Services
Unfiled Taxes and Catch-Up Filing in Ottawa
If you have unfiled taxes, whether personal returns, corporate T2s or GST/HST returns, BBA Tax can get you caught up. We work with Ottawa individuals, self-employed people and small business owners who are a year or several years behind, including those whose bookkeeping stopped altogether. We find out what the CRA already has on file, rebuild the missing records, file the returns in a sensible order and deal with the CRA for you, so you know exactly where you stand.
How We Get You Caught Up
We prepare every missing T1, including self-employed years (form T2125) and rental income. Once you authorize us, we can view the tax slips the CRA has on file for you. Years that produce a refund are worth filing too, as long as they’re still inside the CRA’s 10-year refund window.
Corporations resident in Canada must file a T2 every year, even if they were inactive (registered charities are one exception). We prepare the missing financial statements and T2 returns in order, carrying capital cost allowance, loss carryforwards and shareholder loan balances from one year to the next, so each return builds on the last.
A GST/HST return is due for every reporting period, even when there’s nothing to remit. We rebuild sales and input tax credits for each missing period and file them. An estimated CRA assessment doesn’t cancel the duty to file, and the CRA can hold GST/HST refunds and rebates until every outstanding return is in.
No bookkeeping for a year or more? Our bookkeepers rebuild your records in QuickBooks from bank and credit card statements, sales platform reports, invoices and receipts, then list the gaps we need you to fill. Documented numbers let you claim the deductions the CRA leaves out when it assesses you without a return.
Once you authorize us as your representative, we can speak with the CRA for you, read your CRA mail and answer demand letters and review requests. When you qualify, we also prepare voluntary disclosure applications and taxpayer relief requests asking the CRA to cancel or reduce penalties and interest.
How Catch-Up Filing Works
Catch-up filing follows four steps. First, you authorize BBA Tax with the CRA so we can see which years are missing, what has been assessed, what you owe and which letters have been sent. Second, we gather your slips and statements and rebuild any missing books, so every return rests on records rather than guesses.
Third, we prepare the returns, usually starting with any the CRA has demanded and the years with tax owing, because interest on those grows daily. Fourth, before anything is filed, we decide with you whether a voluntary disclosure, a payment arrangement or a relief request fits. Then we file and keep you on track with future tax deadlines.
When a CRA Letter Has Already Arrived
Start by checking that it’s genuine: sign in to your CRA account and look for the same letter there. The CRA won’t demand immediate payment by e-transfer, cryptocurrency or gift card, or threaten you with arrest. Then act on it: a demand to file makes filing a legal requirement, and a review letter sets its own reply deadline. Once you authorize us, we read the letter in your account, explain what it means and respond for you, uploading documents online.
Why Late Returns Get Harder to Fix
If you’re owed a refund or owe nothing, a late return usually brings no late-filing penalty. When tax is owing, penalties and daily interest start adding up, and the CRA has strong tools to get both the returns and the money. Even refund years can’t wait forever. Here is what’s at stake under the CRA’s own rules.
Penalties and Daily Interest
File a personal or corporate return late while tax is owing and the penalty is 5% of the unpaid tax plus 1% per full month, up to 12 months. After a late-filing penalty in any of the three previous years and a demand to file, it’s 10% plus 2% a month, up to 20 months. Daily compound interest comes on top, at 7% a year from October to December 2026.
The CRA Can Assess You
If you’re required to file and don’t, the CRA can assess the tax it believes you owe without your return, often called an arbitrary assessment. It leaves out deductions it can’t confirm and estimates business expenses from your past filings. It can also send a formal demand to file and, if all else fails, prosecute, which can mean fines or jail.
Collections and Personal Liability
If a balance stays unpaid, the CRA can garnish wages and bank accounts, put a lien on or seize assets, and apply your tax refunds and benefit payments to the debt. Corporate directors can also be held personally liable, together with the corporation, for unremitted payroll deductions and GST/HST, unless they took reasonable care to prevent the failure.
Lost Refunds and Benefits
Benefits such as the Canada child benefit and the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit (which replaced the GST/HST credit in July 2026) depend on filed returns, so payments can stop while you’re behind. Refunds have a shelf life too: the CRA can’t pay a refund for a tax year that ended more than 10 calendar years before the return is filed.
Catch-Up Tax Filing for Every Missing Year
Every return in a catch-up is built from the same rebuilt records, so your personal, corporate and GST/HST numbers agree with each other. Recent years can be filed electronically (in 2026, the CRA’s EFILE service accepts personal returns back to 2018), while older years go on paper. We help with:
Missing T1 returns for employees, landlords and self-employed people
Overdue T2 corporate returns and year-end financial statements
Unfiled GST/HST returns, T4 slips and T5 slips
Why Late Filers Work With BBA Tax
Falling behind can start with a busy year, a bookkeeper who left or a hard stretch in life. We don’t lecture; we get to work. Karim Bitar, our Lead Accountant and an ELITE Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor, plans the catch-up with you, and our bookkeepers rebuild the records. You get one checklist and a clear plan for every missing year.
Ottawa clients can meet us at our Westboro office at 203-307C Richmond Road, and we work remotely with clients across Canada. Start with a free intro call, or get a price for your situation with our instant quote: personal returns start from $100 ($150 if self-employed) and corporate T2 returns from $1,000.
What We Handle for Late Filers
Whether you’re one return behind or ten, we can take on the whole catch-up or just the part you’re stuck on.
Back personal and corporate returns
Overdue GST/HST and payroll filings
Books rebuilt in QuickBooks
Voluntary disclosure applications
Taxpayer relief requests
Unfiled Taxes FAQ
How many years of back taxes do I have to file?
Every year in which you were required to file is still outstanding. The CRA’s normal reassessment period (three years for individuals and CCPCs) only starts once a return has been assessed, so an unfiled year doesn’t expire on its own. If you apply under the Voluntary Disclosures Program, the CRA wants information for the last six years of Canadian income, ten years of foreign income and four years of GST/HST. Years that produce a refund can be claimed up to 10 calendar years back.
Can I use the Voluntary Disclosures Program for unfiled returns?
Yes, if a return is at least a year late and tax or penalties are owing. Under the rules in effect since October 1, 2025, applying before the CRA contacts you about the issue normally brings relief of 100% of penalties and 75% of interest; after CRA contact, it’s up to 100% of penalties and 25% of interest. You must pay the estimated tax or request a payment arrangement. It’s not available once an audit or investigation has started, or for refund or nil returns.
Can the CRA cancel penalties and interest I've already been charged?
Sometimes, through a taxpayer relief request, online in your CRA account or on Form RC4288. The CRA can cancel or waive penalties and interest caused by circumstances beyond your control, such as serious illness, a disaster or a death in the family, by its own errors or delays, or where an inability to pay causes financial hardship. Relief reaches back only 10 calendar years, and decisions can take more than a year. The Voluntary Disclosures Program can’t relieve penalties and interest already assessed, so this is the route.
Should I file my back taxes if I can't pay?
Yes. The late-filing penalty grows by 1% of the unpaid tax for each full month a return is late, for up to 12 months, so filing stops that growth even if you can’t pay yet. Interest keeps running until the balance is paid, so pay what you can. You can then arrange to pay the rest over time, for example with pre-authorized debits set up in My Account or My Business Account, as long as you file future returns on time.
Guides for Getting Back on Track
Go deeper with these guides from the BBA Tax blog:
Success Stories
I'm an ELITE Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor
Business owners regularly face issues with bookkeeping & this is where a ProAdvisor can help! Using my skills & experience, I can help you organize your books & even bring you back up to date if required. Let’s build up your books in order to provide you with the most up to date, reliable and accurate information about your company!
