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<blockquote><p><strong>Proposed, not law yet.</strong> Budget 2026, tabled on 5 November 2026, proposes to move the T1 filing and balance-due dates to May 15 for all individuals, including self-employed people. It would apply to the 2027 and later taxation years. Your 2026 return, filed in 2027, keeps the current dates.</p></blockquote><p>The change would first show up in 2028, when you file your 2027 return. Self-employed people would file earlier than today. Everyone else would get more time to file and to pay.</p>
What are the current filing and payment dates?
The budget text describes today's rules this way. The Income Tax Act requires most individuals to file their T1 income tax return and pay any balance owing by April 30 following the end of the taxation year. Self-employed individuals and their spouses or common-law partners have until June 15 to file their returns, although any balance owing remains due by April 30.
These are the dates that apply to the 2026 taxation year, so they are the ones to use for the return you file in 2027. A full calendar of the season is in Canada Tax Season: Dates, Deadlines and What to Do, and the self-employed side is in Self Employed Tax Return: Dates, Records and the Bill.
What does Budget 2026 propose?
Budget 2026 proposes to change the T1 filing and balance-due dates to May 15 for all individuals, including self-employed individuals and their spouses or common-law partners. The text says these measures would apply to the 2027 and subsequent taxation years.
The budget item says nothing more about timing. It does not say how the new date would sit next to instalment due dates, and it does not say what happens when May 15 falls on a weekend. Those points stay open until draft legislation or CRA guidance appears. Plan around what the text says and no further.
Who is affected, and how?
Employees and other individuals who file a standard T1 would see both their filing date and their payment date move from April 30 to May 15, which is 15 days more. Self-employed people and their spouses or common-law partners would see the filing date move from June 15 to May 15, one month earlier. Their payment date would move from April 30 to May 15, which is 15 days later.
| Group | Today (2026 year) | Proposed (2027 year) |
|---|---|---|
| Most individuals, file | April 30 | May 15 |
| Most individuals, pay | April 30 | May 15 |
| Self-employed and their spouse or partner, file | June 15 | May 15 |
| Self-employed and their spouse or partner, pay | April 30 | May 15 |
The spouse or partner part matters. Today the spouse of a self-employed person also gets the June 15 filing date. Under the proposal that spouse would file by May 15 too, because the text names both groups.
What does it look like with round numbers?
Say a freelancer has a $2,000 balance owing on their 2027 return. Under today's rules, that balance would be due April 30, 2028, and the return could be filed by June 15, 2028. Under the proposal, both the return and the $2,000 would be due May 15, 2028. The tax owing is the same. The payment lands 15 days later and the filing a month earlier, so the bookkeeping would need to be finished sooner.
Someone who regularly files on June 10 would feel that. Records for the year, such as the ones described in How Income Tax for Self Employed People Works in Canada, would need to be ready by early May.
Now the return filed in 2027, which covers the 2026 year. The same $2,000 is due April 30, 2027, and a self-employed filer has until June 15, 2027 to file. Do not plan to use May 15 for that return, because the budget text starts the change with the 2027 year.
What should you do now?
Use the current dates for the 2026 return. If you are self-employed, consider starting your records routine for 2027 a little earlier, so a May 15 filing date would not catch you out if the proposal passes. If you pay instalments, keep paying them on the normal schedule, since this budget item does not mention changing them. The rules are in Tax Instalments for Individuals in Canada: Who Pays and When.
Check the CRA website each filing season. The CRA would be the source for confirmed dates once the law passes. If you file with software, the software would show the date that applies to your year.
Couples where one partner is self-employed should talk about it early. Under the proposal both partners would share the May 15 date, so one person's late records could hold up the other's return if you file together. Ask your payroll or bookkeeping contact for year-end slips and statements a few weeks sooner than you do now.
What is still uncertain?
The proposal needs to be written into a bill and passed. The budget text does not say whether late-filing penalties or interest start dates would shift with the new dates, so assume nothing about them. It says only that the filing and balance-due dates would move. The start with the 2027 year is stated in the text, which means returns filed in 2027 are untouched. Whether the date changes again in the final bill is unknown today.
The facts here come from the Budget 2026 tax annex named in the sources, tabled on 5 November 2026 and read on 9 November 2026. This is an independent information site. It provides no services, does not represent the CRA, the Department of Finance or any organization, and collects information from open sources. It does not guarantee that anything here is accurate or current, and it accepts no liability for how you use it. Every measure described is a proposal and can change before it becomes law. Check the official budget page before you rely on it.
Frequently asked questions
Does the May 15 date apply to my 2026 tax return?
No. Budget 2026 proposes the change for the 2027 and later taxation years. The 2026 return filed in 2027 follows the current April 30 and June 15 dates.
What are the current T1 dates in the budget text?
Most individuals file and pay by April 30. Self-employed individuals and their spouses or common-law partners have until June 15 to file, but any balance owing remains due April 30.
Would self-employed people file earlier?
Under the proposal, yes. Their filing date would move from June 15 to May 15, while their payment date would move from April 30 to May 15.
Is the May 15 date law?
No. It is a proposal in the budget tax annex tabled on 5 November 2026. It needs legislation before it applies.
Does the proposal change instalment due dates?
The budget item on the T1 dates does not mention instalments, so no change to them is described.