Small business tax deadlines in Canada
Every CRA filing and payment date a small business has to meet: T4 slips, T2 returns, the balance owing, instalments and the self-employed return, with the next dates worked out for you.
- Covers
- Corporations, sole proprietors and employers
- Weekends
- Already allowed for
Coming up
December 15, 2026
Fourth quarterly tax instalment
Self-employed individuals who pay instalments
March 1, 2027
T4, T4A and T5 slips and summaries filed, and slips given to employees and recipients
Employers, and anyone who paid dividends or fees
March 15, 2027
First quarterly tax instalment
Self-employed individuals who pay instalments
April 30, 2027
Personal tax balance owing paid, including on business income
Sole proprietors and the self-employed
June 15, 2027
Personal return filed; second quarterly instalment
Sole proprietors and the self-employed
September 15, 2027
Third quarterly tax instalment
Self-employed individuals who pay instalments
December 15, 2027
Fourth quarterly tax instalment
Self-employed individuals who pay instalments
February 29, 2028
T4, T4A and T5 slips and summaries filed, and slips given to employees and recipients
Employers, and anyone who paid dividends or fees
GST/HST dates depend on how often you file. Find your GST/HST due date.
Your corporation's deadlines
A corporation's dates run from its own tax year end, not the calendar. Enter yours.
- T2 return due
- Wednesday, June 30, 2027
- Balance owing due
- Monday, March 1, 2027
- Balance owing due, for a CCPC that qualifies for three months
- Wednesday, March 31, 2027
A CCPC generally gets three months to pay if it claimed the small business deduction this year or last and its taxable income, with its associates, was under the business limit last year. Dates falling on a weekend move to the next business day.
Not sure what the bill will be? Corporate tax rates and a calculator for every province.
Payroll
Most small employers remit the tax, CPP and EI they deduct from pay by the 15th of the month after payday. Larger employers remit more often. Slips for the year — T4 for employees, T4A for fees and other amounts, T5 for dividends and interest — are due on the last day of February.
Sole proprietors and the self-employed
The personal return is due June 15, but the tax is due April 30, so a balance paid in June has run up six weeks of interest. If you pay instalments, the dates are March 15, June 15, September 15 and December 15. How instalments work.
Getting ready
Every one of these is easier with the books closed. The year-end bookkeeping checklist covers what to finish before you or your accountant start a return.
Questions
- When is the T4 deadline?
- T4 slips and the T4 Summary are due on the last day of February for the year before, and employees must have their slips by then too. The next deadline is March 1, 2027. T4A and T5 slips are due the same day.
- When is a corporation's T2 return due?
- Six months after the end of its tax year. For a December 31 year end that is June 30, 2027. Any tax owing is due earlier: two months after the year end, or three months for a Canadian-controlled private corporation that qualifies.
- When do self-employed people file their taxes?
- Sole proprietors and their spouses or common-law partners have until June 15 to file, but any balance owing is due April 30. Interest runs on an unpaid balance from May 1 even if the return is filed on time.
- Do I have to pay tax instalments?
- A self-employed individual generally pays quarterly instalments, on March 15, June 15, September 15 and December 15, when the tax owing is more than $3,000 in the current year and either of the two previous years. A corporation pays monthly or quarterly instalments when its tax is more than $3,000.
- What if a deadline falls on a weekend?
- If a due date falls on a Saturday, a Sunday or a public holiday the CRA recognizes, the filing or payment is on time if the CRA receives it, or it is postmarked, by the next business day. The dates on this page already allow for weekends.
- What happens if a corporation files late?
- The late-filing penalty is 5% of the tax unpaid at the filing deadline, plus 1% of it for each full month the return is late, up to 12 months, and interest runs on unpaid tax from the day it was due.
Dates as set by the Canada Revenue Agency, as of October 25, 2026. General information, not tax advice.
Close the year without the scramble
Spark Books keeps your books from your bank statements through the year, so each of these deadlines starts from numbers that are already done.
Start your books