18) is worth $887. Each province also has its own disability credit amount, plus disability supplement for minor age claimants. Eligibility for the DTC forms the basis for many other social programs for individuals with disabilities.

32. RDSP – Registered disability savings plan
A RDSP can be opened for an individual no older than 59 who qualifies for the DTC. Income is tax-sheltered/deferred, being eventually taxed to the beneficiary when withdrawn. Contributions are not deductible, but government support is available up to age 49 in the form of free annual bond payments (regardless of personal contributions), and annual grants up to $3,500 at matching rates up to 300%. Eligibility and amounts depend on family income while the beneficiary is under age 18, or the beneficiary’s own income alone from age 18. For 2025, bond eligibility begins decreasing as income exceeds $37,487, reaching nil at income $57,375. Matching rates [MOU1.1]for grants are reduced as income exceeds $114,750.

33. CDCP – Canadian dental care plan
The CDCP helps pay a portion of the cost for a wide range of oral health care services. Launched in 2023, it was made available in stages throughout 2024, first to those 65+ and under-18, and adults with a valid DTC certificate, and now to all eligible Canadian residents. Amount of coverage is reduced as adjusted family net income approaches $90,000. The program guide allows that additional services may be covered for persons with disabilities where there is a demonstrated higher need for a particular kind of oral health care.

34. Caregiver credits
If you provide caregiving to someone with a physical or mental impairment, you may claim a federal tax credit worth $403 for a child under age 18, or up to $1,290 for an older dependant. The person you care for may be your spouse or common-law partner, a child or grandchild, a parent, a sibling or certain close relatives.

35. Disability supports deduction
You may claim a deduction if you have a physical or mental impairment, and had expenses to allow you to work, go to school or do grant research.

Being self-employed can be a way to pursue your personal dreams while exercising control over your financial destiny. For some, it’s the only way. But even if you go it alone, you always have CRA as the tax authority along for the ride. To make sure you only share what you must with this somewhat silent partner, pay attention to these important items.

36. Filing due date – Not the same as tax payment due date
The self-employed tax return filing due date is June 15, or the next business day if that lands on a weekend. Accordingly, if you were self-employed in 2025, your return is due Monday, June 15, 2026. This is the same due date for your spouse/common law partner (CLP). However, be aware that if you have any tax owing, it is due by the individual tax filing date, this year being Thursday, April 30, 2026.

37. Paying by instalment
If you earn income on which no/insufficient tax has been withheld, you may have to pay tax instalments in future. You will be obligated to do so if your net tax owing (being the remaining amount due after accounting for all withheld amounts remitted to CRA over the year) is over $3,000, or $1,800 if you live in Quebec. Instalments are due on the 15th of March, June, September and December.

38. Home office & utilities
You may be able to deduct expenses for business use of your home, including utilities, property tax, mortgage interest and capital cost allowance (that’s depreciation, in tax terms). Use a reasonable basis such as the percentage of space used for work, divided by total home area. Some employees may be able to claim home office expenses if their employer requires them to work from home. An employer must provide a Form T2200 Declaration of Conditions of Employment to allow the employee to complete their Form T777 Statement of Employment Expenses when filing their annual return.

39. Automotive log
You can deduct expenses for the percentage of your automobile mileage used to earn business income. This does not include commuting to and from a place of work. Eligible expenses include licensing, fuel, oil, insurance, maintenance and interest on money borrowed to buy a vehicle. You must keep a logbook in order to make this claim.

40. Keeping records
Keeping good business records is not just good practice; it is a legal requirement for you to support your income and expense claims. You do not send any records when you file your tax return, but you must produce them if the CRA asks to see them later.

For more information from CRA: Small businesses and self-employed income

Among the costs of managing an investment portfolio, taxes can reduce your returns by as much as half if you’re not careful. You can alleviate this impact with the foreknowledge of how, when and to what those taxes will apply. Good recordkeeping is critical when it comes to proving your claims if called to account, so keep these key items in mind.

41. Fees & interest
You may deduct fees for investment advice in non-registered accounts. Advice for RRSPs, RRIFs or TFSAs is not deductible, nor is financial planning or tax planning advice. Interest on money borrowed to earn non-registered income is normally deductible.

42. Dividends
Foreign dividends are fully taxable, but Canadian dividends are taxed at effective rates that are significantly lower. (It’s actually zero at lower income levels.) If you claim your spouse as a dependant, you can claim both spouses’ Canadian dividends yourself if it increases your spousal credit amount.

43. Capital gains & losses
Capital gains are not taxed year-to-year, but instead are taxed on disposition (usually a sale), and only half of the gain is taxable. (See italiced paragraph immediately below for current developments.) If you have capital losses in a year, you must apply them to reduce capital gains in the current year, then may carry back to reduce capital gains in any of the three preceding years, or carry forward to apply against any future years’ capital gains. If you had taxable capital gains in 2022, your 2025 return is your last opportunity to carry capital losses back to offset those earlier capital gains.
[The 2024 Federal Budget proposed to raise the inclusion rate to 2/3, while allowing the 1/2 rate to remain available for individuals on the first $250,000 of capital gains in a year. This proposal was rescinded by Mark Carney when he took over as Liberal leader and Prime Minister in early 2025.]

44. Superficial losses
Be careful if you realize a capital loss then repurchase what you sold. If you, your spouse (including either of your RRSP/RRIF accounts), your trust or corporation acquired the same security within 30 days either side of your transaction, the loss is denied, and simply added back to the adjusted cost base (ACB).

45. ACB – Adjusted cost base tracking
You must track your ACB on non-registered investments so you can correctly report capital gains or losses on eventual dispositions. In doing so, be aware that reinvested dividends increase your ACB, and any return of capital (which is like getting back your own invested principal, not to be confused with a price increase which results in a capital gain) decreases your ACB.

For more information from CRA: Investment income

Coping with a death is difficult, and it doesn’t help that the old saying about death and taxes has dual application when it comes to an estate. Even so, there are ways that the system allows tax on death to be saved or at least delayed, including some steps an executor can take post-mortem that the person could not have done while living.

46. Deemed dispositions
A person’s property is deemed disposed at death, which can result in capital gains or losses. As well, the value of registered accounts (e.g., RRSP, RRIF, LIRA, LIF) are brought into income at death. Be prepared that this could significantly increase the tax liability in a person’s final year. And beneficiaries of such plans should be aware that if the estate doesn’t have enough to pay those taxes, the CRA is allowed to turn to those beneficiaries to pay their proportionate share of those terminal taxes.

47. Tax-deferred rollovers
Both capital property and registered accounts may roll tax-deferred to a spouse/common law partner (CLP). Some registered accounts may also roll to a financially-dependent child if desired. For the rollover to apply, transfers generally must be completed by December 31 of the year following the year of death.

48. Terminal return due date, and filing previous year’s return
The individual tax filing due date (this year Thursday, April 30, 2026) applies if a death occurs on or before October 31 of the preceding year. If a death is later in the year up to December 31, the due date for both filing and tax payment is six months from the date of death. A surviving spouse/CLP can also use this date for filing his or her return, but any tax owing is due by the individual tax filing due date. If a death occurs in 2026 before the individual tax filing due date and the 2025 tax return has not yet been filed, the due date for the preceding year’s return and any tax owing is 6 months from the date of death.

49. Multiple returns
In addition to the familiar personal tax return, up to 3 more optional returns may be filed, for ‘rights and things’, ‘partner or proprietor’ and ‘graduated rate estate’. Some tax credits may be claimed on more than one return, while other credits must be split among them.

50. Clearance certificate
An executor must pay all the deceased’s final tax obligations (out of the deceased’s assets). The executor can be personally liable if this is not fulfilled. To protect him/herself, the executor can request a CRA tax clearance certificate confirming all taxes obligations have been met before distributing the remaining estate assets to beneficiaries.

For more information from CRA: Doing taxes for someone who died