Year-End Tax & Finance Checklist for Canadians

December moves (before year-end)

• Top up TFSA to the annual limit (unused room carries forward, but current-year deposits count now)
• Contribute to your RESP by Dec 31 to trigger this year's CESG (20% match, up to $500)
• Top up FHSA if you're saving for a first home (up to $8,000/year)
• Sell losing non-registered investments by Dec 27, 2025 for a capital loss (T+2 settlement)
• Complete charitable donations by Dec 31 for a receipt in this tax year
• Pay quarterly instalments if you're on the CRA schedule (Dec 15)
• Book any remaining medical, dental, or vision appointments if you're near the 3% threshold
• Small business owners: pay year-end bonuses / dividends and remit payroll

January — set up your CRA + tools

• Log into CRA My Account (or create one — takes 5–10 business days for a security code)
• Confirm your direct-deposit info in CRA My Account
• Enable Auto-fill My Return in your tax software
• Pick your tax software: Wealthsimple Tax, TurboTax, StudioTax, or a local accountant
• Check the 2025 federal + provincial tax brackets against your income
• Confirm your marital + dependant status for the year

T-slips + receipts to collect (mostly by end of February)

• T4 — employment income (employer must issue by Feb 28)
• T4A — self-employment, scholarships, RESP withdrawals, some pensions
• T5 — investment income (interest, dividends) from banks and brokerages
• T3 — trust and mutual-fund distributions (often issued late March)
• T5008 — securities transactions (for capital gains / losses)
• T2202 — tuition (from your college or university)
• RRSP contribution receipts (first 60 days of the year get their own slip)
• Medical receipts, prescriptions, and travel logs for medical expenses
• Child-care receipts + provider SIN or business number
• Charitable donation receipts (keep the paper or PDF copy)
• Rent receipts or property-tax bill (for provincial credits in ON, MB, QC)

Self-employed, gig economy & crypto

• Self-employed and freelancers: filing deadline is June 15, but any balance owing is still due April 30 — interest accrues from May 1 regardless
• Business receipts sorted by category as you go (COGS, office, meals at 50%, travel, home-office %, phone) — not reconstructed in April
• Vehicle log: personal vs business kilometres with dates, kept contemporaneously — CRA can and does ask for this
• GST/HST registration and remittance on schedule once you're past the small-supplier threshold
• CPP contributions tracked — self-employed pay both the employer and employee share, which surprises a lot of first-year freelancers
• Quarterly instalment payments planned if you owed more than the CRA's instalment threshold last year
• Gig economy (rideshare, delivery, freelance platforms): collect T4A or year-end income summaries from every platform you worked for, not just the main one
• Cryptocurrency: full transaction history exported from every exchange and wallet — adjusted cost base tracking is your responsibility, not the exchange's
• Crypto disposals — including trading one coin for another, and paying for something with crypto — are all taxable events, not just cashing out to CAD
• Foreign income or foreign property over $100,000 CAD at any point in the year: Form T1135 is required, and the penalty for skipping it is disproportionate to how easy the form is to file

Newcomer, student, retired, or first-time home buyer

• Newcomer to Canada: your residency start date determines whether you report only Canadian income or your full world income for the year — get this right before anything else
• Newcomer to Canada: you won't have a prior Notice of Assessment or RRSP/FHSA room in year one — both build starting this tax year
• Newcomer to Canada: apply for the GST/HST credit and Canada Child Benefit as soon as you're eligible — neither is automatic on a first return
• Student: T2202 tuition slip, plus transferring any unused tuition credit to a parent or spouse if you don't need it all yourself
• Student: keep the annual student loan interest statement — it's a non-refundable credit most students forget to claim
• Retired: pension income splitting with a spouse can lower your combined tax bill — most tax software calculates the optimal split automatically
• Retired: track net income against the OAS recovery threshold (published annually by CRA) — going over triggers a clawback on Old Age Security
• First-time home buyer this year: confirm your FHSA contributions against both the annual and lifetime limits
• First-time home buyer this year: if you used the Home Buyers' Plan, note the RRSP repayment schedule starts the second year after withdrawal and runs 15 years
• Moved provinces this year: your province of residence on December 31 taxes your full year's income, regardless of where you lived for most of it

Deductions + credits Canadians commonly miss

• Home office expenses (T2200 signed by employer, actual-cost method)
• Union or professional dues
• Moving expenses (if you moved 40+ km closer to work or school)
• First-Time Home Buyers' Tax Credit — check the current-year claim amount, since it's periodically adjusted
• Multigenerational Home Renovation Tax Credit for a qualifying secondary suite
• Canada Training Credit — accumulated room shown on your Notice of Assessment
• Disability Tax Credit (DTC) — including transfers from a dependant, and RDSP contributions if newly approved
• Public transit passes for seniors (some provincial credits still exist)
• Digital news subscription tax credit
• Foreign tax paid on non-registered investments — avoid double taxation via the foreign tax credit

Filing + paying (March 2 + April 30)

• RRSP contribution deadline for 2025 tax year: March 2, 2026
• File your return by April 30, 2026 (June 15 if self-employed, but balance is still due April 30)
• Pay any balance owing by April 30 to avoid interest
• Set up pre-authorized debit or pay via online banking (CRA payee)
• Review your Notice of Assessment (NOA) when it arrives — check RRSP + TFSA room for next year
• If you owe > $3,000 two years in a row, expect CRA quarterly instalments next year
• Keep tax records for 6 years

Set yourself up for next year

• Update payroll TD1 if your dependants or credits changed
• Automate monthly RRSP, TFSA, FHSA, RESP contributions
• Track medical, charitable, and child-care receipts in one folder as you go
• Book a mid-year check-in for October to project your bracket + estimate April balance
• Add tax dates to your calendar: Mar 2, Apr 30, Jun 15, quarterly instalments
• Refresh estate + beneficiary designations on RRSP, TFSA, RESP, and life insurance

Practical tips

• The last trading day for a 2025 capital loss is around Dec 27 — Canadian and US settlement is T+2, so an order placed on Dec 30 settles in January and doesn't count.
• Charitable donation credit jumps above $200 — bunching two years of giving into one calendar year can boost your credit.
• Do a mid-year tax check every October. Course-correcting in Q4 (RRSP top-up, capital loss, charitable gift) is the difference between an April refund and an April bill.

Frequently asked questions