Tax season officially started on February 24th 2025, and the deadline for filing your 2024 income tax is April 30th 2025.
While it can be tedious and painful sometimes to prepare your income tax, it has many advantages to file it on time. Here are three reasons why it is important to do it earlier.
1. You may be eligible for a refund and get it quicker.
The only way to know if you are eligible for a refund is to file your taxes. In this case the sooner you do it, the faster you will receive your refund. The reason is the processing time is shorter at the beginning of the tax season due to the lower number of taxpayers filing their taxes. If you file you taxes by the end of the season, it will take longer to be processed, therefore, to receive your notice of assessment.
2. You may be eligible for benefits or credit payments.
Filing a tax return will ensure that the CRA and Revenu Quebec are using the most accurate information to calculate benefit and credit payments. You could be eligible for certain benefit and credit payments, such as the Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax (GST/HST) credit, the Canada child benefit (CCB), Quebec family allowance or the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS). The longer you wait to file after April 30th 2025, the more likely it is that benefits payments will be interrupted.
3. You will avoid interest and penalties for late filing.
It is important to know that for both the CRA and Revenu Quebec, the late-filing penalty is 5% of your 2024 balance owing, plus an additional 1% for each full month that you file after the due date, to a maximum of 12 months. Therefore, filing your taxes before April 30th 2025 can be crucial in case you have a due amount, to avoid owing more money to the governments.
If you haven’t yet started, now is the best time to prepare your documents to file your 2024 income tax.
With SJT CPA, your CPA in Montreal, you will have the convenience of your taxes done remotely and the confidence of having them done by a Pro, on time!
For more information, please call 438 725-5736 or schedule a free consultation at calendly.com/cpa-sjt.
Souleymane Junior Traore CPA
Founder of SJT CPA, your www.cpainmontreal.com
