Self-Employed Tax Deadlines in Canada

Missing a tax deadline when you are self-employed does not just mean a sternly worded letter from the CRA. It means penalties, compounding interest, and in some cases, delayed benefit payments like the GST/HST credit or the Canada Child Benefit. The good news is that every deadline is predictable and the same year after year.

Here is every date you need to know as a self-employed Canadian.

Income Tax Deadlines

Filing Deadline: June 15

If you or your spouse or common-law partner is self-employed, your T1 personal income tax return is due on June 15 of the following year. For the 2025 tax year, that means June 15, 2026.

This is one of the few advantages of being self-employed: you get about six extra weeks compared to employees, whose returns are due April 30.

But there is a catch. While your return is not due until June 15, any taxes you owe are still due on April 30. The extended filing deadline does not extend the payment deadline. If you owe money and do not pay by April 30, the CRA will charge you interest on the unpaid balance starting May 1, even though your return is not technically late yet.

Payment Deadline: April 30

Any balance owing for the previous tax year must be paid by April 30. This applies to everyone, including those with the June 15 filing deadline.

Practical tip: If you are not sure how much you owe, estimate your taxes and pay by April 30. You can always get a refund if you overpay. Underpaying is what triggers interest charges.

Quarterly Instalment Dates

For 2026, if your net tax owing is more than $3,000 in the current year and in either of the two preceding years, the CRA expects you to pay your taxes in quarterly instalments throughout the year rather than in one lump sum. For Quebec residents the CRA threshold is $1,800, and Revenu Quebec separately requires instalments of Quebec tax once it passes $1,800, so a Quebec filer can owe two sets on the same income.

The four instalment due dates are:

Instalment	Due Date
Q1	March 15
Q2	June 15
Q3	September 15
Q4	December 15

Note for Quebec residents: Revenu Quebec administers the provincial instalments with the same four quarterly dates. If a due date falls on a weekend or a CRA-recognized holiday, a payment received the next business day is on time.

Note for farmers and fishers: If your main source of income is farming or fishing, you have one instalment due date, December 31.

How Instalments Are Calculated

The CRA gives you three options for calculating each instalment amount:

1. Current-year option. Estimate your net tax owing for the current year (plus CPP contributions payable) and pay it in instalments. Best if your income, deductions and credits will differ significantly from the last two years.
2. Prior-year option. Base your instalments on your return from the previous year. Best if the current year will look like last year but differ significantly from the year before.
3. No-calculation option. The CRA works out the amounts from your latest assessed return and prints them on the instalment reminders it sends you. Best if your income, deductions and credits stay about the same from year to year.

With the current-year and prior-year options, the CRA does not charge instalment interest or a penalty if you pay in full by the due dates, unless your estimated amounts were too low. The CRA calculates instalment interest using whichever option gives the least interest, so paying the reminder amounts in full by each due date means no instalment interest, even if you end up owing more.

What happens if you skip instalments? The CRA charges instalment interest on late or underpaid instalments. The interest rate is the prescribed rate, which the CRA resets every three months and compounds daily; the current figure is on the CRA's prescribed interest rates page. The CRA may also charge an instalment penalty, but only if your instalment interest for the year is more than $1,000.

GST/HST Filing Deadlines

If you are registered for GST/HST, you have a separate filing obligation. The deadline depends on your reporting period.

Annual Filers

The CRA assigns a default reporting period based on your revenue, and many sole proprietors file annually. If you are an individual with business income and your fiscal year end is December 31 (the usual case for a sole proprietor), your GST/HST return is due by June 15 of the following year.

However, just like income tax, any net tax owing is due by April 30 even though the return is not due until June 15. This split applies only to individuals with business income and a December 31 year end. Other annual filers, such as a corporation, file and pay together three months after year end.

Quarterly and Monthly Filers

If you file GST/HST quarterly or monthly, the return and payment are due one month after the end of each reporting period.

Reporting Period	Filing and Payment Deadline
Annual (Dec 31 year-end)	Return: June 15 / Payment: April 30
Quarterly (e.g., Jan-Mar)	One month after quarter end (April 30)
Monthly (e.g., January)	One month after month end (end of February)

Reminder: You must register for GST/HST once your worldwide taxable sales (before expenses, not counting financial services or sales of capital property) exceed $30,000 in a single calendar quarter or over four consecutive calendar quarters. If a single quarter takes you over, you must start charging GST/HST on the sale that crossed the line. Below the threshold, registration is voluntary.

Penalties for Late Filing

The CRA imposes a penalty if you file your income tax return late and have a balance owing. The penalty is:

• 5% of the tax that was unpaid on the filing due date, plus
• 1% of that unpaid tax for each full month the return is late, up to a maximum of 12 months

That means the maximum late-filing penalty is 17% of the unpaid tax. If you were charged a late-filing penalty in any of the three preceding years and the CRA sent you a demand to file, the penalty rises to 10% plus 2% per month, for a maximum of 20 months (50% total).

Late Filing With No Balance Owing

If you file late but do not owe any tax, there is no late-filing penalty. However, filing late can delay benefit payments like the GST/HST credit and the Canada Child Benefit.

Penalties for Late Payment

Late payment is separate from late filing. If you owe tax and do not pay by April 30, the CRA charges compound daily interest at the prescribed rate on the unpaid amount.

There is no flat penalty for late payment alone, but the interest adds up quickly. At an annual rate of 5%, a $10,000 balance costs roughly $1.37 per day at the start, and a little more as the interest compounds. Use the rate from the prescribed rates page for your own figure.

Interest on Overdue Taxes

The CRA's prescribed interest rate on overdue amounts is set quarterly: the average yield of Government of Canada 90-day treasury bills at auctions in the first month of the preceding quarter, rounded up to the next whole percentage, plus 4 percentage points. This rate applies to:

• Overdue income tax balances
• Overdue GST/HST balances
• Late or insufficient instalment payments
• Amounts owing on reassessments

The interest compounds daily, which means you pay interest on the interest. Check the CRA's website each quarter for the current prescribed rate.

A Calendar Summary

Here is every key date on a single page:

Date	What is Due
March 15	Q1 instalment payment
April 30	Income tax balance owing / GST/HST payment (annual filers)
June 15	T1 income tax return (self-employed) / Q2 instalment / GST/HST return (annual filers)
September 15	Q3 instalment payment
December 15	Q4 instalment payment

Practical Tips for Staying on Track

1. Set aside a fixed share of every invoice. A common rule of thumb is 25-30%, to cover federal tax, provincial tax, and CPP contributions. Adjust up or down based on your actual income and rate.
2. Automate your instalments. Set up pre-authorized debit with the CRA so you never miss a quarterly date.
3. File on time even if you cannot pay. The late-filing penalty is on top of the late-payment interest. Filing on time and paying late is cheaper than filing late and paying late.
4. Track your income and expenses throughout the year. Scrambling to reconstruct a full year of business activity in April is stressful and error-prone.

FAQ

When is my tax return due if I am self-employed in Canada? June 15 of the following year. If you or your spouse or common-law partner is self-employed, the T1 personal return gets about six extra weeks compared with the April 30 deadline that applies to employees.

If my return is due June 15, why do people say I have to pay by April 30? Because the extended filing deadline does not extend the payment deadline. Any balance owing is still due April 30, and the CRA charges interest on an unpaid balance from May 1 even though the return itself is not yet late. If you are unsure of the amount, estimate and pay by April 30; overpaying gets refunded, underpaying accrues interest.

Do I have to pay tax in quarterly instalments? For 2026, the CRA expects instalments if your net tax owing is more than $3,000 in the current year and in either of the two preceding years, or $1,800 for Quebec residents. Below that, you pay once when you file.

What happens if I file late? Filing late when you owe money triggers a late-filing penalty on top of the interest already accruing from May 1, so the cost compounds. If you cannot pay the full balance, filing on time anyway limits the damage to interest alone.

Sources

1. CRA: Tax instalment payments for individuals
2. CRA: Interest and penalties on late or insufficient payments
3. CRA: GST/HST reporting requirements and deadlines
4. CRA: Prescribed interest rates
5. CRA: When to register for and start charging the GST/HST