2026 Canadian Tax Deadlines

April 30, 2026:

Most individuals (non–self-employed)

• April 30, 2026: Deadline to file your 2025 personal income tax return.
• April 30, 2026: Deadline to pay any balance owing for 2025 taxes.

Exception re preparing returns for deceased persons:

• The filing deadline for personal returns may be later if an individual or spouse died during the year. For more information on the final return due date, please view the Canada Revenue Agency guidance on this link.

April 30, 2026: Payment of tax – Any tax owing must be paid no later than this date; however, your tax return is due on June 15, 2026.

June 15, 2026: Deadline to file your personal income tax return if you (or your spouse/common-law partner) are self-employed. See date above for income tax owing due date.

Exception (deceased persons): The filing deadline for personal returns may be later if an individual or spouse died during the year. For more information on the final return due date, please view the Canada Revenue Agency guidance on this link.

March 2, 2026: Deadline to file T4 information returns for the 2025 calendar year. Employers must issue T4, T5, and other tax slips to employees and the CRA by this date. Note: The last day of February in 2026 is a Saturday, so the deadline moves to the next business day (March 2, 2026).

General Guidance: Corporation income tax returns (T2’s) are due no later than six months after the corporation’s tax year-end.  A corporation’s year-end varies, but the most common year-end is December 31. For example: If a business has a December 31 year end for its 2025 fiscal year, its filing deadline is June 30, 2026. The deadline is generally extended to the next business day if the filing deadline falls on a weekend.

T4s (wages) and T5s (dividends)

• March 2, 2026: Deadline to file T4/T5 information returns for the 2025 calendar year (weekend rule applies).

A registered charity must complete Form T3010, Registered Charity Information Return, annually and submit it within six months of the end of its fiscal period.

For example: If a charity has a December 31, 2025 year end for its 2025 fiscal year, its filing deadline is June 30, 2026. If the filing deadline falls on a weekend, it’s generally extended to the next business day.

T4s (wages)

• March 2, 2026: Deadline to file T4 information returns for the 2025 calendar year (the last day of February 2026 is a Saturday, so the deadline moves to the next business day).

General guidance:

• Not-for-profit organizations are required to file a T2 Corporate Income Tax Return annually.
• Not-for-profit organizations may also be required to file the T1044 Non-Profit Organization Information Return annually (depending on their situation).
• If your not-for-profit corporation is federally incorporated and has annual revenues over $250K, you may be required by law to have an audit (confirm based on your specific governing statute and facts).

T4s (wages)

• March 2, 2026: Deadline to file T4 information returns for the 2025 calendar year (weekend rule applies).

The partnership information return filing due date depends on partner type (including end members of a tiered partnership).

• March 31, 2026: If throughout the fiscal period all partners are individuals (the CRA considers a trust to be an individual), the return is due March 31 following the calendar year the fiscal period ended.
• 5 months after the end of the partnership’s fiscal period: If throughout the fiscal period all partners are corporations (including end members).
• In all other cases: The return is due the earlier of (a) March 31, 2026, and (b) the day that is five months after the fiscal period ended.

Weekend/holiday note: If the due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or a public holiday recognized by the CRA, the information return is due the next business day.

• Deadline for contributing to an RRSP for the 2025 tax year is March 2, 2026. For example, to make contributions for the 2025 tax year, you would need to do so by March 2, 2026. Note: You can also specify that a contribution made in 2026 before March 2 is for the 2026 tax year but make sure your bank is clear about the contribution year.
• December 31 of the year you turn 71 years of age is the last day you can contribute to your own RRSP.

Your annual RRSP contribution limit is the amount you are able to contribute to your RRSP each year. Contribution room is the lesser of:

• 18% of your previous year’s pre-tax earnings, OR
• the yearly maximum set by the CRA.
• PLUS any unused RRSP deduction room from previous years (which carries forward indefinitely).

You can find your RRSP deduction limit on your latest notice of assessment or notice of reassessment from the CRA.

• The contribution limit for 2025 is $7,000.
• If you have never contributed to a TFSA and have been eligible since its introduction in 2009, your cumulative contribution room will be $102,000 through 2025 and $109,000 through 2026, before any withdrawals.

You can find more information about the TFSA on the CRA website on this link.

You have to file a T3 return (and related slips/summaries) no later than 90 days after the trust’s tax year-end. You should also pay any balance owing no later than 90 days after that year-end.

Example: For a trust with a calendar year-end (December 31, 2025), the due date is March 31, 2026.

Bare trusts (enhanced reporting): The CRA has stated that bare trusts are not required to file a T3 return and Schedule 15 for the 2023 and 2024 tax years unless the CRA makes a direct request. Draft tax legislation states that bare trusts will not need to file for the 2025 year but the legislation has not yet received Royal Assent. We expect it will either receive Royal Asset or CRA will comment on this before the March 31, 2026 deadline.

Canada Revenue Agency penalties are a strong motivation to get your tax filings and payments in on time. Before you consider filing or paying late, take a look at the potential impact on your pocketbook.

Penalties

If you file your tax return late, you will be fined an additional 5% on the total owing PLUS another 1% per month up to a maximum of 12 months. This is potentially an additional 17% in taxes owing!

AND in the case that you were asked to file a tax return AND were charged a late-filing penalty for any one of your prior three taxation years, the penalties could be substantially higher! If this situation applies to you, expect to pay 10% on the total owing PLUS another 2% per month up to a maximum of 20 months. This could result in a total additional penalty of 50%!

Interest

In addition to the late fees above, the CRA also charges interest on your unpaid tax balance. The interest is compounded daily based on the annual interest rate prescribed by the CRA. The prescribed rate is updated quarterly but currently (December 2025) stands at a hefty 10%.

Example

Here’s an illustration* for someone who is:

• a repeat late filer
• owes $5,000 to the CRA and
• is 20 months late with their payments.

In the worst case scenario, this individual could be on the hook for approximately $8,900 including interest and penalties!

*In this example, the CRA prescribed interest rate for the entire 20 months was fixed at 10%.