Canada: COVID-19 And Tax Filing And Payment Due Dates

As a response to the pressure and hardship experienced by Canadian taxpayers during the COVID-19 outbreak, the Government of Canada has announced an extension of time for certain taxpayers to comply with their income tax filing and payment obligations.  

The table below summarizes changes to income tax return filing due dates: 

The June 15, 2020 deadline for self-employed individuals and their spouses to file a T1 Personal Return is unchanged. Similarly, no extension of time for a corporation to file its T2 Corporation Return was announced.

The announcement did not clarify whether the extension also applies to election forms to be filed together with the applicable tax return, although we expect that this would be the case.

All taxpayers (including corporations and trusts) are allowed to defer, until after August 31, 2020, the payment of any income tax amounts that become owing on or after March 18, 2020 and before September 2020. This relief applies to tax balances due, as well as instalments, under Part I of the Income Tax Act. No interest or penalties will accumulate on these amounts during this period.  

The Canada Revenue Agency has suspended all GST/HST or income tax audits for the next four weeks for small or medium (SME) businesses. 

The crisis in Canada and throughout the world is continuing to evolve. We are carefully monitoring changes to tax legislation and policy and are committed to advising our clients of developments as they unfold. Please do not hesitate to contact a member of our team with your questions about the impact of COVID-19 on your tax compliance obligations. For more information about dealing with COVID-19, please visit our  COVID-19 Resource Center.

We wish all our clients, friends and colleagues good health during these exceptional circumstances.  

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.