Personal tax accountant in Halifax

Nova Scotia tax sits inside the federal return

There is no separate Nova Scotia income tax return. The provincial tax and credits are worked out on a provincial schedule inside the T1, and the CRA assesses and collects both. That keeps the filing simple, but it means a mistake on the federal side flows straight into the provincial figure. It also means some provincial benefits depend on filing at all. The credits Nova Scotia pays alongside the federal GST/HST credit reach you only when a return is on file for the year. That matters for students, retirees and anyone with a low-income year between contracts or seasons.

Self-employed in Halifax

A self-employed return is where most of the time goes. Business income is reported on Form T2125, or on Form T2121 for fishing income, with the expenses, capital cost allowance and home-office and vehicle portions worked out from your records. Many of the self-employed people we see around Halifax are realtors paid by commission, trades working on their own, consultants and freelancers in the city’s tech sector, and people who run a summer business for visitors. Once taxable sales pass $30,000 in four consecutive calendar quarters, HST registration becomes mandatory, and the sole proprietor’s HST return then runs on the same June 15 filing date with payment due April 30. The self-employed return covers the schedules.

Fishing income and EI between seasons

Fishers who report personally have options other taxpayers do not. Fishing income can be reported on the cash method, which lets a fisher time some receipts and payments across year ends. Self-employed fishers can qualify for EI fishing benefits, and those benefits are taxable income on the return, reported from the T4E. Seasonal workers in tourism and hospitality who draw regular EI through the winter have the same point to watch: tax is not always withheld at a rate that covers the final bill. Qualified fishing property brings the lifetime capital gains exemption into play on a sale; see fishing accounting in Halifax.

Owners paid from a Nova Scotia company

Since April 1, 2025 a Halifax company pays 1.5% provincially on active business income up to $700,000, for 10.5% combined with the federal rate. The lower the corporate rate, the more it pays to leave profit in the company and draw only what you need, and the more the salary-versus-dividend decision on your T1 is really a decision about timing. Salary builds RRSP room and CPP; dividends do neither. Paying family members raises tax on split income questions. We prepare the personal return alongside the company’s so the choice is made once; see corporate tax in Halifax and the salary vs dividends calculator.

Rental suites and second properties

Plenty of Halifax owners rent out a basement suite, a unit in Dartmouth or a cottage on the South Shore. Rental income goes on its own schedule. The question that matters most is whether a cost is a current repair or a capital improvement. A new roof or a full kitchen is added to the cost of the building and claimed through capital cost allowance, not deducted in one year. Claiming capital cost allowance on a rental cannot create or increase a rental loss. When a property is sold, the sale is reported even where the principal residence exemption covers it, and the designation has to be made on the return. See rental income returns.

Instalments once the balance grows

Self-employed Halifax earners and owners taking large dividends often cross into instalments without noticing. The CRA asks for them when your net tax owing is more than $3,000 in the current year and in either of the two previous years, and the payments fall on March 15, June 15, September 15 and December 15. A reminder arrives, but the amounts it suggests are based on history, not on this year. A fisher with a strong season or a realtor with a slow one may do better on a different basis. The instalment calculator sets out the options.

When the CRA writes back

A notice of assessment that does not match what was filed is common, and most differences are small. When one is not, the deadline to object is 90 days from the date on the notice, and the records behind the return should be kept for six years. Review letters asking for receipts for a home office, a vehicle, childcare or medical costs are answered from the same file the return was prepared from. See the T1 review letter guide, or get a second opinion on a return someone else prepared.

Remote, and there is no Halifax office

EverStone is a one-CPA firm working from 32615 South Fraser Way in Abbotsford, British Columbia, and it serves Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford and Sackville remotely. We are authorised on your CRA account, so the slips already filed against your SIN are pulled directly. You send the rest through a secure upload link, sign electronically, and the review call runs by video or phone in Atlantic time. The return goes to the CRA electronically, which is where a Nova Scotia T1 goes wherever it is prepared.