What to do after you’ve filed your return

Did you know?

Most Canadian income tax and benefit returns for 2015 are due on April 30, 2016. However, as this date is a Saturday, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will consider your return as filed on time and your payment to be made on time if the CRA receives your submission or it is postmarked by midnight on May 2, 2016.

Self-employed individuals and their spouses or common law partners have until June 15, 2016, to file their income tax and benefit returns, but any balance owing is still due no later than May 2, 2016.

After you file your 2015 income tax and benefit return, there are still a few things you should do.

Making payments

If you have a balance owing for 2015, there are several ways to make a payment:

Use the pre-authorized debit online service offered through My Account.
Use the CRA's My Payment service.
Use a financial institution's telephone or Internet banking service.

If you can't pay your balance right away, you should still file your return on time to avoid a late-filing penalty. You may be able to make a payment arrangement with the CRA in one of the following ways:

Make a pre-authorized debit payment agreement using My Account.
Call the CRA's TeleArrangement telephone service at 1-866-256-1147.
To speak to an agent, call the CRA's debt management call centre at 1-888-863-8657.

To learn more about managing your tax debt, go to the CRA's collections webpage at www.cra.gc.ca/collections.

Expecting a refund?

You may get a refund if you did any of the following:

paid too much tax throughout the year;
paid more instalments than necessary; or
claimed more refundable credits than the total tax you owe.

If you're expecting a refund, there are two ways to check its status:

through the Internet, using My Account or the MyCRA mobile app; or
by calling the CRA’s Tax Information Phone Service (TIPS) at 1-800-267-6999

If you file electronically and sign up for direct deposit, you could get your refund in as little as eight business days. Direct deposit is convenient, reliable, and secure! To sign up, go to www.cra.gc.ca/directdeposit.

Make a change to your return

You will have to wait to receive your notice of assessment from the CRA before you can make a change to your return, but it's easy to make a correction if you realize after filing it that you made a mistake. For more information, go to www.cra.gc.ca/changereturn.

Need to correct your tax affairs?

The CRA offers taxpayers a chance to correct their tax affairs. The Voluntary Disclosures Program allows taxpayers to come forward and correct or complete information, and to disclose information they did not report in previous dealings with the CRA. For more information, go to www.cra.gc.ca/voluntarydisclosures.

Receipts and records

Income tax records, including any supporting documents, should be kept for six years, in case the CRA selects your return for review. To support a deduction or credit claimed, the CRA may ask for documents other than official receipts, such as cancelled cheques or statements from a financial institution.

The CRA's online services make filing and managing your taxes easier

The CRA's online services are fast, easy, and secure. You can use them to help file your income tax and benefit return, make a payment, track the status of your return, register for online mail, apply for child benefits, and more. Access the CRA's full suite of self-service options—register for My Account at www.cra.gc.ca/myaccount today, and start managing your tax matters online!

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