Skip to content
Immer

Glossary of Canadian bookkeeping and tax terms

The words on Canadian forms and in CRA guides, as they are printed, with what they mean. Each definition restates the CRA guide named beside it. The same glossary is in Ukrainian and Polish, with the English term kept as printed.

GST/HST

GST / HST
The goods and services tax, charged at 5% on most supplies in Canada, and the harmonized sales tax that replaces it in the participating provinces, where the provincial part is added to the same base.
RC4022 · January 7, 2026
Taxable supply
A supply of property or services made in the course of a commercial activity that is subject to GST/HST, either at the regular rate or at 0% (zero-rated).
RC4022 · January 7, 2026
Zero-rated supply
A taxable supply taxed at 0%. The supplier charges no tax but can still claim input tax credits, and the revenue counts toward the registration threshold.
RC4022 · January 7, 2026
Exempt supply
A supply on which no GST/HST is charged and for which the supplier generally cannot claim input tax credits on the related purchases.
RC4022 · January 7, 2026
Small supplier
A business whose revenue from worldwide taxable supplies, with its associates, is $30,000 or less in a single calendar quarter and over the last four consecutive quarters ($50,000 for public service bodies). It does not have to register.
RC4022 · January 7, 2026
Registrant
A person registered, or required to be registered, for the GST/HST. A registrant charges and remits the tax and can claim input tax credits.
RC4022 · January 7, 2026
Input tax credit (ITC)
The GST/HST a registrant paid or owes on purchases used in its commercial activities, recovered by deducting it on the return.
RC4022 · January 7, 2026
Net tax
GST/HST collected or collectible for a reporting period minus the input tax credits for it, with adjustments. Positive: remitted. Negative: refunded.
RC4022 · January 7, 2026
Reporting period
The period a GST/HST return covers: annual, quarterly or monthly, assigned from the previous fiscal year's taxable supplies ($1.5 million and $6 million are the dividing lines).
RC4022 · January 7, 2026
Quick method of accounting
A simplified way for eligible small businesses (taxable supplies up to $400,000, tax included) to calculate the GST/HST to remit, as a set rate of tax-included sales. Bookkeeping, accounting and tax-preparation businesses cannot use it.
RC4022 · January 7, 2026
Nil return
A GST/HST return filed for a period with no net tax and no refund. It is still required for every reporting period.
RC4022 · January 7, 2026

Payroll

Payroll program account
The CRA account an employer opens to remit source deductions and file T4 information returns.
T4001 · January 21, 2026
Source deductions
CPP contributions, EI premiums and income tax withheld from an employee's pay, held in trust for the Receiver General and remitted with the employer's share of CPP and EI.
T4001 · January 21, 2026
AMWA (average monthly withholding amount)
The CPP, EI and income tax an employer had to remit two calendar years ago, divided by the number of months with remittances (at most 12). It decides the remitter type.
T4001 · January 21, 2026
Remitter type
Regular, quarterly, accelerated threshold 1 or threshold 2: the category that sets when an employer's source deductions are due.
T4001 · January 21, 2026
TD1, Personal Tax Credits Return
The form a new employee fills out (federal and, where it applies, provincial) so the employer can work out how much income tax to withhold.
T4001 · January 21, 2026
T4 / T4A slip
The information slips that report employment income and deductions (T4) or other amounts (T4A), given to the recipient and filed with a summary by the last day of February of the next year.
T4001 · January 21, 2026
Record of Employment (ROE)
The record an employer issues when an employee stops working and has an interruption of earnings; it is used for employment insurance.
T4001 · January 21, 2026
CPP2 (second additional CPP contributions)
Contributions deducted since January 1, 2024 on earnings above the year's maximum pensionable earnings.
T4001 · January 21, 2026

Self-employed income

Sole proprietor
An unincorporated, self-employed individual. Business income is reported on Form T2125 with the personal return.
T4002, Chapter 1 · April 16, 2026
Fiscal period
The business year, from the day it starts to the day it ends: never longer than 12 months, generally ending December 31 for self-employed individuals.
T4002, Chapter 1 · April 16, 2026
Accrual method
Reporting income when it is earned and expenses when they are incurred, whether or not money has changed hands. Required for business and professional income; only farmers, fishers and self-employed commission agents may use the cash method.
T4002, Chapter 1 · April 16, 2026
Capital cost allowance (CCA)
The deduction for depreciable property — a building, furniture, equipment — spread over several years instead of taken at once; claimed on line 9936 of T2125.
T4002, Chapter 4 · April 16, 2026
Business-use-of-home expenses
A share of home costs deducted for a workspace that is the principal place of business, or used only for the business and regularly to meet clients. It cannot create a loss; the unused part carries forward.
T4002, Chapter 3 · April 16, 2026
Instalment payments
Tax paid ahead during the year. Individuals with business, professional or commission income pay on March 15, June 15, September 15 and December 15 when the CRA asks them to.
T4002, Chapter 1 · April 16, 2026

Official sources

This page explains official publications in plain words. It is informational, not professional advice, and it is not a substitute for the documents it cites: open the source before you rely on it.

Have a question this page does not answer?

Ask Immer. It searches the same official publications, cites each one with its date, and says so when they do not cover your question.

Request accessHow it works