Tax glossary

T1 return

Short answer

The T1 is the federal personal income tax and benefit return every Canadian resident files with the Canada Revenue Agency to report a calendar year of income.

Last reviewed: August 20, 2026

Key facts

Category	Returns & filing
Also known as	T1 General, personal income tax and benefit return
Filed with	The Canada Revenue Agency
General deadline	April 30 for filing and payment
Self-employed	June 15 to file, but April 30 to pay
Québec residents	Also file a TP-1 with Revenu Québec
Authority	Canada Revenue Agency

What it means in practice

The T1 reports all of your income for a calendar year — employment, self-employment, investment, rental, pension and capital gains — then applies deductions and credits to arrive at federal tax payable. Most individuals must file by April 30 for the preceding year. If you or your spouse carried on a business, the filing deadline moves to June 15, but any balance owing is still due April 30 and interest starts accruing the day after. Residents of Québec file a T1 with the CRA and a separate TP-1 with Revenu Québec. The two returns share most figures but are not interchangeable, and Québec has its own credits and deductions.

Filing late costs far more than paying late

Two separate charges apply. Interest runs on an unpaid balance from the payment deadline. A late-filing penalty is a percentage of the balance owing plus a monthly amount, and it applies even when the balance is small. That asymmetry has a practical consequence: if you cannot pay, file anyway. Filing on time and paying late costs interest only. Filing late multiplies the cost, and a second late filing within a short period attracts a higher penalty rate. Filing also matters when you owe nothing. Benefits calculated on net income — the Canada Child Benefit, the GST/HST credit, provincial credits — stop when a return is missing, for both spouses.

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FAQ

I have no income. Do I still need to file?

There may be no legal obligation, but filing is almost always worth it. Benefit and credit entitlements are recalculated from filed returns each year and stop without one, RRSP room only accrues on reported earned income, and tuition and other carry-forwards need a return to be recorded.

How far back can the CRA reassess my return?

Normally three years from the date of the original notice of assessment for an individual. That limit does not apply where there was a misrepresentation attributable to neglect, carelessness, wilful default or fraud, or where a waiver has been filed.

Sources

Need this applied to your situation?

A definition only gets you so far. Talk to a Montréal CPA about what this means for your return — in English or French.

Contact (438) 375-3649