Updated Checked by the Tax-Services.ca editorial team How we check
Most people with a job and a few slips don’t need an accountant for taxes. Someone with $80,000 of self-employment income in Ontario faces $22,126 of income tax and CPP, and that’s where a second pair of eyes starts to make sense.
When can you file on your own?
If your income is a T4 or two, with maybe some interest and an RRSP receipt, you can do this yourself. Tax software walks through it, and the tax refund calculator tells you roughly what to expect before you start. Nothing about a plain return is hidden.
The trouble begins when income stops arriving with the tax already taken off. Self-employment, rental income, a business, foreign property or a death in the family all raise the number of decisions, and each decision has a tax cost if you guess wrong. A good rule of thumb: the day you catch yourself searching how to treat a slip you have never seen before, a short chat with a professional is cheaper than a mistake. Some accountants will answer one narrow question without taking on your whole return, so it is worth asking.
What does an accountant for taxes actually do?
Three jobs, mostly. Prepare and file the return. Plan ahead, so you’re not reading the result in April. Speak to the CRA on your behalf when a letter arrives.
The first is what most people mean. The CRA’s page on using a professional tax preparer describes a professional preparing your return and sending it electronically for a fee. The other two are where an experienced person earns that fee. Fees vary a lot between firms, so ask for a quote in writing before you hand over documents.
What could a bookkeeping mix-up cost you?
Take an $80,000 self-employed Ontario example. The self-employed tax calculator shows $13,233.57 of income tax and $8,892.90 of CPP, for $22,126.47 in all. You keep $57,873.53.
Now say $5,000 of legitimate expenses got missed. Enter them as deductions and income tax falls to $11,601.07, a difference of $1,632.50. The calculator doesn’t lower CPP for the deduction, so treat the CPP side as an estimate and check it with whoever files your return.
That’s the useful test. If a missed $5,000 of costs would matter to you, keep receipts and think about getting help. If you have no costs to claim, there’s little to find. Picture Jordan, a freelance photographer in Hamilton who drove to shoots all year and never logged the kilometres. A good preparer would ask for that log in the first meeting, and Jordan’s first filing season would be a scramble without it.
| Your situation | Try first |
|---|---|
| Salary only | Tax software and the take-home pay calculator |
| Self-employed, no staff | The self-employed tax calculator, then an accountant for year one |
| Own a company | An accountant for the corporate return |
| Rental property | The rental income tax calculator |
How do you pick one and check them?
Start with the letters. CPA Canada says the designation takes formal education, at least 30 months of supervised experience and the Common Final Examination. It’s a solid floor, though it doesn’t say the person works on tax every day, so ask how many returns like yours they file a year.
Filing a personal return doesn’t need an audit licence. In Ontario the public accounting licence applies to the lead person signing audit and review reports, and the rules we read don’t cover tax return preparation.
Ask whether they file electronically with the CRA, and read the return before it goes. The CRA says to review your return and Form T183, the signed authorization to file, and to keep your slips, receipts and that form for at least 6 years. If a preparer offers to pay you part of your refund upfront, that’s a refund discounter, and the fee comes out of your refund.
Do you want them to see your CRA account? You can authorize a representative through Represent a Client, and the CRA offers different levels of access. Give the lowest level that does the job.
What goes wrong with tax help?
Hiring someone doesn’t move the responsibility. The return has your name on it, and a preparer can only work with what you hand over, so give them everything, including the slips you think don’t matter.
Another trap is the fee. A price that depends on your refund gives the preparer a reason to push the number up. Ask for a flat price by return type instead.
And be wary of anyone who promises a big result before seeing your slips. The CRA runs a page warning about tax schemes that promise to cut your taxes, so a guarantee is a reason to walk away. If you’re weighing a company structure, run the corporate tax calculator first, so you arrive at the meeting with numbers.
Questions to ask before you sign anything
- How many returns like mine do you file each year?
- What’s the flat fee, in writing, and what’s extra?
- Will I see the full return and Form T183 before it goes?
- Who do I call if the CRA sends a letter next year?
What this page is based on
The tax figures come from the calculators on this site, which use 2026 federal and Ontario data rechecked on 29 September 2026. Preparer rules come from CRA pages, credential facts from CPA Canada and CPA Ontario. This is an independent guide, separate from any government body.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need an accountant for taxes if I only have a T4?
Usually not. A plain return with slips and a few receipts is something tax software handles well.
How much does an accountant charge for a tax return?
We couldn't confirm typical fees. Ask for a flat price by return type in writing before you hand over documents.
Does my tax preparer have to be a CPA?
The CRA pages we read don't say so. The Ontario public accounting licence covers audit and review reports, not tax return preparation.
What should I check before my preparer files?
Read the return and Form T183. The CRA says to keep your documents and that form for at least 6 years.
What is a refund discounter?
A preparer who pays you part of your expected refund before filing and takes their fee from it, as the CRA describes.
- How to choose a tax preparer in Canada
How to decide if you need a tax preparer, what a preparer does, the questions to ask before you hire one and where to find free help in Canada