Quick answer: An instalment reminder shows amounts the CRA calculated from your PAST filings: a proposed schedule, not an assessment. If this year’s income is lower, you may owe less or nothing; underpay what the year owes and instalment interest attaches. Use our instalment calculator and instalments guide to project it.
A reminder is not a bill, and paying one you did not owe is as avoidable as missing one you did. Ask whether yours needs paying.
On this page
What the reminder is, mechanically
Instalments prepay a year’s tax during the year. The CRA bases reminders on prior-year figures because it cannot see your current year. So the reminder is neither ignorable nor automatically right: it is one allowed calculation option, on possibly outdated data.
The three legitimate responses
- Pay as billed — safe harbour: paying the reminder amounts on time protects you from instalment interest even if the year ends up owing more.
- Pay based on this year’s estimate — allowed, and cheaper when income has dropped; but if the estimate proves low, interest applies to the shortfall.
- Pay nothing — correct only when the year’s tax will fall under the instalment threshold. Guessing wrong here is the expensive version.
What people get wrong
Ignoring the reminder and paying it as an invoice are both mistakes. It is a forecast to correct by calculation. Ten minutes with the calculator and last year’s numbers tells you which of the three responses fits.
A reminder is calculated from last year, not this one, which is why planning that sets the instalment against real figures usually changes the number you actually pay.
Fastest first step: email what you’re facing to info@everstonecpa.com — reply within one business day, and we take it from there by email.
General information, not tax advice. The document in your hand and its own dates govern.
Common questions about instalment reminder
Is an instalment reminder a bill I legally owe?+
My income dropped this year. Do I still pay these amounts?+
What happens if I just ignore it?+
Can EverStone work this out with me?+
Other CRA letters, decoded
Not sure which letter you have? Start with the full list and match what yours says.
One letter often follows another. These cover the ones owner-managers see most.
Who this is for, and who it is not
This is for an owner who received a reminder and wants to know whether to pay it. It is not for a corporation that has already missed instalments and accrued interest — that is a different conversation, and a faster one than most expect.
What happens when you get in touch
A reminder is not a bill, but it is a good moment to hand the calendar to someone else. This is how that starts.
- An email enquiry. What you do, what is filed and what is overdue. You leave with a fixed fee in writing and no obligation to take it.
- Access, in the first week. We are authorized with the CRA, so notices and balances get looked up rather than requested from you. If you are switching firms, your file is requested the same week.
- Current, then ahead. Books set up or brought current, anything overdue scheduled oldest year first, and the next twelve months of deadlines set before they arrive.
Send an enquiry, or ask one question first — both go to a CPA, not a queue.
Email the reminder before the first due date
A CPA reads it against your actual year and answers with a number, not a guess.
Email us — info@everstonecpa.comGet My Fixed Quote“…We switched to him last year for both our personal and small-business taxes — responsive, knowledgeable and quick.”