CRA Deadline Calendar 2026: Every Filing Date Canadian Small Businesses Need

Written by a Canadian bookkeeper with about 30 years of business and accounting experience and QBO Advanced Certification.

Missing a CRA deadline is not just a late fee. It's penalties that compound and interest that starts the next day — and if late filing becomes a pattern, it can mean more scrutiny from the CRA on top of that.

The deadlines are not complicated — there aren't that many of them — but they're scattered across different filings, different schedules, and different CRA accounts. This is all of them in one place.

Important: CRA deadlines can shift for weekends and statutory holidays. When a due date lands on a Saturday, Sunday or CRA-recognized public holiday, you're on time if the CRA receives your filing or payment by the next business day. The dates below follow the CRA's own tax deadlines fact sheet for Canadian businesses and self-employed individuals (the 2027 edition, updated October 16, 2026). Always confirm current dates at canada.ca or in My Business Account before relying on a specific date.

Personal Tax (T1) — For Sole Proprietors and Self-Employed

April 30, 2027 — Balance owing due Any personal income tax you owe for 2026 is due April 30, 2027. Interest on unpaid balances starts May 1.

June 15, 2027 — Filing deadline for self-employed individuals If you or your spouse carried on a business in 2026, your T1 return is due June 15, 2027 — not April 30. But your balance owing is still due April 30. Filing late does not extend the payment deadline. Miss April 30 on the payment and interest starts accumulating, even if you haven't filed yet.

Personal instalments: If you pay your tax by instalments, the 2027 due dates are March 15, June 15, September 15 and December 15.

What this means practically: Estimate what you owe by late April and pay it, even if you haven't finished your return. Pay the balance, file the return by June 15.

Corporate Tax (T2) — For Incorporated Businesses

Filing deadline: 6 months after fiscal year-end A December 31, 2026 year-end means your T2 is due June 30, 2027. A March 31, 2027 year-end means it's due September 30, 2027. The deadline follows your fiscal year, not the calendar year.

Balance owing:

2 months after fiscal year-end for most corporations
3 months after fiscal year-end for Canadian-controlled private corporations (CCPCs) claiming the small business deduction, if the CRA's conditions are met — confirm with your accountant whether your corporation qualifies

A December 31, 2026 year-end typically means the balance is due March 1, 2027 (the 2-month mark lands on February 28, which falls on a Sunday in 2027, so it shifts to the next business day), or March 31, 2027 (3 months for eligible CCPCs). The filing deadline is separate from the payment deadline.

Corporate instalments: If your corporation's prior-year tax owing exceeded certain thresholds, the CRA requires instalment payments — generally monthly, due on the last day of each month, though some eligible CCPCs with a clean compliance history may qualify to pay quarterly instead. Your accountant will confirm whether instalments apply and calculate the amounts.

GST/HST Filing Deadlines

Your filing frequency — monthly, quarterly, or annual — was assigned by the CRA when you registered and is reflected in your bookkeeping software. These are the standard deadlines:

Monthly filers: File and pay one month after the end of the reporting period.

Quarterly filers: File and pay one month after the end of each quarter. The next four, with weekend dates moved to the next business day:

Q3 (Jul–Sep 2026) → October 31, 2026 falls on a Saturday, so due November 2, 2026
Q4 (Oct–Dec 2026) → January 31, 2027 falls on a Sunday, so due February 1, 2027
Q1 (Jan–Mar 2027) → due April 30, 2027

Annual filers (December 31 year-end): Most annual GST/HST registrants file and pay three months after their fiscal year-end — March 31, 2027, for a December 31, 2026 year-end. The well-known exception is individuals with business income: if that's you, your return is due June 15, 2027, and payment is due April 30, 2027, mirroring your self-employed T1 deadline.

GST/HST instalments: Instalment payments are due within one month after the end of each of your fiscal quarters. The CRA's instalment payment calculator in My Business Account shows your exact due dates.

Payroll Deadlines

Source deduction remittances — regular remitters: Due by the 15th of the month following the pay period.

January payroll → February 15
February payroll → March 15
And so on

Accelerated remitters (larger payroll accounts) have more frequent deadlines — the CRA will have notified you of your remitter type when your payroll account was set up, or you can confirm in My Business Account.

March 1, 2027 — T4 slips and T4 Summary T4 slips must be distributed to employees and filed with the CRA by the last day of February (February 28, 2027 falls on a Sunday, so the deadline moves to Monday, March 1). This applies regardless of when in the year you ran payroll or whether any employees are still with you.

March 1, 2027 — T4A slips (Box 048, fees for services) If you paid a subcontractor $500 or more in 2026, a T4A is due by the same date as your T4s. This has long been one of the most skipped filings for a specific reason: CRA's own guide stated for years that it wasn't assessing penalties for missing Box 048, even though the filing requirement itself never went away. The Department of Finance announced in October 2025 that this is changing, with penalty enforcement resuming — starting with the trucking industry for 2025 slips, and wider enforcement expected as it rolls out further. Worth treating as a live requirement now, not an easy skip.

T5018 — If Construction Is Most of Your Business

If more than 50% of your business income comes from construction and you paid a subcontractor more than $500 for construction services in the period, that goes on a T5018 (Statement of Contract Payments) — a separate filing from T4A. It's due six months after your reporting period ends, same timing as a T2.

The Corporate Annual Return — Not a CRA Filing

If you are incorporated, there is a filing that has nothing to do with the CRA that gets missed constantly.

The Annual Return (also called an Annual Report in some jurisdictions) is filed with your corporate registry — BC Registry, Ontario Business Registry, Corporations Canada for federal corporations, or your province's equivalent.

This is entirely separate from your T2.

Filing your T2 does not satisfy this requirement. The CRA does not send you reminders for it. Your corporate registry does — usually by email, and easy to miss if that email goes to a spam folder or an address you no longer use.

Missing it for multiple years can result in your corporation being administratively dissolved. That is not just a late fee — it's a real problem to reverse.

Due dates vary by jurisdiction and by your incorporation anniversary date. Add it to your calendar the day you incorporate and check your corporate registry's website for your specific deadline.

Penalties for Missing CRA Deadlines

The penalty depends on which return is late. Income tax returns and GST/HST returns use different formulas.

Late filing, income tax returns (T1 and T2): 5% of the balance owing on the due date, plus 1% for each complete month the return is late (up to 12 months).

Repeat late filers, income tax returns: If you have been assessed a late-filing penalty in any of the three preceding years, these amounts double — 10% of the balance owing, plus 2% per month.

Late filing, GST/HST returns: 1% of the net tax owing, plus 25% of that 1% for each complete month the return is overdue, up to a maximum of 12 months. Our GST/HST late-filing guide walks through an example.

Interest: Compounds daily on unpaid balances at the CRA prescribed rate, which changes quarterly. Interest starts the day after the payment was due.

Gross negligence penalty: 50% of the understated tax, if the CRA determines a filing was intentionally misleading or grossly negligent.

Penalties and interest are separate. You can owe both on the same amount.

The Reminders You Actually Need

Since 2025, online mail through My Business Account is the default way the CRA delivers most business correspondence — not paper mail, unless you've specifically requested it or your account doesn't qualify. If you're not registered or not checking it, you can miss a review request or an assessment notice with a response deadline attached.

Set these reminders in your calendar now:

November 2, 2026 — Q3 GST/HST quarterly filers
February 1, 2027 — Q4 GST/HST quarterly filers
March 1, 2027 — T4s and T4As
March 15, 2027 — Personal tax instalment (if you pay by instalments)
April 30, 2027 — Personal tax balance owing (sole proprietors)
April 30, 2027 — Q1 GST/HST quarterly filers
June 15, 2027 — Self-employed T1 filing
2 months after fiscal year-end — Corporate tax balance owing
6 months after fiscal year-end — T2 filing (and T5018, if it applies to you)
Your corporate Annual Return due date
Your GST/HST filing dates based on your assigned frequency
The 15th of each month — payroll remittance (regular remitters)

Your bookkeeping software can hold filing reminders next to your actual filing. Ask Margot for the exact steps in your software.

FAQ

When is the T4 deadline in Canada? The last day of February, which is March 1, 2027 for 2026 slips (February 28 falls on a Sunday in 2027). T4 slips must be distributed to employees and filed with the CRA by that date for the prior calendar year.

When is GST/HST due for quarterly filers in Canada? One month after the end of each quarter: April 30 (Q1), July 31 (Q2), October 31 (Q3), and January 31 (Q4). When one of those dates lands on a weekend, it moves to the next business day.

Can I get an extension on my T2 corporate return? The CRA does not routinely grant extensions. The filing deadline is 6 months after your fiscal year-end. If you need more time, file what you have or talk to your accountant — the penalties for missing the filing deadline are based on the balance owing, so if you've already paid your balance, the penalty exposure is lower.

What happens if I miss the T4 deadline? The penalty is per information return, not per slip — CRA calculates it using a graduated table based on how many T4s are in that return and how many days late you are (capped at 100 days), with a $100 minimum per return. File as soon as possible — the penalty grows every day the return sits unfiled, and a separate penalty applies to your T4A filing if that's late too.

What's the difference between the CRA payment deadline and the filing deadline? They're often different. For annual GST/HST filers who are individuals with a December 31 year-end, payment is due April 30 but the return isn't due until June 15. For corporations, the balance is due 2–3 months after year-end but the T2 isn't due until 6 months. Pay on time even if you haven't filed.

CRA deadlines change annually based on weekends and statutory holidays. Always confirm at canada.ca before relying on a specific date.

Keep Reading

• Payroll Remittance Due Dates in Canada Explained
• What Happens If You File GST/HST Late
• Business Number Registration: What It Is and When You Need One

Members of Ready. Set. Bookkeep! get a personalized deadline checklist built for their specific business structure and filing schedule — plus reminders so nothing slips. 

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