Do I have to pay interest for filing my tax return late or paying my balance late?

If you miss the filing deadline and you owe a balance for the tax year, the CRA charges a penalty of 5% of your owed balance, plus 1% of your owed balance for each full month that your return is late, up to a maximum of 12 months.

If you owe a balance and you miss the payment deadline, the CRA charges compound daily interest on your owed balance starting the day after the balance is due. The CRA also charges interest on the penalties applied to late returns.

Your late-filing penalty may be higher if you were charged a late-filing penalty on a return for any of the three previous years.