Key Dates for the 2022 Tax-Filing Season: Stay on Top of Your Tax Deadlines

The 2022 tax-filing season is quickly approaching and there are some important dates we wanted to highlight as you prepare to file your taxes this year.

January 15

Receipts for RRSP contributions that were made between March – December 2022 were mailed out in the middle of January.
 
February 1

Receipts for withdraws from the RRIF, LIF, RRSP, RESP, RDSP accounts in 2022 were mailed out first week of February.
 
February 20

This is the first day the federal government will start accepting electronic income tax returns and the first day the government's free tax-filing software's, NETFILE and ReFILE, are available.
 
February 28

Employers are required to give tax-related documents to workers by the end of February, or face penalties.

Even if an employee left the company last year, this deadline does not change.
 
March 1

Canadians have until this date to take advantage of their RRSP to reduce their taxable income for the 2022 tax year.

RRSP contribution and deduction limits can be found on the previous year's assessment notice (the 2021 notice of assessment in this case) or by logging into My Account on the CRA website.

The rule of thumb is the RRSP deduction limit is roughly 18% of your pre-tax income or the limit set by the CRA, whichever is lower (plus whatever carry forward room you might have).

**Reminder that RRSP contributions in excess of your limit (beyond the $2,000 buffer) will be penalized. The CRA you will charge you a 1% penalty, assessed monthly, for each month you're over the limit.

March 1-31

You should have received most of your investment tax slips and receipts by the end of February. However, you may not receive your T3, T5’s etc. reporting your investment income until the end of March.

Depending on when you made your contribution, receipts for RRSP contributions made within the first 60 days of 2023 will be mailed out roughly two weeks following your contribution.

April 30

The deadline for most Canadians to file their income tax and benefit return for 2022 is April 30, 2023. Because April 30, 2023 falls on a Sunday, your return will be considered filed on time if the CRA receives it or it is postmarked on or before May 1st.

It's important to note that if an individual owes taxes to the government, compound daily interest will be charged starting May 2. Anyone who is concerned they might owe money will likely be better served to file earlier to determine the outstanding balance and pay it off to avoid interest charges.

If you miss the filing deadline, late-filing penalties are 5% of the balance owed for 2022, plus an extra 1% fee for each full month after the deadline, up to a maximum of 12 months.

Filing on time is also crucial to avoid disruptions to government benefits such as the Canada Child Benefit and GST payments. 

Deceased Final return

The deceased’s final return and any balance owning is due on or before the following dates:

Note:The due date for filing the T1 return of a surviving spouse or common-law partner who was living with the deceased is the same as the due date for filing the deceased's final return indicated above. However, any balance owing on the surviving spouse's or common-law partner's return still has to be paid on or before April 30 of the following year to avoid interest charges.

June 15

For self-employed Canadians, the deadline to file your taxes is June 15. Although self-employed individuals have a later filing deadline, if any taxes are owed, the CRA will begin charging interest on unpaid balances beginning May 2.