2026 Personal Tax Season for the
2025 Tax Return Filings
If you have already provided your documents to us, thank you. You may still want to read through this email as there is new information every year that may be relevant to you.
If you have any questions, want to connect with reception at the office or wish to schedule a consultation, please read further below for more details or leave a detailed voice message at 250-857-1857.
Please note that our office is open by appointment only. While someone may be present, they are typically working through tax returns, and if you have not arranged a time with reception, we welcome you to leave your documents in the mail slot.
______ Save the planet and reduce your commute time by uploading your tax documents electronically via your login portal on the top right of the website. Clients who currently have an email with us should be able to login and create a new password, for those who have updated their email or do not have an email in the system, please let us know and we will get you set up. We will continue developing and expanding the website with more information about services as well as available options If you work with an investment advisor or another 3rd party, please ask us for an upload link so they can provide the electronic forms directly to your folder. If you wish to provide paper documents, you can leave them in our mail slot at any time. Given most of our team now works hybrid-remotely, if you wish to physically hand them to our front reception, we are requesting that clients book an appointment to ensure a staff member is physically at the office in order to greet you using the links in the login portal. Please note this link is not an appointment for a consultation and is dedicated to booking a time with our reception to pick up or drop off documentation. If none of the available times work for you, please let us know your availability and we can look to coordinate. We try our best to have your return completed and back to you in a reasonable timeframe, however, if your returns are needed sooner please let us know.
How To Submit Your Documents
______ Please note that for those returns received after April 15th who are in a refund position, we may request to finalize the returns after the tax deadline in order to ensure those who are owing are processed by the deadline to avoid filing penalties. Please let us know if this is not ok if you are submitting your information after April 15. For all tax filings, amounts owing were due based on installments (if more than $3k) calculated on last year's tax return (unless the situation changed) and should/would have been paid throughout the year to avoid installment interest, with any remaining balance due before April 30th to avoid interest. The deadline for filing is April 30th for personal filings and June 15th for self-employed individuals; however, there are no penalties or interest if the return is filed after this date if there is no amount owing or the balance has been paid. If an amount is owing and not paid or filed for individuals by April 30th or a self-employed return that is owing and not paid or filed by June 15th, that is when late filing penalties will apply.
Filing Deadlines
______ To help focus on preparing returns during the busy portion of tax season, we typically look to coordinate picking up the packages after the tax deadline. If you wish to have your documents returned sooner, please let us know.
Returning Physical Documents
______ For invoicing, rather than issuing invoices for tax return preparation immediately upon completion of returns, for many clients we typically wait until after the end of each calendar year. This approach allows us to accommodate any additional services provided throughout the year, including CRA reviews, planning, or other assistance where needed. At this time, due to some staffing changes and a busier-than-expected start to the year, the invoicing for the work in 2025 is currently in process. If you wish to have your invoice prepared sooner, please let us know.
Invoicing
We look forward to connecting with you soon!
Documents and Checklists
2025 Services Agreement
Download here and retain for your records
Important Update– CRA Available Data may be missing when filing your return
We are seeing instances where the CRA may receive or post slips after your return has been prepared, even where the slip later shows an earlier processed date on the CRA site.
Please ensure you provide:
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all tax slips received directly from financial institutions
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the full investment tax packages (T3, T5, T5008,.T1135), please ask your broker to provide to us directly
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amended slips received after your initial submission
We will include a summary of the slips available through CRA at the time of filing to clarify the information relied upon in preparing the return.
You may wish to ask the advisors to contact us directly. We can then provide a third-party link for them to upload the original tax package as well as any amendments as they become available. This will ensure the returns are adjusted promptly before the CRA reassesses for missed slips.
Please note that if the same type of slip is omitted more than once within a three-year period, CRA may apply a repeated failure to report income penalty equal to 20% of the omitted amount, so monitoring information completeness is important.
We also encourage clients to periodically check their CRA account for updates, and to make any resulting payments promptly to minimize interest.
Providing complete information early helps avoid reassessments, interest, and repeated income omission penalties.
In situations like this, taxpayers may also request interest relief from CRA, as interest is often cancelled where the delay arose from circumstances outside the taxpayer’s control.
Instructions can be found here: RC4288 Taxpayer Relief Request - Cancel or Waive Penalties and Interest - Canada.ca
We are available to assist with these requests if you need assistance.
2025 Tax Checklist
Tips & Tricks
Rental and Self Employment Spreadsheets
To assist with summarizing your rental property and self-employment details, including business use of home and vehicle expenses, please use the attached spreadsheets. Receipts do not need to be submitted for the items recorded in these spreadsheets, however, please retain them in the event the CRA requests supporting documentation.
T776 - Rental Spreadsheet T2125 - Self Employment Spreadsheet
Password Protection
For security reasons, we password protect all information that contains your Social Insurance Number.
If you wish to receive your documents without a password, please let us know.
Has your phone number or email address changed in the past year?
Please let us know or update your information via your login portal at the top of this page.
Already Have Your Taxes Covered This Year?
Send us an email at reception@sterlingfinancial.ca and we will remove you from our follow up list for this year's tax return.
Do not worry, we can follow up with you next year just to make sure you are doing alright!
If you wish to stop tax mailouts from Sterling Financial, please let us know.