T1 filing compliance 2024 edition (2022 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 2022 tax year, processed up to February 02, 2024.

Explanatory notes

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.

Data source

Income data were taken from the T1 General Income Tax and Benefit Returns and related schedules filed by individuals for the 2022 tax year.

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
Filing method
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 on or before the deadline for the 2022 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 their spouse or common‑law partner carried on a business in 2022 (other than a business whose expenditures are primarily in connection with a tax shelter), the return for 2022 has to be filed on or before June 15, 2023.

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 2022.

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 2022 tax year and they file their 2022 return after the filing deadline, a late-filing penalty is charged. The penalty is 5% of the 2022 balance owing, plus 1% of the balance owing for each full month the return is late, to a maximum of 12 months.

Note

If a late-filing penalty was charged for a tax filer’s 2019, 2020, or 2021 return, a repeat late-filing penalty for 2022 is charged. The penalty is 10% of the 2022 balance owing, plus 2% of the 2022 balance owing for each full month the return is late, to a maximum of 20 months.

A repeat late-filing penalty is included with the late-filing penalty in the tables of this edition.

Province or territory

Province or territory, as used in the tables below, refers to the province or territory that was the tax filer’s mailing province or territory at the end of the tax year, as reported on their individual income tax and benefit return.

Filing method

The filing method is determined by the information on record at the CRA. Individual tax filers submit tax returns by one of the four available filing methods:

EFILE: A service that lets authorized service providers and discounters send individual income tax return information to the CRA directly from the software used to prepare the tax return. Clients take their documents to a registered tax preparer who, for a fee, will prepare their return and send it to the CRA electronically using EFILE.
NETFILE: An electronic tax-filing service that allows you to send your individual income tax and benefit return directly to the CRA using the internet and a NETFILE-certified software product.
Paper (includes 2D barcode): Physical paper copies of individual income tax and benefit returns that are mailed to the CRA. This includes returns with two-dimensional bar codes, which are a unique group of parallel lines that store information that can be scanned electronically.
File my Return: Eligible individuals who have low income or a fixed income whose situations remain unchanged from year to year file their income tax and benefit returns through an automated phone service. Eligible tax filers receive an invitation letter from the CRA.

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 their spouse or common‑law partner carried on a business in 2022 (other than a business whose expenditures are primarily in connection with a tax shelter), then their 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.

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 at the end of the tax year. The marital statuses in this publication include ‘Married’, ‘Not Married’, and ‘Undeclared’. ‘Married’ includes married and common-law tax filers. ‘Not Married’ includes all single, separated, divorced, and widowed tax filers. ‘Undeclared’ includes all those who did not specify or state their marital status.

Income range

The income ranges given in the tables are based on the total income assessed. This corresponds to line 15000 of the 2022 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 and filing method, 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. In these tables, the columns that pertain to late returns (with nil balance, with refunds, and with balance owing) show the tax filer's running balance which includes previous year's balances. On the other hand, the late returns with penalty (the counts and amounts) represent a balance owing for tax year 2022 only.

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.

Tables in CSV format

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