The deadline for self-employed individuals to file their 2023 income tax and benefit return is approaching

CRA Updates
Written By Jason Smith

CRA SOURCE ARTICLE

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is here to support you and your business in meeting your tax obligations.

If you are a self-employed individual, or your spouse or common-law partner is self-employed, you have until June 15, 2024, to file your 2023 income tax and benefit return. Since June 15, 2024 falls on a Saturday, you will be considered to have filed on time if we receive your return on or before June 17, 2024.

Your tax obligations as a self-employed individual

If you earned self-employment income from a business that you operate yourself or with a partner, you have to report that income by filing a tax return.

When you're self-employed and you operate your business, you must pay the following:

Don’t forget to register for a GST/HST account if you make more than $30,000 a year in revenue. You will want to make sure that you file your GST/HST returns on time to avoid any penalties and interest.

Note: If you are a GST/HST registrant with a reporting period that begins in 2024, you must file your returns electronically. Check out our tax tip for more information: Businesses: Are you affected by the change to GST/HST electronic filing requirements?

Reporting your income also means that we will have the most accurate information on file to determine if you are eligible for provincial and territorial tax credits and benefits, the GST/HST credit and the Canada child benefit. Filing your return will help ensure you receive any benefits you may be entitled to, and that those you already receive are not interrupted.

Payments

Although your tax-filing deadline is June 15, 2024, your payment was due on April 30, 2024. Your payment will be considered paid on time if we received it, or it was processed at a Canadian financial institution, on or before, April 30, 2024.

If you still have not paid your taxes, we encourage you to do so as soon as you can to avoid additional interest charges on your balance owing. You can pay online in many ways:

  • through your financial institution’s online banking, mobile app or telephone banking service

  • using the My Payment service. This service lets you make payments to the CRA with your Visa® Debit, Debit MasterCard®, or Interac® Online card from a participating financial institution. You can also access My Payment in My Account through the “Accounts and Payments” service page

  • using My Account to:

    • set up a pre-authorized debit agreement from your Canadian chequing account

    • pay an amount due or make instalment payments

  • by credit card or debit, PayPal, or Interac e-Transfer, through a third-party service provider for a fee

You can also make payments in person. Options include paying at:

For more information and other payment options, go to Canada.ca/payments.

If you cannot pay your balance owing, we can work with you on a payment arrangement or a pre-authorized debit (PAD) agreement. Payment arrangement options have been expanded to reflect the financial challenges that many self-employed individuals are currently facing. To determine what you can afford to pay, use the Monthly Net Income and Expense Worksheet. This tool helps you assess your current financial situation to ensure you can meet your payment responsibilities.

Liaison Officer service

We offer a free Liaison Officer service to owners of small businesses and self-employed individuals to help you understand your business tax obligations. A meeting with a Liaison Officer is 100% confidential; the information you choose to discuss with a Liaison Officer will not be shared with other areas of the CRA, or anyone else.

You can request a meeting using the Liaison Officer Service Request Form.

Platform Economy

The platform economy refers to income generated on digital platforms like websites or mobile applications. If you earn income from online platforms, you're considered part of the platform economy. Income earned through the platform economy, including gifts and donations, needs to be reported on your income tax returns. For more information, check out this tax tip: How earning from online platforms can impact your taxes.

You can find even more information on this topic at Compliance in the platform economy.

The Gig Economy

The gig economy is based on temporary and freelance work, or short-term contracts. As a gig worker, your contract services may range from a small task to a highly specialized service. If you are connecting with clients through online platforms or applications (apps) such as Clickworker, Crowdsource, Fiverr, UberEats, or Skip the Dishes to provide them with your services, you are typically considered to be self-employed instead of an employee for tax purposes. Your work may be carried out anywhere, as online platforms can connect businesses and independent contractors from all over the world.

You can find more information about filing taxes as a gig worker in our gig economy tax tip.

Filing your tax return electronically

If you choose to file electronically, there are a variety of NETFILE-certified software products that meet your needs. Some of the software products are free.

For the 2023 tax year, prior to filing your tax return electronically with NETFILE, you will be asked to enter an Access code after your name, date of birth, and social insurance number. This unique code can be found to the right, beneath the notice details box on the first page of your previous Notice of Assessment (NOA). If you are registered for My Account, you can use Auto-fill my return in certified tax software to automatically fill in parts of your income tax and benefit return with information that we have available at the time of the request, including your NETFILE Access code. Your Access code will let you use information from your 2023 tax return when confirming your identity with us. Your Access code isn’t mandatory when filing your 2023 tax return, but without it you’ll have to rely on other information for authentication purposes.

Digital services for businesses and self-employed individuals

We have easy-to-use digital services for businesses and self-employed individuals. You can use these services to file, make payments, and get detailed information about your account. Get an in-depth look at our various digital services in our tax tip: Looking for the fastest and easiest way to view and manage your business taxes online? Use our digital services!

Keep receipts and documents

It is important to keep complete records of the money you make and spend. Your records must give enough detail to determine the tax you owe and support any deductions or credits you are claiming. You need to keep all supporting documents as part of your records even when:

  • you file your return electronically

  • the return, form or schedule you are completing says that you do not have to attach your supporting documents to the paper version

Sometimes, we review returns to make sure that income, deductions, and credits are properly reported. If we review your return, having your receipts and records on hand will make it easier for you to support your claims.

In the event of forest fires or other climate issues

  • Many individuals, businesses, and first responders may be unable to meet their tax obligations as usual, due to circumstances beyond their control. In such cases, taxpayers can submit a request for relief of penalties and interest if assessed to their accounts. We will consider each request based on the specific circumstances for that request

  • Note that even if you submit this request, the deadline for filing does not change

Protecting your books and records

We recommend protecting your records against weather-related events with the following steps:

  • Take extra precautions when storing your books and records if you live in an area prone to wildfires or floods

  • Keep a back-up of your electronic records in a secure off-site location as an added precaution

  • Register for direct deposit to avoid missing payments in the mail

  • In the unfortunate situation that your books and records have been destroyed as a result of an adverse event, please call us at 1-800-959-8281 for individual enquiries, 1-800-959-5525 for business enquiries, or 1-800-267-2384 for registered charities enquiries

More help for your business

The Canada Business App simplifies access to government services for small and medium-sized enterprises in Canada. Designed with business owners in mind, the app puts government programs and services at your fingertips. Download it from the App Store or Google Play.

More filing tips

For more tips and helpful information, check out our tax tips for self-employed individuals.

Jason Smith
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