Tax and City Guides for Toronto and Ontario Residents

These guides are for people who got a letter, missed a deadline or cannot get into an account. Each one walks through a real problem with the CRA or the City of Toronto, step by step, and says which office decides the outcome.

If you cannot sign in, start with the CRA My Account guide. If you filed late, read the late filing penalty relief guide. A letter you do not understand is covered in the notices and unfiled returns guide, and a City bill for an empty home is covered in the Vacant Home Tax dispute guide.

Numbers help once you know the rules, so use the Vacant Home Tax calculator or the income tax calculator alongside a guide.

Guides are written for Toronto and Ontario residents and avoid jargon. They also say what we could not confirm, because some outcomes depend on your file and only the CRA or the City can decide them. Reading one first often saves a phone call.

Every guide links to the official pages it relies on, mainly canada.ca and toronto.ca. We recheck them once a year and when the CRA or the City changes a process.

All guides

• CRA Late Filing Penalty: How Taxpayer Relief Works How the CRA late-filing penalty works, when you can ask to cancel or waive penalties and interest, and how to file a taxpayer relief request
• CRA My Account: Sign In, Lockouts and Return Status How to sign in to CRA My Account, what to do when it locks, and how to follow the progress of your tax return, notice of assessment and refund
• CRA Notices, Discrepancies and Unfiled Tax Returns What to do when the CRA sends a notice about a mismatch or a missing return, how to correct a filed return online and how to catch up on old years
• How Mortgages Work in Ontario, Step by Step Payments, down payment tiers, CMHC insurance, the stress test, fixed or variable rates, penalties and renewal, with a worked Toronto example
• Income Tax in Ontario: Rates, Credits and Filing Federal and Ontario tax brackets for 2026, the surtax and health premium, key credits, deadlines, penalties and the steps to file and get your refund
• Land Transfer Tax in Ontario and Toronto Provincial and Toronto rates for 2026, first-time buyer rebates, foreign buyer taxes, closing day payment and three worked examples with real numbers
• Toronto Vacant Home Tax: Declaration and Disputes How the Toronto Vacant Home Tax declaration works, what happens if you miss April 30, and how to file a complaint or appeal against a bill

Every calculator lists its sources. Read how the calculators work and our editorial policy.