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Getting your tax return done near you starts at home, with a pile of slips. Gather your T4 and other slips, your last notice of assessment and receipts for anything you’ll claim, then choose who prepares it. On $60,000 of Ontario employment income, the 2026 rates give tax of about $8,320.
What should you have in hand before you start?
The CRA’s get-ready page names four things: your tax slips (T4, T4A and the rest), receipts for deductions and expenses, your latest notice of assessment, and up-to-date details in your CRA account. The notice of assessment carries an access code for NETFILE. You don’t have to use it, but it helps confirm who you are and pulls in details from last year.
Put the slips in one place.
If one hasn’t arrived, don’t guess its number, and don’t file around the gap either, because the CRA may hold a copy of the slip that you don’t, and a return that leaves it out can come back to you as a reassessment. By tax time a missing slip is worth a phone call to whoever issued it, whether that’s an employer, a bank or a pension plan.
Who can complete your tax return for you?
Three kinds of help exist. Free volunteer clinics take modest incomes and simple situations, with a suggested limit of $40,000 for one person. Certified software walks you through it and sends it with NETFILE. A paid preparer does it for you, and this is where a business or rental return belongs.
We couldn’t confirm what preparers charge. Ask for the price for your return before you agree, and ask if that includes filing it electronically. The CRA’s pages on free tax clinics and on certified tax software are the places to start for the first two.
What will your tax return show?
Here’s a case with round numbers. You earn $60,000 as an employee in Ontario, and your employer withheld $9,500 through the year. Tax for the year comes to about $8,320, so the return says you get about $1,180 back. Had only $7,500 been withheld, you’d owe roughly $820.
| Ontario employee, $60,000 | Amount |
|---|---|
| Federal tax | $5,338 |
| Ontario tax | $2,982 |
| Total income tax | $8,320 |
| CPP and EI (separate from income tax) | $4,340 |
Those figures come from our tax refund calculator, and you can change the withholding box to match your own T4. Put your deductions in too. An RRSP contribution lowers what you owe, and the RRSP calculator shows by how much.
Which credits are easy to miss?
Ones you don’t get automatically. The tax credits calculator handles federal amounts, such as the age amount, the pension income amount, the disability amount and medical expenses over the threshold. It doesn’t cover provincial credits, so those need a check against the return itself.
Medical costs, for instance, only count once they pass a threshold tied to your income, so a year of small pharmacy bills often adds nothing at all, and that’s worth knowing before you dig out every receipt.
When does a return near you need to be in?
For 2025 income, most people had until April 30, 2026, and self-employed people until June 15, 2026, though a balance owing was still due on April 30. We couldn’t find dates for the 2026 return published yet. When they appear, the CRA’s important dates page is where to read them.
What happens after the return is done?
Keep a copy. Whoever prepared it should hand you the full return, every page, not just the summary. When the CRA processes it you’ll get a notice of assessment, and that’s the paper to keep for next year, because it carries the access code and the room figures for your RRSP.
Keep the slips and receipts behind the return too, even though you never mail them in. The CRA’s usual rule is six years, and a shoebox in a closet is a fine system as long as you can find the right year. If the numbers on the assessment don’t match your return, call the preparer or the CRA, not the neighbour.
What mistakes cost people money?
Forgetting a slip. That’s the classic. Then comes copying last year’s figures without checking, and skipping a claim because the receipt is in a drawer somewhere.
One more, which is easy to overlook: assuming a refund estimate is exact. A calculator can’t see every credit and benefit on your return. Use it to spot a large gap, then let the finished return settle the number. The income tax calculator is good for that gut check.
What this page is based on
Documents and dates come from the Canada Revenue Agency‘s get-ready and due dates pages for the 2025 return. Clinic limits are from its free tax clinic pages. The tax amounts are our own estimates using the 2026 federal and Ontario rates, not a CRA calculation.
Frequently asked questions
What do I need to file my tax return?
Your tax slips, receipts for anything you'll claim and your latest notice of assessment. Make sure your details in your CRA account are current.
Do I need my notice of assessment?
Not strictly. It holds the NETFILE access code, which helps confirm your identity and brings in details from last year's return.
How do I know if I'm getting a refund?
Compare the tax on your return with the tax withheld, shown on your T4. If more was withheld than you owe, the difference comes back.
Where can I get my return done for free?
At a volunteer tax clinic if your income is modest and your return is simple. Software may also be free for a basic return.
When was the 2025 return due?
April 30, 2026 for most people, and June 15, 2026 for the self-employed, who still had to pay by April 30.
- How to file your tax return in Canada: steps and dates
What to gather, when your return is due and how to file in Canada, from the first slip to the notice of assessment that closes the year