Canadian Tax Season Checklist: Every Account, Slip, Form and Credit in Plain English

What dates should I know first?

• March 1, 2027: last day to put money in an RRSP and still count it for 2026. T4, T4A and T5 slips are due to you around then too.
• April 30, 2027: file your 2026 return and pay what you owe. Interest starts May 1.
• June 15, 2027: filing deadline if you or your spouse or partner are self-employed. Any tax owing is still due April 30.
• Quarterly instalments: March 15, June 15, September 15 and December 15, if the CRA has asked you to pay that way.

There’s a longer list on our important tax dates page.

Which savings accounts and plans are there?

Most of these are “registered” accounts, meaning the government gives them special tax treatment. The contribution limits change, so your own room is what counts, and you can find it in CRA My Account.

• RRSP (Registered Retirement Savings Plan): what you put in is deducted from your income, and the money grows tax-deferred until you take it out. The 2026 dollar limit is $33,810 (or 18% of last year’s income, whichever is less), plus any unused room from earlier years. Your room is printed on your Notice of Assessment.
• Spousal RRSP: you contribute, your spouse or partner owns it. It can even out retirement income between two people.
• TFSA (Tax-Free Savings Account): no deduction going in, but growth and withdrawals are tax-free. New room for 2026 is $7,000. Someone who has been eligible since 2009 and never contributed has up to $109,000 of room in total. Going over costs 1% a month, so check your room first.
• FHSA (First Home Savings Account): for first-time home buyers. You get a deduction like an RRSP, and the money comes out tax-free for a qualifying first home. It’s $8,000 a year, up to $40,000 for life. Unused room carries forward, but only up to $8,000, so you can put in at most $16,000 in a single year.
• RESP (Registered Education Savings Plan): for a child’s schooling. No deduction, but the government adds the Canada Education Savings Grant (20% of what you put in, up to $500 a year, $7,200 for life). The lifetime contribution limit is $50,000. Lower-income families may also get the Canada Learning Bond, and BC has had its own education savings grant, so ask whether it still applies to you.
• RDSP (Registered Disability Savings Plan): for someone who qualifies for the disability tax credit. The government can add grants of up to $3,500 a year (to $70,000 for life) and bonuses of up to $1,000 a year (to $20,000 for life), depending on family income.
• RRIF (Registered Retirement Income Fund): what an RRSP turns into when you start drawing it down. There’s a minimum you have to take out each year.
• LIRA, LIF and RLSP: locked-in accounts that hold pension money moved out of a former employer’s plan.
• RPP, DPSP and PRPP: workplace pension and profit-sharing plans. Your T4 usually shows these, and they can lower your RRSP room.
• HBP (Home Buyers’ Plan) and LLP (Lifelong Learning Plan): let you borrow from your own RRSP for a first home (up to $60,000) or for school. You pay it back over time, and a missed repayment gets added to your income.
• Non-registered accounts: a regular investment account. You pay tax on interest, dividends and capital gains each year, and half of a capital gain is taxable.

What government benefits and programs show up on a return?

• CPP and QPP (Canada and Quebec Pension Plan): you pay in from your paycheque (twice as much if you’re self-employed), and you collect a pension later. Benefits are taxable.
• OAS (Old Age Security): a monthly payment from age 65. If your net income is above $95,323 for 2026, 15% of the extra gets clawed back, up to the amount of OAS you received.
• GIS (Guaranteed Income Supplement): extra monthly help for lower-income seniors, based on your filed return.
• EI (Employment Insurance): premiums come off your paycheque, and benefits you collect are taxable.
• CCB (Canada Child Benefit): a monthly payment for families with kids under 18, worked out from your return. Our BC family benefit guide covers the provincial top-up.
• GST/HST credit and Canada Workers Benefit: payments for lower-income households, worked out automatically when you file.
• Disability tax credit (DTC): needs form T2201 signed by a medical practitioner. See the disability benefits guide.
• BC credits: the BC Family Benefit, the BC tax reduction credit and the renter’s tax credit. Read our BC income tax guide and renters guide.
• Canada Dental Care Plan: your eligibility depends on your income from a filed return, which is one more reason to file every year.

Which slips will I get in the mail or online?

These are called information slips. The CRA gets a copy too, so everything on them has to be on your return.

• T4: job income, and the tax, CPP and EI taken off
• T4A: pensions, scholarships, self-employed fees and other income
• T4A(OAS) and T4A(P): your OAS and CPP benefits
• T4E: EI benefits
• T4RSP and T4RIF: money taken out of an RRSP or RRIF
• T5: interest and dividends
• T3: income from a trust or a mutual fund
• T5008: sales of stocks, funds and other securities (you work out the gain or loss)
• T5013: income from a partnership
• T2202: tuition paid, from your school
• RRSP and FHSA receipts and statements: from your bank or advisor
• T4PS: employee profit sharing
• NR4: Canadian income paid to a non-resident
• RL slips: the Quebec versions of the above

What forms and schedules go with my return?

• T1 General: your personal tax return. The BC pages (BC428) are included for BC residents.
• Schedule 1: federal tax and credits
• Schedule 3: capital gains and losses, including selling a rental, a cottage or stocks
• Schedule 5: amounts for a spouse or dependants
• Schedule 7: RRSP contributions and transfers
• Schedule 8: CPP on self-employed income
• Schedule 9: charitable donations
• Schedule 11: tuition and education amounts
• T2091: designating a home as your principal residence. The sale of a home has to be reported on your return even if there’s no tax on it.
• T777 and T2200: employment expenses. Your employer has to sign the T2200 first, and it covers things like a home office.
• T778: child care expenses
• T1-M: moving expenses, if you moved at least 40 km closer to a new job or school
• T1135: foreign property. If you held more than $100,000 CAD (by cost) of property outside Canada at any time in the year, this one is required, and the late penalties are steep.
• T1212: a rare one for deferring some capital gains
• T1013: lets us deal with the CRA on your behalf

What if I’m self-employed or own a business?

• T2125: where self-employed income and expenses go on your personal return (see our income and expenses organizer)
• GST/HST registration and returns: required once you earn more than $30,000 in four quarters in a row, and you can sign up before that
• BC PST: a separate return if you sell taxable goods or certain services
• Tax instalments: quarterly payments toward your tax so April isn’t a shock
• CPP on both halves: as your own boss you pay the employee and employer share
• Payroll (T4 and T4A summaries): if you have staff, remittances, year-end slips and the Record of Employment
• T2 corporate return: for an incorporated business, due 6 months after year-end
• T5 and T4 for owners: how you pay yourself from your company by dividend or salary
• CCA (capital cost allowance): deducting the cost of equipment, vehicles and buildings over time

More on this is in our business accounting and tax services pages.

Which credits and deductions are worth checking?

• Basic personal amount, age amount, spouse or partner amount and caregiver amounts
• Medical expenses: costs you paid for yourself or your family, claimed over any 12-month period ending in the tax year
• Charitable donations: keep your official receipts
• Tuition and student loan interest: unused tuition can be carried forward or transferred to a parent or spouse
• Child care expenses: usually claimed by the lower-income spouse or partner
• Pension income amount and pension income splitting for couples
• Union and professional dues and employment expenses
• Home accessibility and multigenerational home renovation credits
• Northern residents deduction
• Political contributions
• Moving expenses and the home buyers’ amount

What about special situations?

• Someone has passed away: a final return, sometimes a separate “rights or things” return, and a T3 trust return for the estate. Get a clearance certificate (form TX19) before handing out the estate.
• Coming to or leaving Canada: part-year returns, departure tax, and residency forms such as NR73. Leaving also means listing your property on form T1161.
• Missed a filing or a form: the CRA’s Voluntary Disclosures Program can reduce penalties if you come forward before they find it.
• Foreign pensions, income and accounts: need the T1135 above and often foreign tax credit forms.

What tools and accounts should I set up?

• CRA My Account: shows your RRSP and TFSA room, your slips and your benefit payments
• Auto-fill my return: pulls your slips into your return, if you use certified software
• NETFILE and EFILE: the ways to file electronically. EFILE is what accountants use.
• Notice of Assessment (NOA): the CRA’s answer to your return. It also shows your RRSP room, so keep it.
• Direct deposit: set it up so your refund and benefits arrive faster
• Represent a Client: the CRA portal we use after you give us permission (form T1013)

What’s gone, so you can stop looking for it?

• Carbon rebate and BC climate credit payments: ended with the consumer carbon tax in 2025
• Digital news subscription credit: ran 2020 to 2024 and can’t be claimed for 2025 or later
• Underused Housing Tax: gone from 2025, though earlier years can still matter

What should I gather before I sit down?

• All your slips (T4, T4A, T5, T3, T5008, T2202 and the rest)
• RRSP, FHSA and other contribution receipts
• Last year’s Notice of Assessment
• Donation, medical, child care and moving receipts
• For rental or self-employed income: income and expense totals (our forms and checklists page has organizers)
• Details of anything you sold, such as a home, shares or a rental
• Foreign property and bank account details, if you have any

How HJ Wu & Company Inc. helps

We’re a Vancouver CPA firm that has been doing this for 32 years. We prepare personal (T1) returns, self-employed (T2125) returns and corporate (T2) returns, handle GST, PST and payroll, and help with the trickier pieces like foreign property, estates and CRA letters. If this list made your head spin, that’s normal, and it’s our job to sort it out. Start with our forms and checklists, see tax services, or get in touch at 604-636-1862 or inquiry@hjwucpa.com to book a chat.

Official sources

• CRA: important dates for individuals
• CRA: taxes for individuals
• BNN Bloomberg: CRA sets new savings and pension plan limits for 2026
• The Motley Fool Canada: OAS clawback threshold for 2026
• MoneySense: what’s new (and gone) for your tax return

Reviewed October 31, 2026. This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules and rates change, so confirm current requirements with the official sources above and speak to a CPA about your situation.