T1 filing compliance 2022 edition (2020 tax year)

T1 Filing Compliance is a Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) publication, which presents data about returns that were filed late or on time. The returns are grouped by demographic, geographic, and economic characteristics. The data in the tables are derived from information reported on income tax and benefit returns for the 2020 tax year, processed up to January 28, 2022.

Explanatory notes

This edition of T1 Filing Compliance presents data based on income tax and benefit returns for the 2020 tax year. Initial assessment values were used to produce the tables. Any changes resulting from reassessments are not included. So any of the statistics in this publication may change.

Confidentiality procedures

To ensure the protection of tax filer information, data have been suppressed where warranted. As well, counts and amounts are rounded to the nearest multiple of 10. For example, 104 would be rounded to 100 and 105 would be rounded to 110.

Classification variables

The following variables are used in one or more of the tables in this publication:

• On-time or late returns
• Refund, balance owing or nil returns
• Late-filing penalty
• Province or territory
• Forward sortation area
• Employment status
• Age
• Gender
• Marital status
• Income range

On-time or late returns

A tax return is considered on time when it is filed before the deadline for the 2020 tax year. It is late if the return is filed after the deadline.

Usually, a return for a specific tax year has to be filed on or before April 30, the following year.  

Self-employed persons – If a tax filer or his or her spouse or common‑law partner carried on a business in 2020 (other than a business whose expenditures are primarily in connection with a tax shelter), the return for 2020 has to be filed on or before June 15, 2021. 

Exception to the due date of a return – When the due date falls on a Saturday, a Sunday, or a public holiday recognized by the Canada Revenue Agency, a return is considered on time if the agency receives it or if it is postmarked on or before the next business day.

Deceased persons – If a tax filer is filing for a deceased person, the due date may be different. For more information, see Guide T4011, Preparing Returns for Deceased Persons 2020.

Refund, balance owing, or nil returns

A refund return refers to a return with the amount on line 48400 (Refund) greater than $2.

A balance owing return refers to a return with the amount on line 48500 (Balance owing) greater than $2.

A nil return refers to a return with the amount on line 48400 (Refund) no greater than $2 and the amount on line 48500 (Balance owing) no greater than $2.

Late-filing penalty

If a tax filer has a balance owing for the 2020 tax year and they file their 2020 return after the filing deadline, a late-filing penalty is charged. The penalty is 5% of the 2020 balance owing, plus 1% of the balance owing for each full month the return is late, to a maximum of 12 months.

Province or territory

Province or territory of residence, used in tables 1A, 1A.1, 1A.2 and 2A, refers to the province or territory in which the tax filer resided on December 31, 2020, as reported on his or her income tax and benefit return.

Province or territory of mailing address, used in tables 1B and 2B, refers to the province or territory that was the tax filer’s mailing province or territory on the filing date, as reported on his or her income tax and benefit return.

Forward sortation area

Canada Post defines a forward sortation area as the first three characters of a postal code representing a set of well-defined specific areas within a major geographic region, province or territory. The first character identifies the province or territory; the second character identifies whether the area is urban or rural; and the third character, in combination with the first two characters, identifies a more precise geographic district—a specific rural region, an entire medium-sized city or a section of a major metropolitan area.

Employment status

If a tax filer or his or her spouse or common‑law partner carried on a business in 2020 (other than a business whose expenditures are primarily in connection with a tax shelter), then his or her return is classified as a self-employed return. A return other than a self-employed return is classified as an employee return.

Age

The age of a tax filer is determined from the reported year of birth on page 1 of the income tax and benefit return. For individuals who did not report a year of birth, their age is imputed by the CRA for statistical completeness.

Gender

The gender of the tax filer is gathered from information on file with the CRA. Gender is defined to be female, male, gender diverse, or unknown. Individuals whose gender is non-binary are represented in the gender diverse category. Tax filers for whom no gender code is available, for example, non-residents who applied for an Individual Tax Number, are counted in the “unknown” category.

Marital status

Marital status refers to the marital status of the tax filer on the filing date. Specific to this publication, the only marital statuses shown are not married and married. The former status includes all single, separated, divorced, widowed, and unstated tax filers. The latter status includes all married and common-law tax filers.

Income range

The income ranges given in the tables are based on the total income assessed. This corresponds to line 15000 of the 2020 income tax and benefit return. There are 19 income ranges:

• $4,999 and under
• between $5,000 and $9,999
• between $10,000 and $14,999
• between $15,000 and $19,999
• between $20,000 and $24,999
• between $25,000 and $29,999
• between $30,000 and $34,999
• between $35,000 and $39,999
• between $40,000 and $44,999
• between $45,000 and $49,999
• between $50,000 and $54,999
• between $55,000 and $59,999
• between $60,000 and $69,999
• between $70,000 and $79,999
• between $80,000 and $89,999
• between $90,000 and $99,999
• between $100,000 and $149,999
• between $150,000 and $249,999
• $250,000 and over

Description of the tables

Tables 1A to 1F present the number of on-time filing returns and late-filing returns by province or territory, forward sortation area, employment status, age group, gender, marital status, and income range.

Tables 2A to 2F present information on the late-filing penalty by province or territory, forward sortation area, age group, gender, marital status, and income range.

Tables in PDF format

The following tables are available in PDF format. If you have trouble reading PDF files, see this notice.

For information about these tables, see the explanatory notes.

• Table 1A – Number of returns by filing deadline and province or territory
• Table 1A.1 – Number of employee returns by filing deadline and province or territory
• Table 1A.2 – Number of self-employed returns by filing deadline and province or territory
• Table 1B – Number of returns by filing deadline and forward sortation area
• Table 1C – Number of returns by filing deadline and age group
• Table 1D – Number of returns by filing deadline and gender
• Table 1E – Number of returns by filing deadline and marital status
• Table 1F – Number of returns by filing deadline and income range
• Table 2A – Late-filing penalty assessed by province or territory
• Table 2B – Late-filing penalty assessed by forward sortation area
• Table 2C – Late-filing penalty assessed by age group
• Table 2D – Late-filing penalty assessed by gender
• Table 2E – Late-filing penalty assessed by marital status
• Table 2F – Late-filing penalty assessed by income range

Tables in CSV format

The following tables are available in comma-separated value (CSV) format. The fields are separated by a comma.

For information about these tables, see the explanatory notes.

• Table 1A – Number of returns by filing deadline and province or territory
• Table 1A.1 – Number of employee returns by filing deadline and province or territory
• Table 1A.2 – Number of self-employed returns by filing deadline and province or territory
• Table 1B – Number of returns by filing deadline and forward sortation area
• Table 1C – Number of returns by filing deadline and age group
• Table 1D – Number of returns by filing deadline and gender
• Table 1E – Number of returns by filing deadline and marital status
• Table 1F – Number of returns by filing deadline and income range
• Table 2A – Late-filing penalty assessed by province or territory
• Table 2B – Late-filing penalty assessed by forward sortation area
• Table 2C – Late-filing penalty assessed by age group
• Table 2D – Late-filing penalty assessed by gender
• Table 2E – Late-filing penalty assessed by marital status
• Table 2F – Late-filing penalty assessed by income range