Topic hub · 27 pages
Working for yourself
Tax and records for self-employed people in Ontario: T2125 reporting, instalments, home office and vehicle expenses, platform income and contractor questions.
The flow of self-employed tax: recording income, tracking expenses and setting money aside through instalments.
Visual labels: Business income; Expenses and records; Instalments.When you work for yourself there is no employer deducting tax from each payment, so the work of tracking income, claiming costs and setting money aside falls to you.
This hub gathers the definitions, articles, guides and tools that deal with that reality. They cover reporting business income on the self-employment statement, deciding whether you need to pay instalments, claiming a home office or vehicle fairly and keeping the records that support those claims. There are also pages for people earning through rideshare, delivery and other platforms, and for anyone unsure whether a worker is an employee or a contractor. The calculators are estimators and use simplified assumptions. Keep a separate business account, save your receipts and discuss how to treat unusual expenses with an accountant before you file.
General information, not advice for your situation. How these pages are written and checked.
Guides (6)
Step-by-step checklists and plain-language walkthroughs.
Accountant for self-employed people in Ontario
What an accountant does for sole proprietors in Ontario, what to bring, what Sora charges for a T1 business return and how to choose an accountant, with the 2026 dates and rules.
Read the guide Tax essentialsForm T2125 checklist for self-employment income
Work through Form T2125 in order: fiscal period, gross income and GST/HST, cost of goods sold, expenses, CCA, home and vehicle claims, CPP and the 2027 deadlines.
Read the guide Business essentialsRideshare, delivery and platform income: tax guide
How rideshare and delivery drivers register for GST/HST, report platform income on Form T2125, claim vehicle costs and keep records that support the return.
Read the guide Business essentialsSole proprietor to corporation: a step-by-step tax checklist
The steps for moving a sole proprietorship into a new corporation: CRA accounts, moving assets with or without a section 85 election, the GST/HST election, payroll and the first T2.
Read the guide Tax essentialsBusiness expenses list: what you can deduct in Canada
A CRA-based business expenses list for Ontario sole proprietors and corporations: Form T2125 lines, the 50% meals limit, home, vehicle and phone claims, capital versus current.
Read the guide Personal taxSelf-employed in Ontario: tax basics (T2125, HST, instalments)
What a sole proprietor in Ontario needs to know about reporting business income, registering for HST and paying tax through the year.
Read the guideTools (4)
Free calculators and checklists that run in your browser.
Employee or contractor? Worker status checker
Seven questions on the factors the CRA weighs.
Open the tool Personal taxSelf-employed CPP calculator
2026 CPP and CPP2 on your net self-employment earnings.
Open the tool Business expensesVehicle business-use calculator
Turn business and total kilometres into a business-use percentage.
Open the tool Personal taxSelf-employed tax calculator for Ontario 2026
2026 income tax and CPP on net self-employment income.
Open the toolArticles (11)
Longer explanations of the decisions behind the numbers, newest first.
- Corporate tax
Buying a vehicle through your corporation: what to know
Should your corporation own your vehicle? How 2026 cost limits, personal-use benefits, GST/HST and a later sale affect the choice for Ontario owner-managers.
Read the article - Payroll
Contractor misclassification risks for Ontario businesses
What can go wrong when a worker you pay as a contractor is really an employee: how the CRA decides, what it can assess, the T4A duty and how to ask for a ruling.
Read the article - Personal tax
CPP on self-employment income: how much you pay in 2026
How self-employed people in Ontario pay both halves of CPP in 2026: the 11.9% rate, the $3,500 exemption, the CPP2 band, the maximums, worked examples and how the amount is claimed.
Read the article - Personal tax
Do you need to pay tax instalments for 2026?
Find out whether you must pay personal tax instalments for 2026: the net tax owing test, three calculation options, due dates, interest and penalties, and who is usually caught.
Read the article - Personal tax
Home office expenses for self-employed people
How self-employed people in Canada claim business-use-of-home expenses on Form T2125: who qualifies, the area calculation, eligible costs, CCA cautions and the loss limit.
Read the article - Corporate tax
Home office for incorporated business owners in Canada
Working from home through your own corporation? The self-employed home office claim does not apply. Compare the employee claim, reimbursement and rent routes and their limits.
Read the article - Corporate tax
How corporate tax instalments work in Canada
How corporate tax instalments work: who must pay, monthly or quarterly dates, the three calculation options, interest and penalties, and the balance-due day, with an illustrative example.
Read the article - Personal tax
How much tax to set aside when you are self-employed
A practical way to decide how much of each payment to set aside for income tax and CPP when you are self-employed in Ontario, built from your net income and the 2026 rates.
Read the article - GST/HST
ITCs on vehicle and home office expenses: what you can claim
How GST/HST registrants claim input tax credits on vehicle and home office costs: business-use percentages, the passenger-vehicle rules, the home-office test and the records to keep.
Read the article - Personal tax
Tax deductions for contractors and trades in Ontario
Which costs a self-employed contractor or tradesperson can usually deduct: tools under and over $500, vehicle use, job costs, GST/HST credits, subcontractors and the records to keep.
Read the article - Personal tax
Vehicle expenses and logbook rules for self-employed people
How to claim business vehicle expenses in Canada: split business and personal kilometres, choose a full or simplified logbook, and know which costs and limits apply.
Read the article
Encyclopedia terms (6)
Definitions with examples, in alphabetical order.
- Automobile allowance
An automobile allowance pays an employee for using their own vehicle for work. See when it is not taxable, the 2026 per-kilometre rates and why flat allowances are taxable.
- Business-use-of-home expenses
Learn when a self-employed person can deduct part of their home costs, how to allocate them, and why the claim cannot create or increase a loss.
- GST/HST instalments
GST/HST instalments are quarterly prepayments some annual filers make toward net tax. See the $3,000 trigger, how amounts are set, due dates and where they go on the return.
- Payment arrangement
A CRA payment arrangement lets you pay a tax debt over time. See how to set one up online or by phone, what to have ready and what happens if you miss a payment.
- Sole proprietorship
A sole proprietorship is an unincorporated business owned by one person. See how income is reported on T2125, what unlimited liability means and which CRA accounts apply.
- Tax instalments
Understand tax instalments for individuals and corporations: who must pay, the 2026 due dates, the three calculation options and how instalment interest works.
Who this affects (6)
Industries where this topic comes up often.
Personal tax
Your personal return done right, whether it’s simple or includes self-employment, rental or investment income.
What it involvesTalk it through with an accountant
Reading helps you ask better questions. When the rules meet your own records, a conversation settles what applies. Sora’s personal tax service is the closest match to this topic.
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