H&R Block survey finds mass procrastination among Canadian tax filers

John Vennavally-Rao shares tips on making the most of potential refunds as the Canada Revenue Agency filing deadline approaches.

Thursday is Canada’s income tax filing deadline, and a new survey released earlier this week found that more than a quarter of Canadians had yet to file, equating to nearly nine million people.

The survey by tax preparation firm H&R Block Canada was published on Monday and was based on data collected earlier in April. It found that 28 per cent of Canadians had yet to file their taxes, compared to around 22 per cent in a similar survey from a year ago.

“Canadians are dragging their feet on filing their taxes this tax season,” H&R Block said in a release detailing the survey’s findings.

“Of those who have yet to file, 69 per cent say they haven’t gotten around to it but plan to do so before the April 30 deadline, while seven per cent plan to file before the deadline but are procrastinating because they’re worried they’ll owe money.”

For those who do owe taxes for 2025 to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and do not file by Thursday, they will be charged an immediate five per cent penalty on their balance owing, followed by one per cent for each full month they delay filing for up to 12 months.

Additionally, anyone who owes 2025 taxes and has already been penalized by the CRA for filing late in a previous year will see those penalties double, H&R Block warned.

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According to the survey, 12 per cent of respondents said they will file their taxes this year, but it will be after Thursday’s deadline because they hadn’t gotten around to organizing their returns yet.

“In addition, five per cent of Canadians report they’ve tried filing their taxes but haven’t yet because they’re having issues accessing their CRA My Account with the CRA,” the release said.

“Ontario is home to the biggest tax filing holdouts, with one in three (33 per cent) who have yet to file, followed by Saskatchewan and Manitoba at 32 per cent, British Columbia (30 per cent), Atlantic Canada (28 per cent), Alberta (22 per cent) and Quebec (21 per cent).”

H&R Block tax expert Yannick Lemay said in the release that even if you don’t owe anything to the CRA, filing gives Canadians access to a number of federal credits and benefits that are only doled out if you’re up to date with your taxes.

“It literally pays to file your taxes,” Lemay argued.

Though the standard income tax filing deadline is Thursday, self-employed individuals have until June 15 to file their taxes. However, any balance owing for 2025 must still be paid by April 30 to avoid penalties.

Methodology

Findings were from a survey conducted by H&R Block from April 15 to 17, 2026, among a sample of 1,500 Canadians who are members of the Angus Reid Forum. For comparison purposes only, a probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of plus or minus 2.53 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.