2021 Tax Due Dates for Canadians

The new year has arrived, and as diligent accountants, we're already making plans for 2021. To get things started, we'll go through the most important tax deadlines that Canadian taxpayers will face this year. We will look at:

Personal Tax Deadlines in 2021

Corporate Tax Deadlines in 2021, and

GST / HST Deadlines in 2021

Personal Tax Deadlines 2021

SELF-EMPLOYED

Your tax return is due on June 15, 2021, whether you or your spouse received business income in 2021.

Taxes owing are still due on April 30, 2021, even if the actual filing of the return isn't due until June.

NOT SELF-EMPLOYED

If neither you nor your spouse earns self-employment income, your tax return and any owing taxes are due on April 30, 2021. For taxpayers, this is the most common situation.

TAX INSTALLMENTS

If you are required to pay tax installments in 2021, they are due:

March 15th

June 15th

September 15th

December 15th

RRSP CONTRIBUTION DEADLINE

You have until Monday, March 1, 2021 to contribute to your RRSP and have it reduce your 2020 tax owing.

Corporate Tax Deadlines

Corporate tax deadlines vary from personal tax deadlines in a few ways. Corporations may have year-ends other than December 31st for tax purposes. We can, however, easily determine when your corporate tax returns and owed amounts are due.

CORPORATE TAX RETURNS

Corporate tax returns are due six months after the end of the fiscal year. Let's look at a couple of examples:

When the corporation's tax year end is on the last day of a month, the return is due by the last day of the 6th month after the year-end. For example, a December 31, 2020 year end would have a June 30, 2021 due date.

When the last day of the tax year is not the last day of a month, the return is due the same day of the 6th month after the year-end. For example, a September 15, 2020 year end would have a March 15, 2021 year end.

CORPORATE TAXES OWING

The deadlines for paying outstanding balances are set earlier than the deadlines for filing tax returns. The short version is that taxes owing are due 2 months after the year-end.

However, there is an exception that is very common. Corporate taxes are due 3 months after the year-end if the following criteria apply:

The corporation is a Canadian Controlled Private Corporation.

The corporation claimed the small business deduction for the current or previous year.

The corporation and all associated corporations (if applicable) had taxable income less than $500,000 in the previous year.

Since the above exemption is so common, there's a fair chance your corporate taxes will be due three months after the end of the year. Because it’s a bit trickier, we recommend asking your accountant or sending us a message to make sure you’ve got the right date.

GST / HST Deadlines

There are a few common scenarios for GST/HST return due dates.

MONTHLY FILERS

When GST returns are filed on a monthly basis, the return and any outstanding amounts are due one month after the reporting period ends. A filing period of June 1-30, for example, means the return is due on July 31st.

QUARTERLY FILERS

When filing quarterly GST returns, the return and any outstanding amounts are due one month after the reporting period ends. For example, a filing period of July 1 to September 30 means the return is due on October 31st.

ANNUAL FILERS (EXCEPT INDIVIDUALS WITH DECEMBER 31 YEAR-ENDS)

When a business that is not an individual files an annual GST return, the return and any owed sums are due three months after the reporting period ends. For example, if the filing period is July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021, the return is due September 30, 2021.

ANNUAL FILERS (INDIVIDUALS WITH DECEMBER 31 YEAR-ENDS)

Individuals who file GST on a yearly basis and have December 31, 2020 as their fiscal and tax year-end have slightly different deadlines. They correspond to the tax deadlines for self-employed people. The following are the deadlines for 2021:

GST owing is due April 30, 2021

Filing of the GST returns is due June 15, 2021

If you have any questions or need clarification about when something is due, reach out to your accounting firm in Toronto or message us.

We truly enjoy helping and we take pride in being organized and making sure that we don’t miss deadlines!