Update on 2019 Federal Tax Deadline

The Federal Government has extended the 2019 tax payment due date from September 1, 2020 to September 30, 2020 for individuals, corporations and trusts.

The July 27, 2020 announcement also included:

• Penalties and interest will not be charged if payments are made and returns are filed by September 30, 2020
• Interest will be waived for the April 1-September 30, 2020 period on certain existing tax debts

The Federal Government has further extended the payment due date for current year individual, corporation and trust income tax returns (including installment payments) to September 30, 2020 from September 1, 2020. Penalties and interest (including late filing penalties) will not be charged if payments are made and the return is filed by the extended deadline of September 30, 2020.

Interest on Existing Tax Debt

The CRA is also waiving interest on existing tax debts as follows: 

Please note this measure does not cancel penalties and interest already assessed on a taxpayer’s account prior to this period. 

What Does This Mean?

Taxpayers and businesses should still do their best to file as soon as possible if they have not already done so. This is especially important for individuals to ensure benefit and credit payments that require 2019 return information are not adversely impacted. If a 2019 individual tax return has not been assessed, the Canada Revenue Agency is calculating benefits and / or credits for the July to September 2020 payments based on information from 2018 tax returns.

However, if the 2019 individual tax returns are not received and assessed by early September 2020, estimated benefits and/or credits will stop in October 2020, and individuals may have to repay the amounts that were issued as of July 2020. Further, if you anticipate a refund, the earlier you file, the earlier the refund can be processed.

Government support for Canadian businesses and workers continues to evolve through the COVID-19 pandemic.