Late Filing for Canadians

There may be a good reason you have not yet filed your tax return:
You were self-employed. If you or your spouse or common-law partner carried on a business in a tax year (other than a business whose expenditures are primarily in connection with a tax shelter) your return for that tax year has to be filed on or before June 15 of the following year. However, if you have a balance owing for the tax year and you have not paid it on or before April 30 of the following year, you will be subject to penalties.

You thought that you were owed a refund. However, if the CRA later reassesses you and determines that you have a balance due, they will charge interest and late-filing penalties (compounded daily) back to the original due date for the tax year.

You are filing a return for a deceased individual. If the person died in November or December of the tax year, his or her return for that tax year must be filed within six months following the date of death or, if business income is being reported, by June 15 of the following year. If the person died in the first four months of the year following the tax year, his or her return must be filed within six months following the date of death. Note that you cannot use NETFILE to file for a deceased individual.

Do you have to file a tax return?
You must file a tax return for a tax year if any of the following applies:

You owe tax for that tax year.
The Canada Revenue Agency sent you a request to file a return.
You have a taxable capital gain or disposed of capital property (such as real estate or shares) in the tax year, or you claimed a capital gains reserve on your previous year's return.
You have to pay back any of your Old Age Security or Employment Insurance benefits.
You have not repaid all of the amounts you withdrew from your RRSP under the Home Buyers' Plan or the Lifelong Learning Plan.
You have to contribute to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP). This can apply if the total of your net self-employment income and pensionable employment income for the tax year is more than $3,500. Even if none of these requirements applies, you may want to file a return if any of the following applies:
You want to claim a refund.
You want to apply for the goods and services tax/harmonized sales tax (GST/HST) credit.
You or your spouse or common-law partner wants to begin or continue receiving Canada Child Tax Benefit payments.
You want to carry forward the unused portion of your tuition and education amounts.
You received income for which you could contribute to a registered retirement savings plan (RRSP). To keep your RRSP deduction limit up to date, you must to file a return.
You have incurred a non-capital loss in the tax year that you want to be able to apply in other years.