Updated Checked by the Tax-Services.ca editorial team How we check
Turbo tax self employed is really a question about tax software: which certified program handles your business income and expenses, and what it costs you to file. On $80,000 of net business income in Ontario, the tax and CPP come to about $22,126 whichever program you pick.
What does software do for a self-employed return?
Less than people hope. It doesn’t find deductions you didn’t record. What it does is carry your numbers onto the right forms, do the arithmetic and send the return to the CRA.
For business income that form is the T2125, the CRA’s statement of business and professional income and expenses. If you run more than one business, or have both business and professional income, you complete a separate T2125 for each. Good software walks you through that and fills in the rest of the return from it.
One name people type into search is TurboTax. We haven’t compared it with anything, and we won’t claim it does or doesn’t do a particular thing. The rest of this page is about how to judge any program, that one included.
How do you pick a program you can trust?
Start with the CRA’s own list. The CRA certifies tax software from third parties for each tax year, and it publishes a list you can filter. If a product isn’t on the list for this year, don’t file with it. The CRA also says most programs will prepare a basic return for free if your income is modest, and charge a fee otherwise. Self-employment often falls on the fee side, so check the price before you enter anything.
Then ask a short set of questions, and get the answers from the product’s own page.
- Does the plan you’d buy include the T2125, or is it a higher tier?
- Does it support Auto-fill my return, so your slips come in from My Account?
- How does it handle capital cost allowance and business-use-of-home?
- Can you see the final price, and can you save or export the return?
We couldn’t confirm prices, discounts or feature lists for any product, so we haven’t quoted any. Those change every season anyway.
Say Amir, a freelance photographer in Ottawa, has a T4 from a part-time job plus $20,000 of invoices. He should look for a plan that handles both on one return. Picking the cheapest tier and finding out in April that it skips the T2125 would waste an evening.
When is a self-employed return due?
June 15, but not the payment. If you’re self-employed you have until June 15, 2026 to file your 2025 return, yet any balance owing was still due on April 30, 2026.
| What | Date |
|---|---|
| Filing deadline for the self-employed | June 15 |
| Balance owing | April 30 |
| Tax instalments, 2026 | March 15, June 15, September 15, December 15 |
| Instalment threshold | $3,000 (Quebec $1,800) |
| GST/HST registration | Over $30,000 of taxable sales in a quarter or four quarters in a row |
The June, April and quarterly dates and the GST/HST limit come from CRA pages. The $3,000 threshold and the March date come from the CRA figures this site uses. Check all of them on canada.ca again next year.
What will the return cost you in tax?
Enter $80,000 of net business income for an Ontario resident in the self-employed tax calculator. It shows $13,233.57 of federal and Ontario income tax and $8,892.90 of CPP, because you pay both the employee and employer halves. That’s $22,126.47, or 27.7% of the income, and $57,873.53 is left.
The calculator leaves out GST/HST, EI and business expenses, so it shows tax on the profit and not your whole bill. Its deductions box lowers income tax but doesn’t lower CPP. In real life an expense reduces the profit first, and CPP is worked out on the profit, so use the net figure after expenses.
If you’d owe $9,000 for the year, the tax instalments calculator splits it into four payments of $2,250. Compare the result with the income tax calculator, which lets you add employment income alongside business income.
How should you prepare before opening the program?
Do the sorting first, because software only types what you give it. Total your sales for the year. Group your expenses by kind: advertising, supplies, phone, vehicle, office. Write down the kilometres driven for work if you use a car. Then you can enter clean totals in an evening instead of hunting for receipts with the program open and the clock ticking.
What happens after you file?
Save a copy of the return and the totals you entered. The CRA sends a notice of assessment, and you should compare its numbers with your copy. If they differ, find out why before the balance, if any, starts to collect interest. Keep your sales records and receipts as well, since the return itself doesn’t prove a single claim.
Which mistakes do self-employed filers make?
Mixing personal and business spending is the big one. You can only deduct the business part of a mixed cost, and the CRA says you must keep records to support every claim, generally for six years. Another is claiming meals in full. The limit is 50% of the lesser of what you spent and a reasonable amount.
Then there’s timing. People wait for June 15 and forget the April 30 payment. Or they forget instalments and get a big bill plus interest. The GST and HST calculator helps once you’re registered.
Software can’t fix a shoebox of receipts, so before you open any program, sort the year by month, total each kind of spending, and put a note beside anything you’d struggle to explain to the CRA if it asked in two years’ time.
Where does the information come from?
Dates, the T2125 description, the 50% meals limit, record keeping and the tax software notes come from Canada Revenue Agency pages, read in 2026. The tax and CPP figures use the 2026 federal and Ontario data on this site. Nothing here is affiliated with any software company.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need special software if I'm self-employed?
You need certified software that includes the T2125 for business income and expenses. Check which plan includes it before you pay.
Is tax software free for the self-employed?
The CRA says most software prepares a basic return free when income is modest and charges a fee otherwise. Self-employed returns often fall on the fee side, so look at the price first.
When do self-employed people file?
By June 15, for the previous year. Any balance owing is still due April 30.
Can I use Auto-fill my return?
Yes, if you're registered for My Account and your software supports it. It fills in slips the CRA already holds, not your business expenses.
How long should I keep my records?
Generally six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to.
- 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