Generally, I’ll do my best to take the same days off of work as my kids have off from school.  However, sometimes it is a bit “hit or miss”.  This year, it was a cold but restful time off so now I’m feeling rested and ready for whatever 2022 is going to throw my way.  I’m hoping that you were able to close out 2021 feeling satisfied with what you achieved in 2021 and that you too were able to get some rest/rejuvenation time in as well.

To kick off 2022, there are some ways to be proactive for this upcoming compliance season. 

One way is to be aware (and diarize) of the various deadlines that are coming up so that you can plan how to organize yourself and avoid last-minute panics. Scroll down for a full list of personal tax deadlines for 2022, as well as the corporate tax deadlines to be aware of for 2022 if you’re a business owner. 

Key Personal Tax Deadlines for 2022

• February 28, 2022 – This is the date that you should have received your T4 payroll slip and any T5 slips for your investments.
  • Check your T4 slip to make sure that it matches up against what you made in 2021.  
  • T5 slips – this is the amount that you would have received as interest or dividends in 2021. Note: If you have investments that earned you income in 2021, but didn’t actually pay it out to you until 2022, you won’t receive a T5 slip for this amount until 2023.  
• March 1, 2022 – This is the deadline to make an RRSP contribution that will be eligible to be used as a deduction for your 2021 personal tax return.
  • If you make a contribution after that, it’s still a valid contribution, but you just can’t use it as a deduction on your 2021 return.  It will be a deduction against your 2022 income.
• March 31, 2022 – You should have received your T3 slips (Mutual funds/Trust Income) and your T5013 Slips (Partnership information) by this date. 
• May 2, 2022 – Whahoo!!! We get a few extra days 😊!  Just for 2022 (and for 2023), the Personal Tax filing deadline is not April 30th.  This is because April 30th falls on a weekend.  So the filing date will be on the 1st business day following the weekend.  Which in this case is May 2nd.  In 2023, the deadline will be May 1st.  
  • Note to my clients: I’m going to be pushing to get all of your returns filed prior to the 30th.  As I don’t know about you, I’d still like the weekend 😉 
  • For sole proprietors, any amounts that you owe to the CRA on your personal taxes are due on May 2nd, but your personal tax return doesn’t need to be filed until June 15th.  
• June 15, 2022 – Sole proprietors – this is your deadline for filing your personal tax returns as well as your GST/HST return.
• August/September 2022 – This is when those fun letters come out from the CRA offices from the T1 processing centers when they ask for support for your charitable donations and child care receipts.  You generally have 30 days to respond.  So if you have these types of expenses on your personal tax return this year, please don’t ignore the mail from the CRA.  

Key Corporate Tax Deadlines for 2022

• • February 28, 2022
    • T4s, T4As (contractors), and T5 slips and summaries are all due on the 28th of this month.
    • If you are considered a large company, or part of a group of companies, your taxes are due on this date. 

• March 31, 2022
• • • GST HST:
      • GST/HST deadline if you are an annual filer
      • If you are a calendar quarterly filer, this is also the date you are required to file your October – December 2021 GST/HST return
      • Note:  If you do not have a calendar year-end, your GST/HST deadline is 3 months after your year-end if you are an annual filer.  
        • For example, if you have a March year-end, your GST/HST deadline will be June 30th

• Corporate Income Taxes
• • • • If you have a December year-end, and you are a Canadian-Controlled Private Corporation (CCPC) that qualifies as a small business (less than $500k of taxable income), any corporate income taxes that you owe are due on the 31st of March.
      • If you can’t make that payment by the 31st, just be aware that you will be incurring interest charges from now until you are able to make the payment.  As of the writing of this article, the annual interest rate on unpaid taxes is 5%.
      • As with the GST/HST deadline, if you are a non-calendar year-end company, your corporate taxes are due 3 months after your year-end (if you are a CCPC and a small business)
        • For example, if you have a March year-end, your corporate income taxes are due on June 30th.  
• June 30, 2022
• • If you have a December year-end, your corporate income tax return is due on this day.  
  • If you are a non-calendar year-end company, your filing date is 6 months after your year-end. 
    • For example, if you have a March year-end, your Corporate Income Tax return is due on October 31st.  

Be Prepared For Some Extra Questions From Your Accountant This Year

One other item to note for 2022.  This is the first full year that the new Accounting Standard (CSRS 4200) is being introduced on Compilation engagements (formerly known as Notice to Reader engagements).  There has been an overhaul on how public accountants are supposed to compile the information to prepare this financial information.  So for those of you that require a set of compiled financial statements, just be aware that your accountant is likely going to be asking you some new questions and needing some more in-depth information from you.  As the user of the statements, please do your best to understand these changes and the information that is now appearing in the Notes to the financial information.

Best,

Dayna Holland, CPA, CA (she/her)

CEO of Dayna Holland Ltd.

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Are you a small business owner or self-employed and want to get ahead of the 2021 tax filing season? Be sure to check out this blog post for my top three tips.

Click here to learn more about Dayna Holland, CPA, CA.