The CRA shared important tips to help you get ready for the 2025 tax season

Tax season in Canada is almost here, and the Canada Revenue Agency is already sharing tips to help you get ready to file your income tax return.

With online filing set to open on February 23, many Canadians are planning ahead for the 2025 tax season and thinking about how to avoid delays, mistakes or reassessments.

READ ALSO: The CRA has announced a bunch of changes that could impact your 2025 tax return

In a recent post, the CRA is reminding people that one of the most important steps before filing your taxes in Canada is making sure you have all your documents ready.

While it might be tempting to start filing your return the minute the CRA opens its NETFILE service on Monday, waiting until you have every slip and receipt can save you time and help you avoid errors that could slow down your refund.

Here's everything you need to know about what documents you should have ready and where you can find them all.

The paperwork you need

The CRA says that having all of your tax slips is "one of the most important steps to getting your return right the first time."

These slips show the income you earned during the year, whether that's from a job, investments or pension payments. If you forget one, your income tax return could be missing key information. That can lead to reassessments or delays.

It's easy to assume the CRA sends out your slips — especially since they often tend to just magically have them on file already by the time you go to file your return. But that's not how it works.

The Canada Revenue Agency receives copies of tax slips from employers, financial institutions and other issuers so they can be used for tax filing. But the feds themselves don't issue these slips, so they can't post them to your CRA Account until the issuer sends them in.

So if you're waiting on a T4 or T5, it's not the CRA you should contact.

When to expect your common tax slips

Most tax slips are sent directly to you by the organization that reports the income. Here's a quick breakdown of some of the most common ones:

• T4 — Statement of Remuneration Paid: This is the slip for your employment income, issued by your workplace. Your employer is required to send you your T4 by March 2.
• T4A — Statement of Pension, Retirement, Annuity, and Other Income: This is for pension and other income like annuities, scholarships or RESP withdrawals. Your financial institution is required to send this to you by March 2.
• T5 — Statement of Investment Income: Investment income like interest, dividends and foreign income from non-registered accounts. Your financial institution is required to send this to you by March 2.
• T3 — Trust Income Tax and Information Return: Issued by trusts for related income like interest, dividends and capital gains. For trusts with a December 31 year-end, your T3 should be sent to you by March 31.

If you haven't received a slip by the expected deadline, don't contact the CRA. Instead, you need to reach out directly to the slip issuer, like your employer or bank, to ask for a copy.

You can also try checking your online account with your financial institution or workplace HR portal to see if the documents have been uploaded there, in case you missed a notification saying they were ready.

How to use the CRA's 'Auto-Fill My Return'

If you have a CRA Account and use certified tax software (like TurboTax, UFile, etc.), you're probably already using the CRA's Auto-Fill My Return service and might not even realize it.

This tool lets you automatically import all the tax information the CRA has on file at the time you make the request.

But there's a catch.

The CRA says you should make sure you've received all your slips and that they appear in your My Account before using Auto-Fill My Return. If a slip isn't there yet, it won't magically show up in your software.

When you're ready, here's how it works:

1. Launch Auto-Fill My Return from your certified tax software (it will likely prompt you for this around the start).
2. Sign into your CRA Account.
3. Your available slips and information, including your NETFILE access code, will be securely sent to your software.
4. Choose which slips and information to auto-populate your return.
5. Review everything carefully before filing.

If a slip isn't available through Auto-Fill My Return, you'll need to enter that information manually using the copy you received from the issuer.

Don't forget your receipts

Remember — Auto-Fill My Return only pulls in information the CRA already has.

That means you'll still need to manually enter amounts for things like:

• Rent paid
• Medical expenses
• Child care expenses
• Moving expenses
• Other tax-deductable expenses
• Any slips not yet posted to your CRA Account

The CRA says it's important to keep your receipts and documents handy so you don't miss out on credits or deductions you qualify for.

A great way to get prepared for tax season is to start gathering and organizing these receipts so you're ready to go once filing opens.

Why waiting can actually help you

Even when online filing opens, it might be smart to hold off until you have all your paperwork.

Although the CRA officially starts accepting returns as of February 23, that's still a week ahead of the deadline for your employer or bank to send you your T4, T4A or T5 slips. That means if you file too early, you might be missing crucial information.

The CRA says waiting until you're sure you have all your tax slips, documents and receipts can help you avoid errors, reassessments or delays. Filing too early without everything in place could mean extra steps later — and unexpected costs.

While you wait, you can log into your CRA My Account to make sure you can access it and confirm your personal information is up to date.

That way, when you're ready to file your income tax return, you're not scrambling at the last minute.

Made a mistake? Here's what to do

If you file your tax return and later realize something is missing or incorrect, don't file a second return.

According to the CRA, once you receive your notice of assessment (which takes around two weeks if you file online), you can request a change online through your CRA Account or certified tax software.

The agency says it usually processes online change requests within two weeks. The CRA also notes that you'll get faster service by submitting your change request online instead of on paper.

You can track the status using the Progress Tracker on the Overview page in your CRA Account, or check estimated timelines with on the CRA website.

The bottom line

While tax season can feel stressful, it doesn't have to be!

The CRA is reminding Canadians that getting organized now, double-checking your tax slips and waiting until you have everything before you file can make your income tax return faster, easier and more accurate.

After all, a little patience now could save you a lot of hassle later.

Good luck, taxpayers!

READ NEXT: There's one last thing you can do to boost your 2025 tax refund, but you'll have to act fast

AI tools may have been used to support the creation or distribution of this content; however, it has been carefully edited and fact-checked by a member of Narcity's Editorial team. For more information on our use of AI, please visit our Editorial Standards page.