Tax Compliance Filing Deadlines
This is "The Deadlines" page. It discusses tax compliance filing deadlines by tax type. You can scroll down to find what you are looking for or click on one of the QUICK LINKS to go right to the spot. Use this search feature to quickly find the information you're looking for.  Custom Search HELLO and a very warm welcome to bookkeeping-essentials.com . Once you have found the tax compliance information you were looking for, I invite you to get a cup of tea, take a few moments to relax ... and discover the wealth of information on this site ... designed to help work from home business owners who do their own books and bookkeepers that are home based. For example, you may be interested in "The Rates" page which has tax compliance rates or maybe "The Tax Plan" page which is the first article in a series on small business tax planning opportunities ... Whatever your interest, I hope you enjoy your visit and come back often. :O) CRA is offering HST transitional webinars ... if you don't want to attend their live seminars. Here is the full link address to sign up ... http://cra.apandrose.com/transition-to-hst ... just in case they move it around on their site. There are 8 one hour sessions to choose from between March 16 to June 8 ... attending will help ensure your are tax compliant. There are also CRA webcasts available. Go to CRA web site > navigation button - Information about CRA (on the left hand side)> Other topics - HST for Ontario and BC. Click on webcasts on the right hand side in the Information for Business box. Notice to Site Visitor I developed this tax compliance page as a handy reference for myself. While I do my best to ensure it is accurate and complete, I make it available for your use with the understanding that I cannot be held liable for errors and/or omissions. Please make yourself familiar with my site policies prior to relying on any of the information on this site.  Quick Links to Due Dates on this Page
 Handy Bookkeeper's Reference
Province - British Columbia Tax Compliance DUE DATES
You should have received your base rate and classification unit letter from WCB for 2010 in December. Goods and Services Tax (GST) Click here for March, 2010 tax compliance deadline dates. It's important to remember GST/HST funds are collected on behalf of the government. They are held informally in trust by your business until remitted. Your GST/HST return is paper filed on form GST34-2 E. The bottom portion of the form includes a line for remitting your payment. Do NOT use forms RC158 or RC177 to remit your normal reporting payment. Once you are registered for GST, Revenue Canada mails the form ahead of your deadline. This enables you to meet your tax compliance deadline. Online filing is now available. You should step outside of your comfort zone and try it if you are still filing a paper return. It's quick and easy to use. There are two ways to file online:
When filing online (through GST/HST NETFILE or My Business Account) and a balance is owing, you have three ways to pay it:
Your GST/HST tax compliance due date is determined by your reporting period. Reporting periods are determined by your annual sales ... not whether you are a corporation or a sole proprietor.
* If your net tax in a year is $3,000 or more, an annual filer must make equal quarterly installments (report them on line 110 of your GST return) in the next year. So here is ... The Bookkeeper's Cash Flow Tip - If you are an annual filer, you should consider opting to file quarterly so you can claim your offsetting ITCs faster. Each period has an optional reporting period that you may opt for. Why you might ask?
Small business owners often intermingle these funds with their own (instead of holding them in a separate account). Then they end up using these funds to meet their cash flow requirements ... and get themselves in hot water when the funds are not available to remit to CRA come filing time. By opting for a more frequent reporting period, you are less likely to think of the money as your own ... and less tempted to spend the funds held in reserve for the government. That's why my preference is to reduce your risk by filing quarterly.
I've seen some business owners get into financial trouble by falling behind on their GST/HST remittances because ... they spent the GST/HST funds. There was no intentional duplicity on their part. It's just that they were positive they had enough input tax credits (ITCs) to offset the payment owing.
If December 31 is your year-end date ... and you are an annual filer, consider this tip. To meet the tax compliance requirements and avoid interest charges, pay your GST owing by the Balance Due Date of April 30th, even if you are filing by the June 15th deadline ... Don't know if you are going to owe a payment or get a refund? Your bookkeeper should be able to provide a fairly accurate ESTIMATE if your books are up-to-date. (You are getting your books done at least quarterly aren't you? If not, why not?) If you want to switch from annual filing to quarterly (so you can recover your ITCs throughout the year instead of just once a year), it must be done before the end February. Complete Form GST20 Election for GST/HST Reporting Period ... or it can be done over the phone with a CRA representative. Read more about GST tax compliance here. B.C. Provincial Sales Tax (PST) Click here for March, 2010 deadline dates. Your BC PST tax compliance due dates are determined as follows:
*Optional reporting periods are at the discretion of the Ministry. Amount of tax remitted, nature of business, and tax compliance history are considered. Click here for March, 2010 deadline dates. Click here for payroll tax rates. The Bookkeeper's Note - When an employee is paid (not earned) determines the payroll remittance due date. CRA determines your remitter type by calculating your average monthly withholding amount (AMWA). They add up all source deductions sent over the past two years divided by the numbers of payment periods over one year.
**Remittances must be done through a Canadian financial institution one full day prior to the due date to avoid penalty charges. Source deductions are reported on a quarterly, monthly, semi-monthly or weekly basis on form PD7A. Your reporting period is assigned by CRA based on your remitter type (discussed above). Revenue Canada mails the form ahead of your deadline enabling you to meet your tax compliance deadline. You have two options for filing online:
For small businesses, monthly filers are the most common reporting period with quarterly filers being the other common period. Ceridian has a number of payroll checklists that you should consider adapting for your own use to ensure you meet all your tax compliance obligations as an employer. They have lists for:
Their website also has an excellent small business payroll year-end guide in their resource section. While the lists are for Ceridian clients, you should be able to modify them for your purposes. Sometimes, they move the pages around on their website. If by some chance the above link is not working, go to www.ceridian.ca and locate their resources and tools section. Hunt around in that area and you will find it. CPP (Canada Pension Plan) is one of the tax compliance items that must be deducted from an employee's pay cheque. CPP is in effect across all provinces and territories however Quebec has its own program QPP. Everyone between the ages of 18 and 70 who are employed must contribute to the plan with 50% of the contributions paid by the employer. It is a mandatory employment deduction. Self-employed business owners pay both the employer and employee portion. So do you ever wonder how you will receive your CPP benefits? While CPP is a contributory plan based on your employment earnings, the CPP system is not a self funding plan. This means your contributions do not go towards funding your own pension ... they go to funding today's pensioners. There are three types of CPP benefits - disability, survivor, and retirement. I'm going to chat about the retirement benefits. The pension is designed to replace about 25% of your average earnings over the years. It does not start automatically. You must apply to receive to begin receiving your retirement benefits. I was reading Advice Hotline, a free e-publication by MPL Communications Inc. They had a short write-up this month (July 2009) on how our current CPP system works ... ... I thought I'd share the simplified overview with you because I find I do better work when I understand the background to a subject ... especially tax compliance items. To receive a full pension from the CPP you have to have paid into it for 40 years. The earliest you can begin contributing is age 18. This means it is possible that you would be eligible for a full pension at age 58. If you retire before you reach the full 40 years, your pension is prorated based on the number of years you paid in ... so if you contributed for 37 years, your pension would be prorated to 37/40 = 92.5% of the full benefits. There is a catch though ... isn't there always. To be eligible for a pension, you have to have contributed for a minimum of 20 years. (The Pension Puzzle - see below - says that you qualify for a pension if you've made just one contribution ... but your pension would be very small.) The CPP system is setup to assume you retire at the age of 65. If you elect to retire earlier (between 60 and 64), your pension is reduced 1/2 of 1% per month. So if you chose to retire at age 60, your pension benefits would be reduced by 30% permanently. The reverse is also true. If you wait until 70 to receive your pension benefits, your benefits would be increased by 30% for the remainder of your life. You can read about proposed changes to CPP here. If you are interested in reading more about how pensions work in Canada, Bruce Cohen and Brian Fitzgerald's book entitled "The Pension Puzzle, Your Complete Guide to Government Benefits, RRSPs and Employer Plans" is an excellent read. It was last published in 2007 so although some of the information has changed, it is still a valuable guide. If nothing else, the book explains and assures you that the changes made to the CPP system in 1998 ensures you will have CPP benefits when you retire ... this perhaps takes away a bit of the sting of meeting the tax compliance obligations a small business owner faces. You get information about your CPP benefits from HRSDC. Two links that might be of interest ... You can estimate your CPP retirement benefits with the HRSDC Retirement Income Calculator ... and you can request a copy of your CPP Statement of Contributions. You do not have to have a My Service Canada account to access the above information. If you have a My Service Canada account, you can view your CPP benefit information directly online. I hope this bit of background on CPP makes it easier for you to understand and meet your tax compliance deadlines.
--- T4 Deadline -- T4 Due Date ---   It is important to remember that for tax compliance purposes, income is reported in the year it was paid not when the income was earned. Do not confuse this with GAAP / GPE reporting where you accrue unpaid but earned wage income in the year the wage was earned. The easiest way to file your T4 Summary and slips is online. Prior to the end of each calendar year, CRA sends you a letter with your online access code. Beginning January 11, 2010, you can submit online by going to the CRA website and selecting T4/T5 by Internet. If you still want to file by paper (only if you have less than 50 slips), go to the Businesses tab on the CRA website and select Payroll>Completing and filling information returns. Under each section, you will find fillable forms.
Tax compliance just got easier with electronic filing access for small business owners. CRA now has the ability to accept electronic returns for under 500 slips. It is fast and easy to use. They have a videocast to watch if it is your first time using this service. 1-70 slips uses their free software T4 Desktop application New tax compliance requirement - Mandatory E-filing starts January, 2010 for anyone who submits more than 50 slips. T4 & T4A DEADLINES FOR SPECIAL SITUATIONS The payroll information return(s) must be filed within 90 days of the death if the owner of the business dies. (Don't forget that you will have to close all CRA accounts after all final returns have been processed and paid.) The payroll information return(s) must be filed within 30 days from the date the business ceases to operate. (Note: Payroll source deductions must be remitted within 7 days from the date the business ceases.) Payroll return must be filed electronically in XML. Paper filing in not an option. (Prior to January 1, 2010, only those with 500 plus slips had to file electronically.) T4 Late Filing --- Failure to File T4:-( Penalty Charges :-(This strategy definitely takes money out of your pocket and does not help you achieve your goal of putting more money in your pocket. If you can't meet your tax compliance filing deadlines, you absolutely need to consider hiring a bookkeeper to do your payroll. Not being tax compliant is expensive!
Click here for March, 2010 deadline dates.
You will receive Form 1820 - Employer's Remittance Form each quarter if you are a quarterly filer. Towards the end of each year, WCB will send out a letter informing you of your base rate and classification unit for the coming year. This is not a bill so do not make a payment. Each year, quarterly filers will also receive an Employer Payroll and Contract Labour Report (form 1810). The purpose of the annual report is to reconcile your account for the previous year. It is due February 28 each year. WCB form 1810 non-filing tax compliance penalties
WCB Payment Options
Employers' Advisors - www.labour.gov.bc.ca/eao The experts at Employers' Advisors work independent of WorkSafeBC under section 94(3) of Worker's Compensation (WC) Act. They can help you manage your compensation costs to give your business a competitive advantage. There is no charge to use their services because the cost of their offices are included in assessments. They provide assistance, education, advice and representation to employers on WorkSafeBC issues. Compliance with the WC Act is mandatory. While ignorance of the law is not a defense, due diligence is. This requires everything to be in writing ... otherwise your due diligence does not exist. Two forms you want to ensure are complete are Due Diligence Checklist and New Worker / Young Worker Orientation Checklist. Both can be found on the worksafebc.com website. If your tax compliance rates include a surcharge, you need to do something to reduce it back to the industry average. The surcharge you pay is based on your claims rate ... which can be 100% higher than the industry average. It is a weighted average over a three year period. Call an employer advisor to provide advice on how to lower your premiums. An excellent reference is Small Business Primer A Guide to the WCB. Click here for 2009 Tax Year self-employed deadline dates.
*1 Here's a tip - To avoid interest charges, pay your taxes owing by the Balance Due Date of April 30th, even if you are filing later. Don't know how much tax is owing - your bookkeeper will be happy to ESTIMATE the amount for you to pay. *2 Your required installments are determined each year when you file your return. There are several options. You may not be required to make any installments. Talk to your bookkeeper or tax preparer.
**1 Watch out -A return must be filed even if taxes owing are ZERO OR your company is inactive. **2 Small Canadian-controlled private corporations (CCPC) must meet conditions for 3 months due date. If the CCPC earns investment income, payment deadline is 2 months after year-end. **3 There are three installment options to choose from. Choose the one that lets you pay the least amount in installments. CCPC may be eligible for quarterly installments if criteria are met. Find more Bookkeeper's Notes on CCPCs on The Rates page.
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