Now that the holiday season is over we wanted to touch base before we get too far into the year
to remind you of the upcoming filing deadlines for 2026.

Corporations

Corporations are required to file annual income tax returns as long as the corporation is in
existence. Whether or not it is carrying on business or is inactive, the Canada Revenue Agency
now expects the annual returns to be filed.

Corporations have six (6) months after their year-end to file corporate income tax returns.
However, if there are any income taxes owing, the deadline to pay those taxes is three (3) months
if the corporation is carrying on an active business, and two (2) months if the corporation is
engaged in passive investment activities only. If the tax payments aren’t made by those
deadlines, interest charges will apply.

Care must be taken by any of you who no longer engage in active business activities and are now
using your corporation as a passive investment vehicle. The tax payment deadline changes from
three months to two months so please consider your situation carefully and, if you fall into this
category, contact us at your earliest convenience to ensure you don’t miss this deadline. For non-
active corporations with a December 31, 2025 year end, the deadline is the end of February
2026.

Corporations carrying on an active business – which is anything that generates income from
active rather than passive investment activities – the deadline for the payment of any outstanding
tax is March 31 st.

Please remember as well that even if you pay the corporate tax by these deadlines, if you were
required to remit monthly installments because the corporation was taxable in the prior year and
you failed to do so, you will be subject to late or insufficient instalment penalties and interest.
The CRA is now liberally assessing these penalties and is very reluctant to waive them except in
exceptional circumstances.

The deadline for filing any T4’s or T5’s is the end of February so please make sure you contact
us so you do not miss this deadline as well.

Trusts

The deadline for trusts is 90 days after the year end. As most trusts now have a calendar year,
that deadline is March 31, 2026. So, if you do have a trust, please contact us in early March to
ensure that deadline isn’t missed.

One other thing to remember is the 21 year “Deemed Disposition” rule. This rule stipulates that
a trust in Canada is deemed to dispose of all of its assets every 21 years which typically triggers
a taxable capital gain in the trust. Please check your records and let us know if this applies to
you.

Personal Income Taxes

Personal income returns have to be filed no later than April 30 th each year. If you were self-
employed, that deadline is extended to June 15 th . In order to ensure you are on time we
recommend that everyone file their personal tax returns no later than the April 30 th deadline.
If you were required to make quarterly installments during 2025 and did not do that, or were late
with any of your payments, the Canada Revenue Agency will assess late or insufficient
installment penalties. And again, we have seen that they apply these penalties with great
enthusiasm and will rarely waive them unless you also have exceptional circumstances justifying
why this was not done.

We would like to thank all of you for the trust you have shown in us over the years as we do
appreciate the opportunity to be of continuing service to you in your accounting and income tax
affairs. We look forward to hearing from each of you in the coming months.
If any of you have questions or need to contact us, please do not hesitate to give us a call at
403.457.4477 or send any one of us an email.