Written by Maryam Ajorloo, CPA · Reviewed by Behdad Karimi Dermeni, CPA
Running a small business in Canada means juggling a handful of tax deadlines that all land at different times of the year. Miss one and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) can add penalties and interest on top of what you already owe. The good news: once you know your dates, staying on top of them is simple.
Here is the short answer. If you are self-employed, you pay any tax owing by April 30 and file your return by June 15. If you run a corporation, you file your T2 return within six months of your fiscal year-end and pay any balance within two months (three months for a Canadian-controlled private corporation claiming the small business deduction).
Below, we break down every deadline that matters for a small business in Canada, whether you are a sole proprietor, self-employed, or incorporated. Keeping clean, up-to-date books all year is what makes these dates painless, and that is exactly what an AI Bookkeeper is built to do.
Small business tax deadlines in Canada at a glance
Here are the key dates most Canadian small businesses need to track. Your exact dates depend on your business structure and fiscal year-end.
Self-employed payment deadline: April 30 (for the previous calendar year).
Self-employed filing deadline: June 15 (if you or your spouse had self-employment income).
Corporate filing deadline (T2): six months after your fiscal year-end.
Corporate payment deadline: two months after your fiscal year-end (three months for CCPCs claiming the small business deduction).
GST/HST (annual filers): three months after your fiscal year-end (with a special rule for self-employed individuals, below).
Payroll slips (T4, T4A, T5): the last day of February.
RRSP contribution deadline: the first 60 days of the following year.
When any deadline falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or a public holiday recognized by the CRA, your return or payment is considered on time if the CRA receives it on the next business day.
Self-employed tax deadline in Canada
If you are self-employed or a sole proprietor, you report your business income on your personal (T1) return using form T2125. You get two dates, and this is where most people trip up.
File by June 15. If you or your spouse or common-law partner earned self-employment income, the CRA gives you until June 15 to file your return.
Pay by April 30. Here is the catch: any tax you owe is still due by April 30. The later filing deadline does not extend your payment deadline. If you pay after April 30, the CRA charges interest on the balance, even though your return is not technically late until after June 15.
Our advice: treat April 30 as your real deadline. Estimate what you owe, pay it by April 30, and use the extra time only to finish the paperwork. If you are still deciding how to report your earnings, our guide on business income vs. professional income clears up a common source of confusion on the T2125.
Corporation tax deadline in Canada
If your business is incorporated, you file a T2 corporate return, and your deadlines are tied to your fiscal year-end rather than the calendar year.
File within six months. Your T2 return is due six months after the last day of your fiscal year. If your year-end is December 31, your return is due June 30. If your year-end is March 31, your return is due September 30.
Pay within two months (or three). The balance of corporate tax you owe is generally due two months after your fiscal year-end. There is an important exception: a Canadian-controlled private corporation (CCPC) that claims the small business deduction and meets the eligibility conditions gets three months to pay.
So a small Canadian corporation with a December 31 year-end typically pays by March 31 and files by June 30. Not sure whether incorporating still makes sense for you? Compare the two paths in our guide on corporation vs. self-employed.
GST/HST filing deadlines in Canada
Your GST/HST deadline depends on your reporting period, which the CRA assigns based on your annual taxable sales.
Annual filers (taxable sales of $1.5 million or less, the default for most small businesses): your return and any payment are due three months after your fiscal year-end.
Quarterly filers (taxable sales between $1.5 million and $6 million): due one month after the end of each quarter.
Monthly filers (taxable sales over $6 million): due one month after the end of each month.
There is one special rule worth knowing. If you are a self-employed individual who files GST/HST annually and has a December 31 fiscal year-end, your filing deadline moves to June 15, but you still have to pay any net GST/HST owing by April 30. It lines up with your personal tax dates.
You can always choose to file more often than the CRA assigns, but not less often. When you are ready to actually submit a return, our step-by-step walkthrough on how to file and pay GST/HST for free covers the whole process through CRA NETFILE.
Payroll slips, RRSP, and other important dates
A few more deadlines round out the small business tax calendar.
T4, T4A, and T5 slips: the last day of February. If you have employees or pay contractors and dividends, you must file these information returns and give copies to recipients by the last day of February following the calendar year. When that day lands on a weekend, the next business day applies.
RRSP contributions: the first 60 days of the following year. Contributions you want to deduct on your return must be made within the first 60 days of the next year.
TFSA contributions: no hard deadline. There is no annual cutoff for a TFSA, and any unused contribution room carries forward to future years.
What happens if you file or pay late?
Two different charges can apply, and it helps to know the difference.
Interest starts accruing on any unpaid balance the day after your payment deadline. The CRA sets the rate quarterly, and it compounds daily.
A late-filing penalty applies if you owe tax and file after your deadline. It is 5% of your balance owing, plus 1% for each full month your return is late, up to 12 months.
The penalty gets steeper if this is a pattern. If the CRA charged you a late-filing penalty in any of the three previous tax years and issued a formal demand to file, the penalty jumps to 10% of your balance owing, plus 2% for each full month late, up to 20 months.
The takeaway is not to panic, it is to stay organized. If your books are current, you always know roughly what you owe and can pay on time. If you are worried about the CRA looking back at past years, our guide on how far back the CRA can audit explains exactly how the review periods work.
Want to stop tracking all of this in your head? Start free for 30 days and let ReInvestWealth keep your books ready for every deadline.
Tax instalments: who pays and when
If you owe a large enough amount of tax, the CRA may require you to pay it in instalments through the year instead of one lump sum.
Self-employed individuals who are required to pay by instalments have four due dates: March 15, June 15, September 15, and December 15.
Corporations generally pay monthly instalments due the last day of each month. An eligible small CCPC with a clean compliance history can pay quarterly instead, on the last day of March, June, September, and December.
The CRA tells you if you need to pay instalments and sends reminders, so you are not expected to guess.
How to never miss a tax deadline again
The deadlines above only feel stressful when your books are behind. When your bookkeeping is current, tax season becomes a quick review instead of a scramble. Here is how to stay ahead of it.
Keep your books current all year. Connect your bank and let your transactions categorize themselves as they come in, so you are never reconstructing a full year in April. An AI Bookkeeper does the categorizing for you, which means very little is left on your plate.
Capture receipts as you go. Snap a photo, upload a PDF, or forward receipts by email into Smart Shoebox, and let ReInvestWealth match them to your transactions. That receipt-backed trail is what proves your deductions and keeps you audit-ready.
Watch your sales tax in real time. ReInvestWealth calculates your GST/HST/QST as you go and helps prepare the return, so the filing deadline is not a surprise.
Share clean books with your accountant. Invite your accountant into ReInvestWealth so they can handle the filing and planning with numbers they can trust, instead of a shoebox of receipts.
Frequently asked questions
What is the tax filing deadline for a small business in Canada?
It depends on your structure. Self-employed individuals file their T1 return by June 15 (but pay any balance by April 30). Corporations file their T2 return within six months of their fiscal year-end.
Do I have to pay by April 30 if I am self-employed and file by June 15?
Yes. The June 15 filing extension for self-employed individuals does not extend the payment deadline. Any tax you owe is still due April 30, and the CRA charges interest on late payments.
When is the corporate tax deadline in Canada?
You file your T2 return within six months of your fiscal year-end and pay any balance within two months of year-end. A CCPC claiming the small business deduction gets three months to pay.
When is GST/HST due for a small business?
Annual filers pay three months after their fiscal year-end (self-employed individuals with a December 31 year-end file by June 15 and pay by April 30). Quarterly and monthly filers are due one month after the end of each period.
What happens if I file late but do not owe any tax?
The late-filing penalty is calculated as a percentage of your balance owing, so if you owe nothing, there is no penalty. It is still smart to file on time to keep your benefits and GST/HST credit payments flowing and to avoid any dispute later.
A note from our CPAs
This guide is written by CPAs to help Canadian small business owners understand their tax deadlines, and it reflects the CRA rules in effect for 2026. It is general information, not tax, accounting, or legal advice for your specific situation. Tax dates and rules can change, and your circumstances are unique, so confirm your own deadlines with the CRA or your accountant before you file.
Written by Maryam Ajorloo, CPA
Maryam Ajorloo is the co-founder of ReInvestWealth and a CPA who specializes in small business tax, sales tax, and everyday bookkeeping. She helps entrepreneurs keep clean, audit-ready books and make sense of write-offs, filing deadlines, and the numbers behind their business. Read more · Connect on LinkedIn
Reviewed by Behdad Karimi Dermeni, CPA
Co-founder of ReInvestWealth and a founding community builder at Stripe. Behdad built ReInvestWealth to give smart, busy entrepreneurs CPA-level accounting without the CPA-level price tag. Read more · Connect on LinkedIn
