CRA late-filing penalty and interest calculator
If you have not filed, the CRA is adding to what you owe every day. Put in the tax you owed and the year you did not file, and this shows you what that has already cost you: the late-filing penalty and the daily interest, worked out with the CRA’s own published rates. It all happens in your browser. This calculator sends nothing you type to us.
| Year | Tax owed | Months late | Penalty | Interest | Added |
|---|
Read this before you use the number
This is an estimate. The CRA’s notice of assessment is the real number. It is worked out from the amount you typed. If that amount is a guess, so is the answer.
Interest is counted from 1 January 2016 only. That is the earliest quarter the CRA’s rate index links to. If your return was due before that day, the real interest is higher than the figure above, and the penalty is unaffected.
It leaves out the interest the CRA charges on the penalty itself. We could not find a CRA page that states that rule in plain words, so we do not calculate it rather than guess at it. Again, the real figure is higher, not lower.
It does not cover instalment interest and the instalment penalty, gross negligence and false statement penalties, the penalty for repeatedly failing to report income, GST/HST returns, payroll source deductions, provincial amounts, Quebec, or any payment you have already made.
The CRA may cancel or waive penalties and interest in some situations. It looks back ten calendar years. It never cancels the tax itself.
Where these numbers come from
- Late-filing penalty for a person: 5% of the balance owing, plus 1% for each full month late, up to 12 months. Repeat: 10% plus 2% a month, up to 20 months. CRA, late-filing penalty.
- Late-filing penalty for a corporation: the same two rates, applied to the unpaid tax due on the filing deadline. CRA, T2 guide.
- Filing deadlines: 30 April for a person, 15 June if you or your spouse were self-employed, and six months after the year end for a corporation. Payment is due 30 April either way; a corporation pays two months after its year end, or three for some CCPCs.
- The interest rate on overdue tax, set by the CRA every quarter. CRA, prescribed interest rates. This page holds every quarter from 1 January 2016 to 2026-Q4, each taken from its own CRA page.
- Cancelling or waiving penalties and interest. CRA, taxpayer relief.
Questions people ask
What is the CRA late-filing penalty in 2026?
Five percent of the tax you owed on the due date, plus one percent for each full month the return is late, up to twelve months. If the CRA sent you a demand to file and charged you a late-filing penalty in any of the three earlier years, it is ten percent plus two percent a month, up to twenty months. The calculator above applies both.
How is it worked out?
Say you owed $10,000 and filed four full months late. Five percent is $500, and four months at one percent is $400, so the penalty is $900. Interest is separate. It runs on the tax from the day after it was due, at the CRA’s rate for each quarter, compounded daily, until the tax is paid.
What if the CRA owes me a refund?
Then there is no balance owing, and the late-filing penalty is a percentage of nothing. File anyway. The refund, and any benefits tied to your return, do not arrive until you do.
Can the penalty be cancelled?
Sometimes. The CRA can cancel or waive penalties and interest when something outside your control kept you from filing, or when you cannot pay and the interest is what is sinking you. It looks back ten calendar years. It never cancels the tax itself. The rules are on the CRA’s taxpayer relief page linked above.
What is the CRA’s interest rate right now?
7 percent on overdue tax for 2026, quarter 4, compounded daily. The CRA sets it every quarter. This page carries every quarter back to 1 January 2016, each from its own CRA page.
Does filing the return stop the interest?
No. Filing stops the penalty from growing, because the penalty counts months late. Interest runs until the tax is paid, whatever you file. That is why the “each further month” line above keeps moving even after the penalty reaches its maximum.
Nothing you type here leaves your browser. There is no form, no email box, and no record kept of any amount you enter.
If the number is bigger than you can pay
Do not sit on it. The interest keeps running every day the tax is not paid. Call us and we will go through your whole situation with you: the years you have not filed, what you owe, and what you own. We answer your questions for as long as it takes. Every consultation is free, and you can call as many times as you need.
DISCLOSURE:
Get Total Debt Relief is a debt consulting and representation firm. We are not a Licensed Insolvency Trustee, and we are not connected to the Canada Revenue Agency or any government body.
Only a Licensed Insolvency Trustee can file your documents for a consumer proposal or a bankruptcy with the Superintendent of Bankruptcy.
OUR SERVICE:
However, any Trustee you choose can’t legally represent you over your Creditors nor can he give you any advice that will benefit you over your Creditors. The Trustee’s job is to maximize how much he can get from you and your estate for the benefit of your Creditors and the more he collects in a Proposal, the more he makes.
What we do is the work before the filing and the path you choose will come from the advice and information that goes with it. More importantly, we use tools that are not available to the Trustee because of who’s interests he represents. We go through your whole situation with you. We answer your questions, for as long as it takes and as many times as you need to ask them. Every consultation is free and if or when you decide to move forward, you’ll know which option best suits you, your family and or your business. And, unlike the Trustee, we will NEVER use the information you’ve given us against you in Court. The bottom line is that we don’t look to liquidate your assets and equities, we look to protect them.