Canadian Tax Deadlines for the 2026 Tax Year: Individuals, Self-Employed and Businesses

Every tax year comes with a set of CRA deadlines, and missing one usually costs money: a penalty, interest, or both. This guide collects the deadlines that matter for your 2026 taxes, the ones you file and pay in 2027. They are grouped by who they apply to: individuals, self-employed people, employers and corporations.

One rule applies throughout. When a CRA deadline falls on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, CRA treats your return or payment as on time if it arrives by the next business day.

Personal income tax deadlines

April 30, 2027 is the deadline for most people to:

• file their 2026 income tax and benefit return, and
• pay any balance owing for 2026.

If you owe tax and miss April 30, CRA charges daily compound interest on the unpaid balance from the day after the due date until it is paid in full. If you are owed a refund, there is no balance to charge interest on, but filing late can still delay your refund and interrupt benefit and credit payments. See what happens if you file late below.

Want a rough idea of what you’ll owe or get back before you file? Try our 2026 income tax calculator.

Self-employed filing deadline

If you or your spouse or common-law partner carried on a business in 2026, your filing deadline is June 15, 2027. The exception is business expenses relating mostly to a tax shelter investment: those returns are still due April 30.

The later filing date does not move the payment date. Any balance owing for 2026 is still due April 30, 2027. Interest starts after April 30 even if you file on time in June.

Tax instalments

You may have to pay tax in quarterly instalments if your net tax owing is more than $3,000 in the current year and in either of the two previous years. Instalments are due on:

• March 15
• June 15
• September 15
• December 15

Farmers and fishers have one instalment due date, December 31. Late or insufficient instalments can lead to instalment interest and, in some cases, a penalty.

Our self-employed tax services team can work out whether instalments apply to you and how much to pay. For planning ideas, see our guide to tax planning for self-employed Canadians.

RRSP contribution deadline

RRSP contributions made early in the new year can count toward the previous tax year. CRA publishes the exact deadline for each tax year. For the 2025 tax year it was March 2, 2026. The RRSP dollar limit for the 2026 tax year is $33,810. Your personal limit depends on your earned income and is shown on your latest Notice of Assessment.

For limits, the first-60-days rule and strategy, read our RRSP contribution deadline guide.

When your tax slips should arrive

You don’t file by a slip deadline, but it helps to know when slips are due to you:

• T4, T4A and T5 slips: issuers send most of these by the end of February.
• T3, NR4 and T5013 slips: these may not arrive until the end of March.
• OAS, EI and CPP slips: available by signing in to your My Service Canada Account.

If a slip hasn’t arrived, see our tax documents checklist for what to do.

Employer deadlines: payroll remittances and T4 slips

Payroll remittances. Your due date depends on the remitter type CRA assigns to you:

• Regular remitters: by the 15th day of the following month.
• Quarterly remitters: April 15, July 15, October 15 and January 15.
• Accelerated remitters: up to two or four times a month, depending on their average monthly withholding.

T4 and T4A slips. Employers must file the T4 and T4A information returns, and give slips to recipients, by the last day of February following the year. For 2026 slips, February 28, 2027 falls on a Sunday, so under CRA’s weekend rule the T4 return is due Monday, March 1, 2027.

If you don’t give an employee their T4 slip on time, CRA may charge $25 per day per slip, with a minimum of $100 and a maximum of $2,500.

For a full walkthrough, read our payroll guide for employers or talk to our payroll services team.

GST/HST filing and payment deadlines

Your GST/HST deadline depends on your reporting period:

• Monthly or quarterly filers: file and pay one month after the end of the reporting period. For example, a quarter ending March 31 is due April 30.
• Annual filers: file and pay three months after your fiscal year-end.
• Sole proprietors with a December 31 year-end and business income: pay by April 30 and file by June 15.

GST/HST returns for reporting periods beginning in 2024 or later must be filed electronically. For payment methods and penalties, see our guide to GST/HST payments to the CRA. Or let our GST/HST team handle the filing.

Corporate tax (T2) deadlines

• Filing: a corporation must file its T2 return within six months of its tax year-end. For a December 31, 2026 year-end, that is June 30, 2027.
• Payment: the balance of tax is generally due two or three months after the tax year-end, depending on your corporation’s balance-due day. Most corporations also pay instalments during the year.

Because the payment deadline comes months before the filing deadline, corporations that wait for the return to find out what they owe often pay interest. Our corporate tax accountants can confirm your balance-due day and instalment schedule.

If you miss a deadline

If you owe tax and file late, CRA charges a late-filing penalty of 5% of the balance owing, plus 1% for each full month the return is late, up to 12 months. If you were charged a late-filing penalty in any of the three previous years and received a demand to file, the penalty rises to 10% plus 2% per month, up to 20 months. Interest on the unpaid balance is charged on top of the penalty.

If you can’t pay in full, file on time anyway. The late-filing penalty is avoided even if the payment is late. You can then set up a payment arrangement with CRA.

If you’re owed a refund or owe nothing, there is no late-filing penalty. Filing late can still hold up your refund and interrupt payments such as the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit (formerly the GST/HST credit), the Canada Child Benefit and Old Age Security.

Behind by a year or more? Read our guide to filing taxes late in Canada.

Key dates at a glance (2026 tax year)

Date	Who	What
Feb 28 / Mar 1, 2027	Employers	T4 and T4A slips and summaries (T4 due Monday, March 1, 2027)
End of February 2027	Individuals	Most T4, T4A and T5 slips arrive
Early 2027 (date set by CRA)	Individuals	RRSP contribution deadline for 2026
March 15, 2027	Instalment payers	First 2027 instalment
April 30, 2027	Most individuals	File 2026 return and pay any balance owing
April 30, 2027	Self-employed	Pay any 2026 balance owing
June 15, 2027	Self-employed (and spouses)	File 2026 return
June 30, 2027	Corporations with a Dec 31, 2026 year-end	File T2 return
15th of each month	Regular payroll remitters	Remit source deductions

Get your deadlines handled

If you’d rather not track these dates yourself, our Scarborough office prepares and files personal, self-employed and corporate returns. You can also file remotely from anywhere in Canada through our remote tax filing service. Call (437) 410-7999 to book a consultation.

Sources: Canada Revenue Agency — Due dates and payment dates; Filing due dates for the 2025 tax return; Line 48500 Balance owing; Required tax instalments for individuals; MP, DB, RRSP limits; Tax slips: get a copy; When to remit (pay); RC4120 and RC4157 employer guides; GST/HST reporting requirements and deadlines; When to file your corporation income tax return; Corporate income tax payments; Interest and penalties on late taxes.