Paying the Canada Revenue Agency on time—and through the right channel—is one of those administrative tasks that looks simple until you get it wrong. A misallocated payment, a cheque that arrives a day late, or a missed instalment can trigger compound daily interest and penalty charges that accumulate faster than most people expect. This guide covers every payment method the CRA accepts in 2025, the deadlines you need to mark in your calendar, and exactly what happens when a payment is late.
The CRA offers more ways to pay than most Canadians realize. Choosing the right method depends on your timeline, your banking setup, and whether you are paying as an individual, a corporation, or a registrant with a GST/HST account.
My Payment is the CRA's own online payment portal, available at canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/payment-services.html. You can use Interac Online or a Visa Debit or Mastercard Debit card to send funds directly to the CRA. Regular credit cards are not accepted through this portal—only debit-based cards that pull directly from your bank account.
Payments made through My Payment are fast and post to your CRA account almost immediately, making it the best option when you are close to a deadline. You do not need a CRA My Account login to use My Payment, which makes it accessible even if you have not yet registered for CRA's online services.
Pre-authorized debit lets you authorize the CRA to pull funds directly from your Canadian bank account on a date you specify. You set this up through your CRA My Account portal and can choose either a one-time payment or a recurring series of payments—useful for quarterly instalments or regular remittances.
PAD payments require you to schedule them at least a few business days before the due date to allow processing time. Once set up, the arrangement gives you control over timing without having to remember to initiate each payment manually. If your banking details change, you will need to update the PAD agreement inside My Account before the next scheduled pull.
Nearly every Canadian bank and credit union allows you to add the CRA as a payee through your online banking portal. Search for payees using terms like Receiver General — Personal Income Tax, Receiver General — Corporate Income Tax, or Receiver General — GST/HST, depending on which account you are paying.
Your account number for the payee is your Social Insurance Number for personal payments, your Business Number for corporate or GST/HST payments, or your payroll account number for remittances. Getting this number right is critical—a wrong account number sends your payment to the wrong CRA account, and tracing it can take weeks.
Most banks process CRA bill payments the same day or the next business day. If you are paying on the due date itself, confirm your bank's cut-off time for same-day processing.
Individuals or corporations making payments from outside Canada can use an international wire transfer. The CRA publishes its banking details for wire payments, and the payment must include your CRA account number and the appropriate reference information so the agency can allocate the funds correctly. Wire transfers can take several business days to clear, so international payers should initiate the transfer well before the deadline.
You can still mail a cheque made payable to the Receiver General of Canada to the appropriate CRA address for your province or territory. Write your SIN, Business Number, or account number on the memo line of the cheque so the payment is applied to the correct account.
Allow at least seven to ten business days for a mailed cheque to arrive and be processed. The CRA considers the date of receipt—not the postmark—as the payment date for interest purposes, so mailing close to the deadline is a real risk. Post-dated cheques are accepted, but the payment date is the date written on the cheque.
Most major Canadian banks and credit unions will accept CRA payments over the counter. Bring your remittance voucher (which you can print from CRA My Account or obtain with a paper notice of assessment). Canada Post locations also accept certain CRA payments, including personal income tax balances—again with the proper remittance voucher. In-person payments give you immediate confirmation, but availability varies by location and payment type.
Missing a deadline triggers interest the very next day, so these dates deserve to be in your calendar well in advance.
The balance owing on your 2024 personal income tax return is due April 30, 2025. This applies even if you file your return later than April 30. Self-employed individuals and their spouses or common-law partners have until June 15 to file their returns, but the balance owing is still due April 30—a distinction that catches many small business owners off guard every year.
Most Canadian-controlled private corporations must pay their balance owing within two months of the fiscal year-end. Corporations that qualify for the small business deduction and earn primarily active business income may have an extended deadline of three months after the fiscal year-end. Corporate tax instalments are generally due monthly throughout the year.
Quarterly filers must remit net tax within one month after the end of each fiscal quarter. Monthly filers must remit within one month after the end of each calendar month. Annual filers generally have until three months after their fiscal year-end, though the exact deadline depends on their filing category.
Payroll deadlines vary by remitter type. Regular remitters send deductions by the 15th of the month following the pay period. Accelerated Threshold 1 remitters remit twice monthly; Threshold 2 remitters remit within a few days of each payroll run. Missing a payroll deadline carries some of the steepest penalties the CRA imposes.
The CRA charges compound daily interest on any outstanding balance starting the day after the payment was due—there is no grace period. The interest rate is the CRA's prescribed rate plus four percentage points. In 2025 the prescribed rate is five percent, which means late payment interest is running at approximately nine percent annually, compounded daily.
Because the interest compounds daily, a balance that seems manageable in May can grow meaningfully by September. A $10,000 balance owing from April 30 accumulates roughly $75 in interest in the first month, but the compounding effect accelerates over time. Paying as quickly as possible—even if you cannot pay the full amount—stops the interest clock on the portion you do pay.
Interest and penalties are separate charges. The late filing penalty applies only if you owe a balance and file your return after the deadline. The penalty is five percent of the balance owing, plus one percent for each additional complete month the return is late, up to a maximum of twelve additional months. The total maximum late filing penalty is therefore 17 percent of the balance owing. If the CRA issued a formal demand to file and you have been assessed a late filing penalty in any of the three preceding years, the penalty doubles to ten percent plus two percent per month.
The CRA maintains separate accounts for personal income tax (T1), corporate income tax (T2), GST/HST, and payroll. Each account has its own identifier: your SIN for T1, your nine-digit Business Number with a two-letter program code and four-digit reference number for corporate, GST/HST, and payroll accounts. A payment sent to the wrong account—even within the same Business Number—will not satisfy the balance on the correct account, and interest will continue to accrue until the allocation is corrected. When in doubt, contact the CRA or your accountant before submitting a large payment to confirm the exact account reference to use.
At Swift Accounting Calgary, we help individuals, self-employed professionals, and incorporated businesses stay on top of payment deadlines, set up PAD arrangements, and resolve misallocated payments before they become costly problems. Navigating the CRA's payment system is straightforward once you know the rules—but the penalties for getting it wrong are real and immediate.
If you have an upcoming balance owing, an overdue remittance, or simply want to build a payment calendar for the year ahead, contact Swift Accounting today and we will walk you through your options.
Not directly through CRA's own payment portals. The My Payment portal accepts Interac Online and Visa Debit or Mastercard Debit cards only—these pull directly from your bank account rather than extending credit. Some third-party bill payment services do allow you to use a credit card to pay the CRA, but they charge a processing fee, typically between 1.5 and 2.5 percent of the payment amount. Whether the rewards or cash flow benefit outweighs that fee depends on your card and the size of your payment.
The most reliable way is to log in to your CRA My Account and check the account balance and transaction history. Payments made through My Payment or pre-authorized debit typically appear within one to three business days. Cheque payments can take two to three weeks to appear. If you paid through online banking and the payment is not showing after five business days, contact the CRA with your bank's confirmation number—the CRA can trace the payment using that reference.
Pay as much as you can by the due date—interest accrues only on the outstanding balance, so every dollar you pay reduces the amount accumulating charges. You can then contact the CRA to discuss a payment arrangement, which allows you to pay the remainder in instalments. The CRA will continue to charge interest on the unpaid balance during a payment arrangement, but a formal arrangement prevents the CRA from taking collection action while you are meeting its terms. Do not ignore the balance: unresolved CRA debts can result in wage garnishments, bank account freezes, or liens on property.
Yes, through the Taxpayer Relief Program (also called the Fairness Provisions). You can apply to have interest or penalties cancelled or waived if the circumstances that caused the late payment were beyond your control—serious illness, a natural disaster, a CRA processing error, or financial hardship. Relief is not automatic and requires a formal application with supporting documentation. The CRA can consider requests going back up to ten calendar years. A tax professional can help you assess whether your situation qualifies and prepare a strong application.
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