Did you know?

Filing your income tax and benefit return and paying what you owe on time helps you avoid possible interest and penalty charges, and ensures that your benefits won’t be delayed.

Important facts

• You have until midnight on or before May 5, 2014, to file your 2013 income tax and benefit return.
• If you or your spouse or common-law partner is self-employed, you have until midnight on June 16, 2014, to file your return.
• Any balance owing must be paid on or before May 5, 2014—even if your return is due on June 16, 2014.

What happens if I don’t file on time?

When you file your yearly tax return, you are letting the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) know your current tax situation. Without that information, the CRA can’t be sure that you are still eligible to receive certain benefit payments. If you don’t file on time, your benefit and credit payments (for example, the Canada child tax benefit and the goods and services tax/harmonized sales tax credit) may be interrupted.

Also, if you have a balance owing and you don’t file your return on time, we’ll charge you a late-filing penalty. The penalty is 5% of your 2013 balance owing, plus 1% of your balance owing for each full month that your return is late, to a maximum of 12 months. If we charged a late-filing penalty on your return for 2010, 2011, or 2012, your late-filing penalty for 2013 may be 10% of your 2013 balance owing, plus 2% of your 2013 balance owing for each full month that your return is late, to a maximum of 20 months.

In addition to the late-filing penalty, if you have a balance owing for 2013 you’ll be charged compound daily interest beginning May 6, 2014, on any unpaid amounts owing for 2013. As a result of the five-day service interruption in April, interest and penalties will not be applied to individual taxpayers filing their 2013 tax returns by midnight on or before May 5.

Even if you can’t pay all of your balance owing right away, you should still file your return on time and call us at 1-888-863-8657 to make a payment arrangement. By filing on time, you’ll avoid the late-filing penalty.

CRA online services make filing easier and let you get your refund faster

The CRA’s online services are fast, easy, and secure. You can use them to file your income tax and benefit return, make a payment, track your refund, and more. Sign up for direct deposit too! Your refund and any benefit or credit payments owed to you will be deposited directly into your account, putting your money in your pocket faster. For more information, go to www.cra.gc.ca/getready.

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