Online Accountant for Ontario Small Business
Reviewed by EverStone CPA · July 2026
Ontario is Canada’s biggest market — and its 13% HST and corporate rules have their own quirks. We handle it all online for incorporated Ontario owners, with fixed fees and a named CPA.
Quick answer: Ontario corporations file a single T2 return covering both federal and Ontario corporate tax, due six months after fiscal year-end, and charge 13% HST rather than separate GST and PST. EverStone works with Ontario owners entirely online, handling T2, HST and year-end statements for a fixed quoted fee.
Ontario’s single HST return, and the surtax most owners don’t plan for
Ontario is a harmonized (HST) province: you charge a single 13% HST that combines the federal and provincial portions, filed on one return. That’s simpler than BC’s GST-plus-PST split — but the place-of-supply rules still matter if you sell into other provinces.
Ontario’s small-business corporate rate is 12.2% combined (9% federal + 3.2% Ontario), with a general rate of 26.5%. Larger payrolls may also encounter the Employer Health Tax (EHT), which we factor into your planning.
What most owners miss is the personal side. Ontario is one of the few provinces that layers a personal surtax on top of its standard tax brackets once your Ontario tax payable clears certain thresholds, which means how you split owner pay between salary and dividends affects not just your total bill, but which bracket — and surtax tier — that income lands in. It’s a wrinkle that's easy to miss if planning happens purely at the corporate level. On the payroll side, once an Ontario employer’s total payroll passes the province’s EHT exemption threshold, EHT applies alongside CPP and EI; agencies and trades businesses that scale up hiring quickly are usually the ones most likely to cross it without noticing.
| Sales tax | 13% HST (one combined return) |
|---|---|
| Small-business corporate rate | 12.2% combined (9% federal + 3.2% Ontario) |
| General corporate rate | 26.5% combined |
| Small-business limit | $500,000 |
Rates current as of 2026 (source: Canada Revenue Agency). General information, not advice specific to your situation.
Need the full set rather than the summary? The Ontario tax facts tables set out the corporate rates, the sales tax position, the provincial payroll levies, the workers’ compensation authority and the registry filing, each with its government source and the date it was checked.
Who we serve across Ontario’s largest and most crowded market
Ontario is Canada’s biggest and most diverse provincial economy, which means the tax questions we field vary widely by sector — from multi-province HST tracking for online sellers to EHT thresholds for firms that are hiring fast:
Professional services & consulting
Toronto and Ottawa consultants, agencies and professional corporations optimizing owner pay around both the corporate small-business rate and Ontario’s personal surtax.
Tech & e-commerce
Startups and online sellers managing multi-province HST place-of-supply rules and inventory that moves across several provincial tax jurisdictions at once.
Skilled trades & construction
Incorporated trades managing holdbacks, T5018 subcontractor reporting, and the EHT exposure that shows up as crews and subcontractor headcount grow.
Manufacturing & wholesale
Small manufacturers and distributors needing tight books, margin visibility and HST input tax credits tracked cleanly across suppliers and customers.
Everything an Ontario corporation needs, filed correctly
One CPA, one file, coordinated across every deadline:
- T2 corporate tax returns & Ontario year-end statements
- 13% HST filed on a single combined return
- Bookkeeping & payroll on the cloud, EHT tracked as you scale
- Personal T1 returns coordinated with your Ontario corporation
- Salary-vs-dividend planning that accounts for Ontario’s surtax
- CRA support and year-round advice
Why Ontario owners are choosing a remote CPA over another downtown firm
Ontario has more accounting firms per capita than any other province, concentrated heavily around Toronto, Mississauga and Ottawa — which sounds like it should make finding a good one easy, and instead makes it hard to tell them apart. Most owner-run Ontario businesses end up choosing between a downtown firm with partner-level pricing and junior-level attention, or a generalist bookkeeper who can produce a T2 but can’t explain what your HST input tax credits or your Employer Health Tax exposure actually mean for the business.
Being a CPA-led firm that works entirely online doesn’t change what the Income Tax Act says about your Ontario corporation — the T2, the 13% HST, and Ontario’s own corporate rate apply exactly the same way whether your accountant’s desk is in the Financial District or, as ours is, in the Fraser Valley. What it does change is overhead: without a downtown lease to cover, we can put a Chartered Professional Accountant on every file personally, year-round, at a fixed fee agreed before any work begins, instead of routing your return through whichever associate has capacity that week.
For an Ontario owner comparing firms, that’s the real decision: not whether your accountant happens to be nearby, but whether the same person who quoted your fee is the one reviewing your return.
Go deeper on Ontario compliance
Keep exploring, or run your own numbers first.
Ontario accounting FAQ
How does Ontario’s personal surtax affect my salary-vs-dividend mix?+
Does Ontario’s 13% HST really replace both GST and PST?+
When does the Employer Health Tax start applying to an Ontario employer?+
What is Ontario’s small-business tax rate?+
Why choose a CPA outside Toronto for an Ontario business?+
Do I charge 13% HST when my customer is in another province?+
What Ontario filings does a corporation have besides the T2?+
Trusted by Canadian business owners
Verified 5-star Google reviews from EverStone CPA clients.
“I have worked with Sunny for the past 2 years. He is very knowledgeable and has saved me tons in taxes by restructuring my group of companies — the best accountant I've worked with in the last 10 years, after switching from three different firms.”
“Sunny and his team have been completing my bookkeeping, taxes and financials for the last 2 years and they have been amazing. Thank you!”
“Highly recommend working with Sunny. We switched to him last year for both our personal and small-business taxes — responsive, knowledgeable and quick.”
Working with us in Toronto and Ottawa
If your business is in or around Toronto, the virtual accountant in Toronto page covers how a remote engagement works there, the local industries we see most, and the Ontario specifics that come up. You can also read about working with an accountant in Toronto if you have not worked with a CPA at a distance before. If your business is in or around Ottawa, the online accountant in Ottawa page covers how a remote engagement works there, the local industries we see most, and the Ontario specifics that come up. You can also read about working with an Ottawa small business accountant if you have not worked with a CPA at a distance before.
Within those two cities we publish industry-specific pages for the work we see most: restaurant and hospitality bookkeeping in Toronto, accounting for Toronto marketing and creative agencies, tax help for Ottawa realtors and commission earners, and how we handle personal services business risk for Ottawa consultants. Each covers the deductions, timing and CRA questions particular to that sector.
Ready for an Ontario CPA who picks up?
Book a free consultation — T2, HST and bookkeeping handled online at a fixed fee, anywhere in Ontario.