Local tax expert shares advice for people who are self-employed

As April marks the beginning of another tax season month, a local tax expert shared his advice for those who are self-employed ahead of their June 15 filing deadline.

According to Rob Katzman from A Taxing Situation in Alliston, filing regular taxes for the April 30 deadline is a walk in the park compared to filing for independent contractors. “It’s infinitely more complicated,” said Katzman. “For an employee, it’s cut and dried. This is your T4, this is what you have to claim. For a subcontractor or independent contractor, there’s nothing cut and dried.”

He reminds those who are self-employed to be hyper-aware of what they can and cannot expense when preparing their T5018 or T4A, and that the sooner tax returns are filed, the sooner tax refunds can be reclaimed.

“You have to know what does and what doesn’t have HST included,” added Katzman. “And there is a huge laundry list of items that you can expense provided they’re relevant to your business.”

Local business owner Terry Dunseith has been running his decorative concrete company since the late 1980s, which means has been filing taxes as an independent contractor each year since then.

“There’s so many loopholes and little nuances that you need to know to navigate it,” said Dunseith. “It’s better to have a professional.”

Katzman reminds those who are married to a self-employed spouse that the June filing deadline applies to both parties and everyone else in their household.

“Because information has to be passed from one spouse’s return to the other, the spouse that’s regularly employed has to wait for her or for the other spouse’s information,” explained Katzman. “Therefore, they both have to wait until June 15.”

He also wants to raise awareness about the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program (CVITP).

“The CVITP program is a free service for those that qualify for it, where you can have a retired professional tax preparer prepare your taxes and know that they’re done right, and that anything that you could claim would get claimed,” added Katzman.

Since June 15 this year is on a Sunday, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) says June 16 is the official 2025 filing deadline for those who are self-employed.

At the same time, independent contractors who owe money to the CRA must still pay what they owe before the April 30 deadline to avoid interest.