Do not assume the day your annual GST/HST return is due is also the last day to pay. Some sole proprietors have an earlier payment deadline.
Check which annual rule applies
For most annual filers, the return and final payment are due three months after the fiscal year-end. A specific exception applies where all three conditions are met: you are an individual sole proprietor, your fiscal year-end is December 31, and you had business income for tax purposes that year. The payment is then due April 30 and the return June 15. CRA's GST/HST deadline table.
If the three conditions are not all met, do not borrow the June date. For example, CRA lists a calendar-year sole proprietor without business income under the ordinary three-month rule. Corporations also do not inherit the individual exception merely because their owner files a personal return in June.
Put the account and period beside the date
A practical calendar entry should name the GST/HST account, the reporting period, the payment deadline and the filing deadline. Keep this separate from personal income-tax entries and any GST/HST instalments.
For a qualifying annual sole proprietor's 2026 calendar period, the ordinary dates under the current rule are April 30, 2027 for payment and June 15, 2027 for filing. Both fall on weekdays. Check the account's assigned period and CRA's recognized-holiday rule rather than extrapolating from a reminder for another year.
Annual reporting can still involve instalment payments during the year. Filing once does not necessarily mean paying once.
Before the earlier payment date, complete enough bookkeeping to calculate the balance and reconcile prior instalments. Save payment confirmation separately from the later return confirmation so neither task is mistaken for the other.
Checked October 20, 2026. This article concerns GST/HST; personal filing dates are a separate calendar.
