T1 Personal Tax Return

Optimize your return, minimize your stress.

The tax season is here once again. We appreciate your business and look forward to preparing your tax return. As we do every year, we would like to outline several things that will make your filing as efficient as possible for both you and PEL.  

Getting Prepared

Please review your 2024 tax return to determine the sources of income and expenses that you reported. This will be a good indication of what information you should be accumulating for your 2025 tax return. Also, consider any new sources of income or deductions you had in 2025. 

Please submit all your tax information as soon as possible and no later than April 15. If we do not receive all your tax information by then, we cannot guarantee that your return will be completed by the filing deadline.

We will not accept tax return information for processing on April 30, 2026.  

Forms and Schedules

These forms are intended to provide a comprehensive list and overview of what may be included in your tax return. Please disregard what you feel may not be relevant to your personal tax situation:

Personal Tax Organizer (Fillable PDF)

Rental Activity Checklist (Fillable PDF)

Self-Employed Business Activity Checklist (Fillable PDF)

Commission Employment Expenses Checklist (Fillable PDF)

Foreign Reporting Checklist (Fillable PDF)

Stay up to date with the latest changes impacting the 2025 and 2026 tax years. Explore key updates that may affect your personal tax filing at the link below:

What's New for 2025 and Beyond?
CRA My Account for Individuals

If you don’t already have one, we highly recommend registering for CRA My Account. CRA My Account for Individuals is a secure online portal where you can access key tax documents and account details—such as your Notice of Assessment, tax slips, mail and notices, balance/ statement of account, and manage items like direct deposit and certain registered plan information.

What to expect:

  • Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is mandatory to sign in, and the CRA is now prompting users to add a backup MFA option (you may be able to temporarily skip this prompt during tax filing season).
  • To register, you’ll need your SIN and date of birth, plus amounts from your most recent assessed tax return (you generally must have filed in the current or previous tax year to register).
  • You’ll also need to verify your identity, either by using the CRA’s document verification service for immediate access or by requesting a CRA security code by mail (typically within 10 business days).
Installment Payments

Making the required quarterly installments is essential to minimize installment interest and/or penalties. If you are required to remit quarterly income tax installments, your first payment for the 2026 calendar year is due by March 15, 2026. The CRA typically sends installment reminders in February, outlining the required payments for the year. Ensure you review your CRA notice and remit the correct amount on time.

Filing Deadline

Your 2025 personal return (other than for self-employed) must be filed electronically by Wednesday, April 30, 2026.

Self-employed individuals have until June 15, 2026, to file their tax returns; however, the CRA will impose interest on any unpaid tax from April 30, 2026. Therefore, we recommend preparing your return before April 30, 2026, so any liability can be paid as required to minimize interest charges.

Responsibility for Filing
We appreciate the opportunity to work with you and advise you on income tax matters, including the preparation of your tax return. Legislation allows the CRA to impose penalties upon you as the taxpayer and us as a tax return preparer for failure to observe due care in reporting on your income tax returns. To ensure a clear understanding of our mutual responsibilities, we will ask all clients for whom we prepare tax returns to confirm our arrangements by signing an Engagement Letter, which we will include at the time of delivery of your completed return, along with the Form T183 – Authorization to E-file.
It is our responsibility to prepare your tax return accurately according to the law with the information you have provided. It is your responsibility to provide us with all the information required to prepare complete and accurate returns. You should retain all the documents, receipts, cancelled cheques and other data that form the basis of your income and deductions as we will not be retaining them. These may be necessary to prove the accuracy and completeness of the return to the CRA. You have the final responsibility for the income tax return; therefore, you need to review it carefully and notify us of any issues needing addressing.

 

Do You Own Foreign Assets?

Please remember that Canadian taxpayers who hold specified foreign property with a total cost of $100,000 at any time in the tax year must disclose this to the CRA. Please ensure you review our Foreign Reporting Checklist. 

What's New with You?
Does any of the following apply to you and advise us if the answer to any of the below is “Yes”:

  • Did your address change?
  • Did you sell your home?
  • Did your marital status change?
  • Did you own any foreign property in excess of $100,000 during the year?
  • Do you have any new dependents?
  • Do you qualify to claim work from home expenses? (Check here)
Ready to Submit?

At PEL, we are committed to providing a secure and efficient way to exchange tax documents. Our client portal is the primary method for uploading tax information and receiving completed tax returns. This system ensures confidential and reliable file exchange and document storage.

We encourage all clients to register for the PEL portal. If you do not yet have access, please email us at t1info@pelcpa.ca, and we will set it up for you.

Alternatively, you can upload your documents using our secure ShareFile link. 

Receiving Your Tax Return
  • If you have a Client Portal, your return will be uploaded there.
  • If you do not have a Client Portal, your completed tax return will be delivered via ShareFile or Adobe Sign.
  • Any forms or documents requiring your signature will be sent via Adobe Sign.
  • If you prefer a traditional wet signature, we will upload your tax return and forms to your portal or send them via ShareFile, allowing you to download, print, sign, and return to us.
  • While we continue to accept paper records and can provide printed tax returns upon request, we strongly encourage all clients to take advantage of our secure electronic options. Please contact us if you require alternative arrangements.
Electronic Filing

Once we have completed your tax returns, we will email you our Engagement Letter and Form T183 – Authorization to E-file. We are required by CRA to have the form signed and on file before electronically filing your return. Please ensure you provide a confidential e-mail address for each taxpayer.

 

Questions?

If you have questions about how these changes may affect your 2025 return or future taxes, please reach out to us for guidance. If you have any questions regarding your personal income tax return or any new reporting obligations, please do not hesitate to contact us. We look forward to assisting you with a smooth and efficient tax season.

Tax Season Hours

Starting Saturday, March 28, we will be open from 11 AM to 3 PM on Saturdays for document drop-off, signing, and other administrative purposes only. We will also be open on Good Friday and Easter Monday.

If you need to meet with an accountant, please arrange a separate appointment.

Please note that the building entrance is locked outside regular business hours. An intercom is available for weekend and holiday access—please Buzz #201, and we will let you in.

Complimentary Parking

If you are visiting us in person, our complimentary reserved parking stall in the front lot is #33. There is an elevator in the hallway to the left of the lobby.

Let us figure it out.

Tax, financial or business questions?

201-4664 Lougheed Highway
Burnaby, BC V5C 5T5

604-299-9274
info@pelcpa.ca