2025 Tax Documents Checklist for IT Contractors and Tech Consultants

This checklist covers the most common documents needed to prepare your 2025 personal tax return (T1) as a self-employed IT contractor or tech consultant in Canada. Edge cases, specialized credits, and unusual situations may require additional documents not listed here. It includes your business income and expenses (Form T2125), GST/HST records, investment income, registered plans, and personal deductions in a single document.

Who this is for
Sole proprietors and self-employed IT contractors filing a T1 return with Form T2125, including software developers, cloud and DevOps consultants, cybersecurity consultants, AI and data consultants, QA testers, IT support contractors, and technical project managers. Applies whether you bill through a single-client relationship, multiple clients, or a mix of Canadian and U.S.-based engagements.

Incorporated?
This checklist is for sole proprietors filing a T1 personal return with Form T2125. If you operate through a corporation, a T2 corporate return is also required and your personal T1 income picture is different. Contact us before gathering documents. If your corporation provides services through you personally to a single client or a small number of clients, it may be subject to the Personal Services Business (PSB) rules. PSB status significantly affects which expenses are deductible and how income is taxed. This applies more often to IT contractors than many people expect. Raise this at intake so it can be assessed before filing.

Mixed T4 and contract income in 2025?
If you left salaried employment during 2025 and moved to contract, this checklist covers both income streams. The combination of T4 employment income and T4A self-employment income requires coordination on the T1, particularly for CPP contributions and income tax withholdings. Do not omit either source.

Employee claiming home office under T2200?
This checklist does not cover employee home-office claims under Form T2200. T2200 eligibility and documentation requirements are separate from sole-proprietor self-employment rules. If you have both employment income and self-employment income in 2025, separate documentation may be needed for each.

First time filing with us?
Include a copy of your 2024 T1 return and your most recent Notice of Assessment. This allows us to carry forward RRSP deduction room, any capital or non-capital losses, and your instalment history accurately.

Not sure whether something on this list applies to you? Email us before you start gathering. A five-minute question now is better than a revised return later.

Important: This checklist is for intake and planning purposes only. It is not tax advice and does not create a client relationship. Your specific situation may differ from the scenarios described. Contact us to discuss your circumstances before you begin gathering documents.

See our 2025 Tax Return Services

Key CRA and Related References

T1 Personal Return | T4002: Business and Professional Income Guide | Form T2125 | GST/HST registration | Business-use-of-home | Motor vehicle expenses | CRA important dates | Bank of Canada exchange rates

Filing Deadlines and Submission Window

Key dates for the 2025 tax year:

Balance owing deadline: April 30, 2026. Any amount owed to CRA for 2025 is due April 30 regardless of your filing deadline. Interest begins accruing on unpaid balances after this date.

T1 filing deadline (self-employed): June 15, 2026. Filing after this date when a balance is owing triggers a late-filing penalty of 5% of the balance owing plus 1% per additional month (higher rates apply for repeat failures in recent years). See our guide on CRA penalties and interest for details on how these amounts accumulate.

RRSP contribution deadline: March 2, 2026. Contributions made by this date can be deducted on your 2025 return or carried forward.

2025 instalment deadlines: March 15, June 15, September 15, and December 15, 2025. Missed or underpaid instalments result in CRA interest charges that are not deductible. See our guide on quarterly tax instalments for how the safe harbour calculation works.

Document submission deadline: May 15, 2026. Submit your complete document package by May 15, 2026. Returns submitted after May 15 cannot be guaranteed to file by the June 15 deadline.

Common Mistakes IT Contractors Make

These issues appear every year. If any are familiar to your situation, pay extra attention to the relevant section.

• Claiming 100% internet or phone without documented support for the business-use percentage
• Missing platform fees (Upwork, Fiverr, Toptal) embedded in payout summaries rather than issued as separate invoices
• Missing FX conversion fees embedded in bank or payment processor reports
• No currency conversion documentation for foreign client payments; exchange rate and source not documented
• Applying zero-rating to foreign client invoices without documentation to support the treatment under the Excise Tax Act
• Mixing personal subscriptions with business SaaS tools in the same billing account
• Expensing a laptop or server in full without CCA class review and half-year rule consideration
• Prepaying a multi-year software contract and deducting the full amount in year one; only the portion applying to 2025 is deductible this year
• Missing unpaid invoices outstanding at December 31; these are 2025 income under accrual accounting
• Missing year-end accounts payable; expenses incurred before December 31 but not yet paid are deductible in 2025
• Missing PHSP health and dental premiums as a business deduction
• CPP contributions on self-employment income not planned for; both halves are due on April 30, not June 15

01. Prior Year Documents

☐ 2024 Notice of Assessment (NOA)

The NOA issued by CRA after your 2024 return was assessed. Contains your RRSP deduction limit, any unclaimed capital or non-capital losses carried forward, and your instalment threshold for 2025.

If you cannot locate your NOA, log in to CRA My Account to access it. If you do not have CRA My Account set up, contact us and we can assist through our representative access.

☐ Copy of 2024 T1 return (new clients only)

The full PDF of your filed 2024 personal return. Used to confirm carry-forward amounts, review prior year deduction elections, and identify positions that should be continued or changed for 2025.

If your 2024 return was prepared by another accountant, request a copy before transferring to us. If you filed using tax software, export the PDF from the software portal.

☐ Prior-year CCA schedule showing UCC balances by class (new clients only)

If you previously claimed Capital Cost Allowance on hardware, equipment, or other depreciable assets, provide the CCA schedule from your most recent filed return showing the undepreciated capital cost (UCC) balance by class as of December 31, 2024.

The prior-year UCC balance is the starting point for the 2025 CCA calculation. Without it, we cannot accurately determine the maximum CCA claimable this year or identify any recapture or terminal loss exposure. If this was not provided in a prior year return PDF, it may be on a separate schedule. Ask your prior preparer specifically for the CCA continuity schedule.

☐ 2025 tax instalment payment confirmation

Total amount paid to CRA in 2025 quarterly instalment payments and the date of each payment. Instalment payments are prepayments of your expected 2025 tax liability, due on March 15, June 15, September 15, and December 15.

If you received instalment reminder notices from CRA but paid different amounts, provide both the notice amounts and the actual payments. This affects any instalment interest calculation. Confirm what CRA received via CRA My Account under Tax instalments.

☐ Access to CRA My Account and My Business Account confirmed

Confirm that you have active access to CRA My Account (for personal tax) and CRA My Business Account (if GST/HST registered) before submitting your document package.

CRA My Account allows you to confirm your RRSP deduction limit, outstanding balances, instalment history, prior year returns, and any correspondence on file. My Business Account confirms your GST/HST account status, filing history, and any outstanding returns. Reviewing both before filing reduces the risk of inconsistencies between what we file and what CRA already has on record. If you do not have access set up, contact us, and we can assist through our representative access for most purposes.

☐ Any CRA correspondence or reassessments from 2024 or 2025

Notices of Reassessment, requests for information, audit queries, or any letter from CRA related to your tax accounts. Provide all correspondence without filtering.

Reassessments change your opening RRSP room, loss carry-forward, and credit balances. They must be reviewed before the 2025 return is prepared to avoid compounding errors from the prior year forward. If you have received CRA correspondence and are uncertain how to respond, see our guide on what to do when CRA contacts you.

02. Personal Information

Provide updates only for items that changed during 2025. If nothing in this section changed from 2024, note that and move on.

☐ Province of residence on December 31, 2025

Your province of residence on December 31, 2025 determines which provincial tax rates and credits apply to your full 2025 return, regardless of where you earned income during the year.

If you moved provinces during 2025, provide both the old and new province and the date of the move. For IT contractors, working remotely for a client headquartered in another province does not change your province of residence; your province of residence on December 31 determines the provincial tax calculation.

☐ Marital status as of December 31, 2025

Your status on December 31: single, married, common-law, separated, divorced, or widowed. If your status changed during 2025, provide the date and nature of the change.

Marital status affects spousal amount credits, the GST/HST credit, RRSP spousal contributions, and several provincial credits. CRA defines common-law as 12 consecutive months of cohabitation, or immediately upon having a child together.

☐ Spouse or common-law partner information (if applicable)

Name, SIN, and 2025 net income of your spouse or common-law partner. If Teplov CPA is preparing their return as well, we will coordinate. If not, provide their estimated 2025 net income.

☐ Dependant information (if applicable)

Name, date of birth, and SIN for each dependant. For children, note childcare expenses paid in 2025 and the name and SIN of each caregiver or daycare provider.

☐ US citizenship or green card status

Confirm whether you hold US citizenship or a green card. If yes, you have annual US tax filing obligations with the IRS regardless of where you live. This affects how certain Canadian registered plans are reported and may require additional US-side disclosure forms.

U.S. citizenship is particularly relevant for IT contractors due to the frequency of U.S. client engagements, USD payment accounts, and equity compensation from U.S. employers. Teplov CPA prepares Canadian T1 returns. US tax filings require a US-licensed preparer; we can provide a referral and will flag relevant cross-border considerations when preparing your Canadian return.

03. Employment Income

Complete this section if you received any employment income in 2025. If your only income in 2025 was from self-employment, skip to Section 04.

☐ T4: employment income from all employers

All T4 slips received for 2025, including from any employer where you were on payroll before transitioning to contract.

The combination of T4 and T4A income in the same year requires careful coordination on the T1. CPP contributions remitted through payroll for the employed period are shown in Box 16 of your T4. For the contract period, you pay both halves of CPP through Schedule 8. The two amounts must be coordinated to avoid overcontribution. Also confirm whether your employer withheld sufficient income tax during the T4 period; if your contract income in the second half of the year was substantially higher than your salary in the first half, the T4 withholdings may not cover the full year liability and the April 30 balance owing may be larger than expected.

☐ Stock options, RSUs, or employer equity (if applicable)

If you exercised stock options, had RSUs vest, or received employer equity reported as a benefit on your T4 in 2025, provide the grant date, exercise or vesting date, exercise price or grant price, fair market value at exercise or vesting, and number of units.

Stock option benefits from Canadian-Controlled Private Corporations are taxed differently from public company RSUs and options. CCPC options may qualify for deferral until shares are sold, with a potential 50% deduction on the gain. Public company equity awards are generally taxable as employment income in the year of vest or exercise. The T4 box coding tells us which treatment applies, but the grant details are needed to confirm the correct reporting and identify any deduction opportunities.

04. Self-Employment Revenue

The goal here is a complete picture of everything earned in 2025 from your IT contracting and consulting work reported on Form T2125. IT contractors often have income from multiple sources: T4As from some clients, no slips from others, platform payouts, foreign payments, and crypto. Report all revenue gross, before deducting expenses, platform fees, or any other amounts. If a client paid you and no T4A was issued, the income is still fully reportable.

☐ T4A slips from all clients and platforms

T4A slips issued by any Canadian client or platform that paid you CAD $500 or more in fees or commissions in 2025. Collect all T4As and confirm the total matches your invoicing records. CRA receives copies of all T4As issued in your name and cross-references them against T2125 reported revenue.

T4A slips must be reconciled against your gross revenue on T2125 before filing. If the total of all T4As received exceeds your reported T2125 revenue, a CRA matching query is likely. Revenue received without a T4A must still be included in T2125 gross revenue. The absence of a slip is not a defence for not reporting the income.

☐ Full invoice list for 2025 (or accounting revenue report)

A complete record of all invoices issued and revenue received during 2025. Include client name, invoice date and number, amount, tax charged, currency, and paid or unpaid status. If your bookkeeping is current in Xero or QuickBooks Online, an income report covering January 1 to December 31, 2025 is sufficient. If your books are not current, provide all invoices issued and bank statements showing deposits received.

Self-employed IT contractors reporting business income on Form T2125 generally use accrual-basis accounting under CRA rules: income is reported when earned (when the right to receive it arises) and expenses when incurred, regardless of when cash changes hands. An invoice issued in December 2025 is 2025 income even if payment arrives in January 2026. Section 09 covers year-end accounts receivable, accounts payable, and work-in-progress. These items are invisible from your bank account alone but must be captured for the return to be accurate.

☐ Client contracts, SOWs, and engagement letters (all active in 2025)

Signed copies of all client contracts, statements of work, and engagement letters for engagements active at any point in 2025.

Contracts confirm the nature of the services provided, billing terms, reimbursement arrangements, client location, and the basis for GST/HST treatment of each invoice, including any zero-rating applied to non-resident clients. They also establish that you were operating as an independent contractor rather than an employee, which is relevant if PSB risk is ever raised. Store signed copies with your 2025 tax records even if the engagement started in a prior year.

☐ Work-in-progress: revenue earned but not yet invoiced at December 31 (if applicable)

For fixed-fee engagements where work was performed in 2025 but invoicing is scheduled for 2026, note the value of work completed as of December 31, 2025.

Under accrual accounting rules, revenue earned but not yet invoiced at year-end may need to be reported as 2025 income even though the invoice has not been issued. This is most relevant for IT contractors on milestone-based fixed-fee contracts where a significant portion of the work was completed in December. Flag any open fixed-fee engagements at year-end so we can determine the correct accounting treatment.

☐ Platform payout summaries and annual information reports

Upwork, Fiverr, Toptal, Deel, Malt, Freelancer, and any other platform where you earned income in 2025. Include annual earnings summaries, fee breakdowns, and any annual information report or seller tax information statement the platform issued.

Under CRA’s digital platform reporting rules (Part XX of the Income Tax Act), reporting platform operators must provide reportable sellers with a copy of the information reported to CRA by January 31. This is separate from a general payout export and may show gross revenue figures that CRA will match against your T2125. Watch for platform fees embedded in payout summaries rather than issued as separate invoices; these are deductible but only if identified and documented separately from gross revenue.

☐ Payment processor reports and fee summaries

Stripe, PayPal, Wise, Revolut Business, and any other payment processor used in 2025. Download the annual summary statement and the transaction-level CSV export.

The transaction-level export is significantly more useful than a monthly bank statement for reconciling income timing, FX fees, and processing fees separately. FX conversion fees are deductible but are frequently hidden in bank transactions and missed entirely. Store processor records alongside your bank statements in your 2025 tax folder.

☐ Business bank statements for 2025

Complete bank statements for your business account for all 12 months of 2025. Used to reconcile deposits against invoices, identify missing revenue, confirm reimbursement receipts, and flag personal transfers that need to be excluded.

Maintain a dedicated business bank account separate from your personal account. Mixing personal and business transactions in the same account makes expense substantiation significantly harder and creates risk that legitimate business expenses are missed or that personal deposits are mistakenly treated as income. If your accounts are mixed, flag this and we will work through the reconciliation.

☐ US client income: 1099, 1042-S, or direct payment records

If you have US clients who paid you directly, provide the total USD amounts received, the dates of payment, and the exchange rate or CAD equivalent on each receipt date. If a US client issued a 1099-NEC or 1099-MISC, provide that form. If a US payer withheld tax before remitting, provide the 1042-S or any documentation of the withholding amount.

As a Canadian resident, US-source self-employment income is fully reportable in Canada and must be converted to CAD using a reasonable and consistent exchange-rate method (for example, a Bank of Canada rate), applied consistently to the relevant transaction dates. If US withholding tax was deducted and documented by a 1042-S, a foreign tax credit on the T1 may offset the Canadian tax on the same income. If US tax was withheld and you have not claimed the credit in prior years, those years may be amendable. Depending on how your engagement is structured, the Canada-US tax treaty may also reduce or eliminate the US withholding obligation entirely.

☐ Reimbursed expenses from clients (if any)

If any client reimbursed you for expenses incurred on their behalf (travel, software licences, hardware, or other costs), note the amounts and the corresponding expenses you incurred.

Watch for double-counting. If a client reimbursement is reported as income, the underlying expense may already be claimed separately on T2125. The two entries offset each other and the net effect on taxable income is zero, but both must appear consistently on the return. If you invoiced clients for reimbursable expenses as a pass-through without markup, confirm how those amounts appear on your T4A or platform statement.

☐ Crypto-asset payment records (if applicable)

Applies if you received payment in cryptocurrency, paid for business expenses using crypto, or earned income from blockchain-related activities such as staking, mining, yield farming, or token grants. Include date, amount in original currency, CAD fair market value at time of receipt or payment, transaction type, and wallet addresses or transaction exports.

Crypto received for services is business income at the fair market value on the date received. Subsequent disposition of that crypto may trigger a capital gain or further business income; each event is separate. CRA expects a complete and traceable record for every taxable crypto event. A portfolio balance screenshot does not satisfy this requirement. Export full transaction history from all exchanges and wallets now, as exchanges exit markets and restrict access without warning.

☐ Other income without slips

Any revenue received in 2025 for which no T4A or other slip was issued: cash payments, e-transfers from individual clients, referral fees, subcontracting payments from other contractors, or income from platforms that do not issue Canadian tax slips.

All self-employment revenue is reportable regardless of payment method or whether a slip was issued. CRA increasingly matches bank deposit data against T1 reported income in audit selection; unexplained deposits create risk even when the income is legitimate.

05. GST/HST Records

GST/HST runs parallel to income and must be reconciled separately. This is a high-risk area for IT contractors with remote or foreign clients, where place-of-supply rules are not always obvious. If you crossed the CAD $30,000 threshold in 2025 and have not registered, that is the first item to address before filing. Note: zero-rated supplies (including services exported to non-resident clients) count toward the CAD $30,000 small-supplier threshold even though no GST/HST is charged on those invoices. See our guide on GST/HST registration for self-employed Canadians for more on how the threshold works.

☐ GST/HST registration number and filing frequency (if registered)

Your 9-digit Business Number, registration date, effective date, and whether you file monthly, quarterly, or annually. Your GST/HST registration number appears on your CRA confirmation letter and on filed GST/HST returns. If you cannot locate it, it is accessible through CRA My Business Account.

☐ GST/HST returns filed for 2025 and amounts remitted

Copies of all GST/HST returns filed for reporting periods within or overlapping 2025, including filing confirmations, assessments, reassessments, and adjustment notices. We reconcile your GST/HST returns against your T2125 gross revenue to confirm the two are consistent before filing your T1.

Your T2125 gross revenue and your GST/HST taxable supplies must be grounded in the same revenue numbers. Reporting CAD $120,000 on T2125 and CAD $95,000 on your GST/HST return without a documented explanation is a known CRA data-matching risk. Inconsistencies lead to review requests on both accounts simultaneously.

☐ Total GST/HST collected and total ITCs claimed

Total GST/HST collected or collectible in 2025, and total input tax credits claimed on 2025 GST/HST returns. ITC claims must be supported by receipts showing the HST paid and the supplier’s GST/HST registration number for amounts over CAD $30.

T2125 expenses are generally adjusted for ITCs claimed; the expense amount on T2125 is the net cost after any ITC recovery. If you are claiming ITCs on business expenses, confirm that the same expense amounts are reported consistently on both the GST/HST return and T2125. A credit card statement showing a charge is not sufficient to claim an ITC; you need a receipt showing the HST amount and the supplier’s registration number.

☐ Quick Method election or confirmation (if applicable)

If you elected to use the GST/HST Quick Method, confirm that the election is in place and provide your 2025 gross revenue including HST collected. Under the Quick Method, you remit a prescribed percentage of GST/HST-inclusive revenue rather than calculating net tax on each transaction. The applicable remittance rate depends on the type of supplies made and the province in which they are primarily made. Confirm the current rate with us before filing.

The Quick Method is often advantageous for IT contractors whose expenses are primarily labour and software, with limited HST-bearing inputs. The savings come from remitting at a rate below the effective HST rate charged to clients. The election cannot be made retroactively for 2025 if not already in place, but we can assess whether it makes sense going forward.

☐ Client location list for all 2025 clients

Legal entity name and billing location (province or country) for every client you invoiced in 2025.

This is required for place-of-supply review and to confirm the GST/HST treatment applied to each invoice. Services supplied to non-resident clients may qualify for zero-rating under the Excise Tax Act, but the result depends on the nature of the service, the recipient’s status, and whether any exclusions apply. Keep documentation showing who the recipient was, where they were resident, what was supplied, and why the GST/HST treatment used on the invoice was appropriate. Services supplied to Canadian clients in other provinces are subject to that province’s HST rate under the place-of-supply rules. Without a client location list, we cannot verify that the tax treatment on each invoice was correct.

☐ Sample invoices showing how tax was applied (two to five examples)

Provide one example invoice for a Canadian client with GST/HST charged, one for a non-resident client if applicable, and one platform payout example if you use a freelance platform. These do not need to be all invoices; a representative sample from each invoice type used in 2025 is sufficient.

Zero-rating depends on the applicable GST/HST rule, the recipient’s status, and the nature of the service. Documentation must support the treatment applied to each invoice. If you applied zero-rating to foreign client invoices without confirming the legal basis for that treatment, flag those invoices for review before filing. A non-Canadian billing address alone is not sufficient to establish zero-rating.

☐ Threshold check: if not yet registered

If you are not registered for GST/HST, provide your total gross revenue by month for 2024 and 2025. We will confirm whether and when the small-supplier threshold was exceeded and what registration obligations arose.

CRA’s small-supplier test has two components, and the registration timing differs depending on which is triggered. Single calendar quarter: if your taxable supplies exceed CAD $30,000 in a single calendar quarter, you stop being a small supplier on the supply that made you exceed the threshold. You must register, and GST/HST applies starting with that supply. Four consecutive calendar quarters: if your cumulative taxable supplies over any four consecutive calendar quarters exceed CAD $30,000, you cease to be a small supplier on the day the supply that caused the excess was made, and must register within 30 days of that day. In both cases, late registration creates a deemed collection obligation retroactive to the date registration was required, meaning HST is treated as included in your invoices even if you did not charge it separately. If you crossed the threshold without registering, contact us before filing so we can determine the correct effective date and any retroactive obligation.

06. Shared Expenses (Allocation Required)

These expenses require a defensible business-use allocation before any deduction can be claimed. Home office, phone, internet, and vehicle costs all involve personal use that must be separated from business use. The documentation requirement is an allocation method you can support, not every receipt. See our guide on home office and vehicle expenses for calculation methods and documentation requirements.

☐ Home workspace details: size and use

Total home square footage, workspace square footage, and whether the space is dedicated to business use only or mixed-use.

Self-employed business-use-of-home expenses are allowed if the workspace is your principal place of business, or if you use the space only to earn business income and do so regularly and on an ongoing basis to meet clients or customers. A mixed-use room may still qualify if it is your principal place of business, subject to a reasonable allocation. Home office expenses cannot be used to create or increase a business loss; they can reduce net income to zero but no further. Any disallowed amount carries forward to the next year.

☐ Rent receipts (renters) or mortgage interest details (homeowners)

Renters: annual rent total or monthly receipts. Homeowners: mortgage statement showing the interest and principal split for 2025.

Only the interest component of mortgage payments is included in the home office calculation; principal repayment is not. Do not estimate the interest portion from your monthly payment amount; the split changes every month as the balance decreases. Request the year-end interest summary from your lender.

☐ Utility bills for 2025: annual totals

Electricity, heating, and water. Annual totals are sufficient for intake. Retain underlying statements in case of CRA review.

☐ Internet: annual total and estimated business-use percentage

Total internet cost for 2025 and your estimated business-use percentage.

Allocation required. Do not claim 100% unless the connection is used exclusively for business. A household internet connection shared with family members or used for personal streaming requires a reasonable allocation. The allocation must be defensible if reviewed; document the basis for the percentage you apply.

☐ Mobile phone: annual total and business-use percentage

Total mobile phone costs for 2025 and your estimated business-use percentage. Common business uses: client calls, MFA and 2FA authentication, hotspot for on-site work, on-call support.

A separate business-only mobile line can be claimed in full. A shared personal plan requires a percentage allocation. Do not claim 100% on a personal plan that is also used for personal calls, texts, and data.

☐ Home insurance annual premium

Allocation required. A portion of home insurance is included in the home office calculation based on the workspace square footage percentage.

☐ Property tax bill (homeowners only)

Allocation required. Property taxes are included in the home office calculation based on the workspace square footage percentage.

☐ Co-working space receipts (if applicable)

Receipts or invoices for any co-working space membership or day-pass usage in 2025.

Co-working space fees are generally deductible in full as a direct business expense; no allocation is required if the space is used exclusively for work. If you claim both a home office and co-working space in 2025, the two should be reconciled to reflect actual work patterns. Claiming a full home office plus full co-working space for the same period without explanation will attract scrutiny.

☐ Large home-office equipment purchases: flag for review

Standing desk, ergonomic chair, UPS, docking station, networking gear, and any other home-office equipment purchased in 2025 above CAD $500.

Large home-office equipment may be capital assets requiring CCA treatment rather than a current expense deduction. Treatment depends on the item, cost, and business-use percentage. This category is separate from computing hardware in Section 07; flag all such purchases for review so we can determine the correct treatment for each item.

☐ Business-use percentage notes for all mixed-use assets

For any asset used for both personal and business purposes (laptop, phone, tablet, internet connection), provide your estimated business-use percentage and a short rationale. The estimate must be defensible, not perfect.

☐ Mileage log for business vehicle use in 2025 (if applicable)

If you drove to client sites, data centres, or business meetings, provide a mileage log showing date, destination, business purpose, and kilometres driven for each trip. Also provide total kilometres driven in 2025 for both business and personal purposes.

A contemporaneous log kept throughout the year is significantly stronger than a reconstructed estimate at tax time; CRA will disallow vehicle claims without a log regardless of how reasonable the amounts appear. The commute from home to a fixed client site that has become your regular place of work is not deductible. See CRA’s guidance on motor vehicle expenses for the documentation required.

☐ Vehicle expense receipts or annual totals by category (if claiming vehicle)

Fuel, insurance, repairs and maintenance, registration, business-related parking and tolls, and loan interest or lease payments. Annual totals by category are sufficient for intake; retain individual receipts in case of CRA review.

Lease and financing interest deductions are subject to annual CRA limits that change year to year. Do not estimate these amounts independently; provide the lease agreement or financing statement and we will apply the correct limits.

07. Direct Business Expenses

These expenses are receipt-based and do not require a percentage allocation, provided they were used entirely or primarily for business. The tech tooling categories are significant for IT contractors and consistently under-reported; auto-renewals, embedded platform fees, and AI API costs are frequently missed.

☐ Hardware and computer equipment

Laptop, desktop, monitors, server or mini PC, external drives, NAS, router, switch, firewall, headset, webcam, test phone or tablet purchased in 2025. Include purchase date, vendor, amount, and estimated business-use percentage for any mixed-use item.

Hardware and equipment are generally capital assets claimed through CCA rather than as a current expense. The enhanced immediate expensing incentive that applied to certain eligible property in prior years has expired for purchases made after December 31, 2023. For 2025 purchases, the half-year rule will generally apply in the year of acquisition, limiting the CCA claim to 50% of the normal annual rate for the applicable class. Class 50 (computers and systems software) has a 55% declining balance rate; with the half-year rule, the maximum first-year rate is 27.5%. Do not assume full first-year write-off. Flag all hardware purchases for class-specific review.

☐ Developer tools and coding subscriptions

GitHub or GitLab paid plans, JetBrains, Docker Desktop, Postman or Insomnia Pro, CI/CD tooling, and similar developer-specific subscriptions. Provide annual totals by tool and flag any multi-year prepaid contracts separately.

Prepaid multi-year contracts are deductible only in proportion to the period covered by each tax year; the portion applying to 2026 and beyond is not deductible in 2025. Watch for personal subscriptions mixed in with business tools, particularly GitHub plans used for both client work and personal side projects.

☐ Cloud infrastructure and hosting services

AWS, Azure, GCP, DigitalOcean, Hetzner, Vercel, Netlify, Cloudflare, managed databases, storage, CDN, and DNS services used for business purposes in 2025. Download annual billing summaries and transaction-level exports from each provider.

Watch for client-billable or reimbursed charges that may cause double-counting if also claimed as a business expense. If you pass through cloud infrastructure costs to clients and invoice them separately, the gross cost is income and the gross expense is deductible, but both must appear on the return consistently.

☐ AI and API usage costs

OpenAI, Anthropic, Google AI, Hugging Face, vector database and LLM tooling, and API credits used for client work or business development in 2025.

The deductible portion is the business-use portion only. Keep records distinguishing client work from personal experimentation; a usage export from the provider showing total spend is not sufficient on its own if the account covers both purposes. Retain project notes, commit history, client deliverables, or a short written record noting which client engagement each usage period relates to. AI API costs are a legitimate and significant expense for many IT contractors but a category CRA has not yet developed detailed audit guidance on.

☐ Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED): flag if applicable

Applies if you conducted experimental development work in 2025: building novel algorithms, training custom models, researching new AI architectures, or developing genuinely new technical approaches rather than applying existing methods to known problems.

SR&ED may provide an investment tax credit (ITC) for eligible work. Sole proprietors generally earn non-refundable federal ITCs, though some provincial credits may be refundable. This is a separate claim from your T2125 expenses and requires dedicated review before filing; the eligibility criteria, documentation requirements, and technical narratives needed to support an SR&ED claim are distinct from ordinary expense documentation. If you think any of your 2025 work may qualify, flag it at intake so we can assess before the return is prepared.

☐ General business SaaS tools

Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Adobe Creative Cloud, project management tools, CRM software, accounting software, and any other subscription billed for business purposes in 2025.

Watch for personal subscriptions mixed in with business tools. A shared Microsoft 365 family plan used for both personal and business purposes requires an allocation. A dedicated business-only subscription is fully deductible.

☐ Security and compliance tooling

Password manager, VPN, endpoint protection, backup services, monitoring and logging tools, and any compliance or security tooling used in your contracting work in 2025.

Watch for auto-renewals that run in the background and are not captured in bookkeeping. A Bitwarden, 1Password, or NordVPN subscription that renews annually in January is easy to miss when gathering December documents. Review your credit card statements for annual charges in the January-to-March window that relate to 2025 coverage periods.

☐ Domains, hosting, SSL certificates, and business email

Domain registration and renewal fees, web hosting, SSL certificate costs, and business email hosting for your professional presence in 2025.

Watch for auto-renewals that are paid but not captured in bookkeeping. Domain renewals are typically annual charges that appear in the same month each year; pull the billing history from your registrar to confirm all 2025 charges are captured.

☐ Business telecom and collaboration tools

Zoom paid plans, Slack paid plans, Teams or VOIP services, conferencing tools, and other collaboration software used for client and business communication in 2025.

☐ Software or licences purchased specifically for client delivery

Any software, tools, or licences purchased in 2025 specifically to deliver a client engagement: items required for a specific project rather than general business tools.

Watch for items mixed into general software spend that relate directly to a specific client engagement and may be separately billable or reimbursable. If the client reimbursed you for the cost, confirm that the reimbursement is captured as income so the expense and the recovery offset each other correctly on T2125.

☐ Professional liability, E&O, and cyber liability insurance

Policy invoices and annual premium totals for errors and omissions insurance, general business liability insurance, and cyber liability insurance maintained for your contracting practice in 2025.

E&O insurance for IT contractors is fully deductible as a direct business expense. If your client contract requires you to carry coverage as a condition of engagement, the premium is clearly connected to earning that income. Life insurance and personal disability insurance are generally not deductible as business expenses even when motivated by income protection needs.

☐ Accounting and legal fees

Teplov CPA fees for bookkeeping and tax return preparation, legal fees for reviewing or drafting client contracts, and fees paid to other professionals for services related to your contracting business in 2025.

Accounting fees that relate to preparing your business income and expense reporting (including the T2125 and related bookkeeping and business schedules) are generally deductible as a business expense. Fees relating to purely personal portions of the T1 are generally not deductible as a business expense. Legal fees for reviewing a client services agreement are deductible. Legal fees for a personal matter are not. If a legal invoice covers both business and personal matters, only the business portion is deductible.

☐ Business banking fees, transfer fees, and currency conversion fees

Business bank account fees, wire transfer fees, Wise or similar platform fees for currency conversion, and any other financial service charges directly related to your business banking in 2025.

FX conversion fees are deductible but are frequently hidden in bank transactions and missed entirely. Report the gross amount received from the client, converted to CAD using a reasonable and consistent exchange-rate method applied to the relevant transaction date, as revenue, and record the FX or processor fee separately as a deductible expense. Do not net the fee against revenue: reporting net-of-fee amounts as income understates revenue and overstates the implicit fee deduction. Pull fee amounts from your payment processor transaction exports, not from bank statements alone.

☐ Platform fees and marketplace commissions

Upwork, Fiverr, Toptal, and other platform commissions paid in 2025. These appear in platform payout summaries rather than as separate invoices; identify and record them separately from gross revenue.

☐ Advertising, marketing, and lead generation costs

Costs paid in 2025 to promote your contracting practice: paid ads, LinkedIn Premium or job board subscriptions used for business development, portfolio website promotion, sponsorships, and lead-generation tools.

☐ Business travel: flights, hotels, and ground transportation

Flights, hotels, taxis, rideshare, and transit costs for travel to client sites, conferences, or documented business meetings. Separate from vehicle expenses claimed in Section 06.

☐ Meals and entertainment (business-related only)

Receipts for meals and entertainment with a clear business purpose. Include date, amount, venue, names of attendees, and the business purpose for each claim.

Only 50% of eligible meal and entertainment expenses are deductible. The business purpose must be documented at the time of the expense, by noting it on the receipt or in a contemporaneous record. A receipt showing a dinner for two is not sufficient on its own. The connection to business income must be clear. Solo meals during business travel are deductible at 50%.

☐ Professional development: courses, certifications, conferences

Courses, certifications, exam fees, conference registrations, and technical books and publications directly related to your current IT contracting work. Keep receipts and a short note on business relevance for each item.

Professional development is deductible when it maintains or improves skills required in your current self-employment activity. Training to qualify for a new career is generally not deductible. A senior DevOps engineer taking an advanced Kubernetes certification is deductible. Note that the Canada Training Credit may also apply to certain eligible training fees, but you cannot claim the same cost on both T2125 as a business expense and as a Canada Training Credit on the T1. We will determine the more advantageous treatment.

☐ Subcontractor payments: if you hired others in 2025

Invoices, payment proof, the name and SIN or business number of each subcontractor, and a description of the work performed.

T4A reporting obligations for contract payments (generally reported in box 048) may apply to certain service payments made to Canadian resident recipients. Under CRA administrative policy, a slip is generally required if total payments to a single recipient exceed CAD $500 in the calendar year, or if tax was withheld. T4A slips for 2025 subcontractor payments must be filed with CRA by the last day of February 2026. Review your payer obligations before filing your own return.

☐ Private Health Services Plan (PHSP) premiums (if applicable)

Health and dental insurance premiums paid through an eligible PHSP provider for yourself, your spouse or common-law partner, and household members in 2025. Provide the annual premium total and the plan provider name.

PHSP premiums may be deductible as a business expense on T2125 if the eligibility conditions are met: you must be regularly and continuously engaged in the business, the plan must cover you, your spouse or common-law partner, and household members, and you must meet the self-employment income tests CRA applies to sole proprietors. The same premium cannot also be claimed as a personal medical expense credit on the T1; do not double-claim the same costs under both categories. Published 2025 per-person limits will be confirmed as part of return preparation.

08. Investment Income

☐ T5: interest and dividend income

T5 slips from all financial institutions for interest earned on savings accounts, GICs, and bonds, and for dividends received from Canadian corporations in 2025.

Interest earned inside a TFSA is not reportable. Interest in a non-registered account is fully taxable. If you received dividends from your own corporation, the T5 issued by the corporation must be included here.

☐ T3: trust and mutual fund income

T3 slips from mutual funds, ETFs, and trusts for income allocations in 2025. T3 slips are typically issued in March and are sometimes delayed; do not file without confirming all T3s are in hand.

☐ T5008: securities transactions

Issued by brokerages for proceeds of securities sold in 2025. The T5008 shows proceeds only; you must also provide the adjusted cost base and transaction costs for each disposition to calculate the capital gain or loss.

☐ Personal cryptocurrency transactions (if applicable)

A complete transaction history for cryptocurrency bought, sold, traded, or used for personal (non-business) purposes in 2025. Each disposition is a separate taxable event. Export full transaction history from all exchanges before accounts become inaccessible.

Separate from crypto received as payment for IT services, which is reported as self-employment income in Section 04. Personal crypto transactions are capital gains or losses reported on Schedule 3 of the T1. CRA requires individual reporting of each disposition with ACB calculated using the averaging method.

☐ Foreign bank and investment accounts

If you hold a US bank account, Wise account, or other foreign financial account, confirm the year-end balance and whether the total cost of all specified foreign property exceeded CAD $100,000 at any time in 2025.

A Wise or Revolut account holding foreign currency may be specified foreign property for T1135 reporting purposes, depending on how the account is held and used. The CAD $100,000 threshold is measured at cost, not market value. Penalties for failure to file a required T1135 start at CAD $25 per day to a maximum of CAD $2,500.

09. Year-End Position

Self-employed IT contractors reporting business income on Form T2125 generally use the accrual method of accounting under CRA rules. Under accrual accounting, income is reported when earned and expenses when incurred, regardless of when cash changes hands. These items capture what was open at December 31 and will not be visible from your bank account alone.

☐ Year-end accounts receivable: invoices issued but unpaid at December 31, 2025

A list of all invoices issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2025 that have not yet been paid. Include client name, invoice date, invoice number, and amount for each outstanding invoice.

Under accrual accounting, income is earned when the right to receive it arises (generally when services are performed and invoiced), not when payment is received. Invoices issued in 2025 that remain unpaid at December 31 are 2025 income. This is a common gap for IT contractors who track income only from bank deposits. If you have outstanding invoices at year-end, they must be included in 2025 T2125 revenue even though the cash has not arrived.

☐ Year-end accounts payable: expenses incurred but unpaid at December 31, 2025

A list of business expenses incurred before December 31, 2025 but not yet paid. Examples: a subcontractor invoice received in December but paid in January, a software renewal billed in late December, a legal or accounting invoice outstanding at year-end.

Under accrual accounting, an expense is deductible in the year it is incurred, not the year it is paid. If a legitimate business expense is owed at December 31 and supported by an invoice or agreement, the deduction belongs in 2025 regardless of when payment is made. This is the mirror image of accounts receivable; both sides of the accrual need to be captured for the income position to be accurate.

☐ Sale or disposal of business assets in 2025 (if applicable)

If you sold, traded, or disposed of any business asset in 2025 (a computer, server, or other equipment previously claimed on a CCA schedule), provide the date of disposition, proceeds received, original purchase date, and original cost.

Disposing of a business asset may trigger recapture of CCA previously claimed (taxable income) or a terminal loss (deductible) depending on the proceeds and the remaining undepreciated capital cost of the class. The recapture or loss is calculated against the UCC of the entire class, not the individual asset; selling one computer does not trigger recapture unless the proceeds exceed the total class UCC.

☐ Bad debts (if applicable)

If an invoice was previously included in income on an accrual basis and has become genuinely uncollectible in 2025, it may be deductible as a bad debt in 2025. Provide the original invoice details, the year it was included in income, and documentation of the collection attempts made.

A bad debt deduction requires that the amount was previously reported as income, that you have taken reasonable steps to collect, and that the debt is genuinely uncollectible. Writing off an invoice you simply chose not to pursue is not sufficient. A client who has gone insolvent, ceased operations, or is otherwise demonstrably unable to pay supports the deduction. Keep any correspondence, collection attempts, or evidence of the client’s financial situation.

10. Registered Plans

☐ RRSP contribution receipts: 2025 and first 60 days of 2026

Official receipts for all RRSP contributions made between January 1, 2025 and March 2, 2026. Contributions in the first 60 days of 2026 can be deducted on your 2025 T1 or carried forward. Collect receipts from all institutions where RRSP accounts are held.

Your 2025 RRSP deduction limit is shown on your 2024 NOA. The 2025 maximum new contribution room is 18% of 2024 earned income to a maximum of CAD $32,490, minus your pension adjustment, plus unused room carried forward. Net self-employment income is earned income for RRSP purposes. Over-contributing triggers a penalty of 1% per month on the excess; confirm your available room before contributing.

☐ RRSP deduction election: confirm amount to deduct in 2025

You are not required to deduct RRSP contributions in the year made. If your 2025 income is lower than expected due to a slow year or a mid-year transition from employment to contract, it may be more tax-efficient to contribute now and deduct in a future year at a higher marginal rate.

This decision matters most for IT contractors with volatile income; a strong year followed by a gap year is a common pattern. The contribution builds tax-free growth inside the RRSP regardless of when the deduction is claimed. We will model the deduction timing as part of your return preparation if you flag this as a question.

☐ First Home Savings Account (FHSA): contributions and withdrawals

If you opened or contributed to an FHSA in 2025, provide the T4FHSA slip. The 2025 annual contribution limit is CAD $8,000 with a lifetime limit of CAD $40,000. FHSA contributions are deductible and qualifying withdrawals for a first home purchase are tax-free.

For IT contractors saving for a first home, the FHSA generally should be maximised before RRSP contributions in years where both are available; FHSA withdrawals for a qualifying home purchase are tax-free on both the contribution and the growth, an advantage the RRSP Home Buyers’ Plan does not provide.

☐ Home Buyers’ Plan repayment (if applicable)

If you made an HBP withdrawal in a prior year, the required 2025 repayment amount is shown on your 2024 NOA. If the minimum repayment is not made by March 2, 2026, the shortfall is added to your 2025 taxable income.

Note: the HBP withdrawal limit was increased to CAD $60,000 for withdrawals made after April 16, 2024, and the grace period before repayments must begin has been extended to five years for eligible withdrawals made between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2025.

11. Deductions and Personal Tax Credits

☐ Medical expenses

Receipts for eligible medical expenses paid for yourself, your spouse, and dependants in any 12-month period ending in 2025. Request an annual statement from your pharmacy and dentist rather than gathering individual receipts.

Only the amount exceeding the lesser of the 2025 indexed threshold (approximately CAD $2,834) or 3% of net income qualifies for the credit. If you have a PHSP through your business, confirm which costs were reimbursed through the PHSP and which were paid personally; costs already deducted as a PHSP business expense on T2125 cannot also be claimed as a personal medical expense credit on the T1.

☐ Charitable donation receipts

Official tax receipts for all charitable donations to registered Canadian charities in 2025. Include any unused donation carry-forwards from prior years shown on your 2024 NOA. Donations can be pooled with a spouse and claimed on one return to maximise the amount above the CAD $200 base.

☐ Childcare expenses (if applicable)

Receipts for daycare, after-school care, summer day camps, and other eligible childcare expenses paid in 2025. Include the amount paid, the provider’s name, and the provider’s SIN or business number.

Childcare expenses are generally claimed by the lower-income spouse. The deduction limit is the lesser of actual expenses, CAD $8,000 per child under 7, CAD $5,000 per child aged 7 to 16, or two-thirds of the lower-income earner’s earned income. Net self-employment income is earned income for this purpose.

☐ Moving expenses (if applicable)

If you moved at least 40 kilometres closer to a new place of business in 2025, provide receipts for transportation, storage, travel, and temporary accommodation. Moving expenses can only be deducted against income earned at the new location.

☐ Tuition and training receipts (if applicable)

T2202 Tuition and Enrolment Certificate from any Canadian post-secondary institution attended in 2025. Unused tuition credits carry forward indefinitely or can be transferred up to CAD $5,000 to a spouse, parent, or grandparent.

The Canada Training Credit provides a refundable credit of 50% on eligible training fees up to CAD $250 per year for individuals aged 26 to 65. Professional development expenses already deducted on T2125 as business expenses cannot also generate a Canada Training Credit on the T1; the same training costs cannot be claimed twice.

☐ Ontario Trillium Benefit: property tax or rent paid

If you are an Ontario resident, provide the total property tax paid in 2025 on your principal residence, or total rent paid if renting. Include the address and landlord details if renting.

☐ Ontario Fertility Treatment Tax Credit (if applicable)

If you are an Ontario resident and paid eligible fertility treatment or surrogacy expenses in 2025, provide receipts for expenses up to CAD $20,000. This is a refundable Ontario credit for qualifying fertility treatment and surrogacy expenses. Confirm the applicable 2025 rate and eligible expense limits before filing, as the rules were expanded in recent years.

12. Incorporation and Structuring Flags

These items do not require documents to gather; they are questions to answer before your return is prepared. The answers affect planning decisions made as part of the return, not after. If you are weighing the incorporation decision, see our guide on whether incorporation makes sense for self-employed Canadians.

☐ Worker classification risk: independent contractor vs employee

If you work primarily for one client on an ongoing basis, work on-site at that client’s location, perform duties substantially similar to those of an employee, do not carry significant commercial risk, and do not operate with the independence expected of a contractor, flag the nature of the relationship before we prepare your return.

The PSB rules are a corporate tax concept that applies when a corporation provides services through an incorporated employee; they do not apply to sole proprietors filing T2125. However, sole proprietors face an analogous risk: CRA may challenge whether the working arrangement constitutes employment rather than self-employment. If the relationship is reclassified as employment, T2125 self-employment deductions are disallowed and the engagement is treated as a T4 employment arrangement. The relevant CRA test focuses on factors such as control, ownership of tools, chance of profit, risk of loss, and integration; see CRA’s guidance on employee vs self-employed classification for detail. If your primary engagement looks more like employment than an independent contract, raise it at intake so we can assess the position before filing.

☐ Incorporation timing question

If you are considering incorporating in 2026, flag it before your 2025 return is prepared. The tax filing position established on the 2025 T1, particularly around GST/HST registration, asset ownership, and retained earnings equivalent, affects the optimal timing and structure of the incorporation.

For IT contractors, the incorporation analysis becomes relevant when net self-employment income consistently exceeds CAD $80,000 to CAD $100,000 and a meaningful portion of income can be retained inside the corporation rather than withdrawn. We will run the specific comparison for your numbers as part of the return preparation if you flag it.

13. Digital Records and Audit Protection

CRA audits and review requests can arrive two to four years after filing, and longer if CRA suspects misrepresentation or fraud, in which case there is no limitation period. The records you gather now may need to be produced in 2027 or 2028. CRA requires most business records to be kept for six years from the end of the tax year to which they relate. Keep records for longer if a return is under objection or appeal, or if a related matter remains open. IT contractors generate most of their documentation digitally: billing exports, SaaS receipts, cloud invoices, and platform summaries. Digital records are fragile in ways that are easy to overlook. Accounts get deactivated, vendors change their billing portals, and annual summaries become unavailable after a limited window. This section protects the deductions you have claimed and reduces the risk of disallowance if CRA asks questions later.

☐ Annual billing summaries downloaded from all cloud and SaaS providers

AWS, Azure, GCP, DigitalOcean, Vercel, GitHub, JetBrains, OpenAI, Anthropic, and any other platform where you have a paid subscription or usage-based account. Download the annual billing summary or year-end statement in PDF format, plus a transaction-level CSV export if available.

Many cloud and SaaS platforms make annual billing summaries available for a limited time only, typically 12 to 24 months. Once the window passes, detailed records may no longer be accessible even with account access. Do not rely on being able to retrieve these later. A bank statement showing a charge to “AWS (Amazon Web Services)” is not sufficient support for a CRA review of a CAD $6,000 annual cloud expense. Download and store organised by provider and tax year now.

☐ Platform payout and fee records saved before account changes or closures

Upwork, Fiverr, Toptal, Deel, Malt, and any other platform where you earned income or paid fees in 2025. Download the annual earnings summary, fee breakdown, and any platform-issued tax information statement in PDF or CSV format before the filing window closes.

Platform account records can become inaccessible after account closure, inactivity, or policy changes. If you wound down a platform relationship in 2025 or plan to in 2026, retrieve all 2025 records before closing the account. Records cannot be retrieved retroactively after account deletion.

☐ Payment processor annual reports and transaction exports saved

Stripe, PayPal, Wise, and Revolut Business. Download the year-end summary statement or full transaction export for 2025. For Wise and similar multi-currency accounts, download in both the original currency and CAD-converted views if available.

Processor records are the primary audit support for FX conversion fees, processing fees, and the timing of foreign currency receipts. The transaction-level export is significantly more useful than a monthly bank statement for reconciling income and fees separately. Store these alongside your bank statements in a dedicated 2025 tax folder.

☐ Crypto transaction records exported and preserved (if applicable)

Full transaction history from all wallets and exchanges used in 2025, including wallet addresses, transaction hashes, timestamps, amounts in original currency, and CAD fair market value at each transaction date.

Crypto exchanges change ownership, restrict access, or exit the market without notice. CRA expects a complete and traceable record for every taxable crypto event. A screenshot of your portfolio balance does not satisfy this requirement. Export and store complete transaction records now regardless of whether you plan to continue using the platform.

☐ Invoice records backed up outside your invoicing tool

Export a PDF copy of every 2025 invoice issued, plus a full invoice list export (CSV or equivalent) from your invoicing software.

If your invoicing tool is a SaaS platform (FreshBooks, Wave, Harvest, Invoice Ninja, or similar), your invoice history exists only as long as your account does. A lapsed subscription or platform shutdown removes your primary income documentation. Store a complete offline backup of all 2025 invoices in a cloud folder you control, separate from the invoicing platform itself.

☐ Contract and SOW copies stored with your 2025 tax year records

Signed copies of all client contracts, statements of work, and engagement letters active in 2025, stored in your 2025 tax folder alongside income and expense records.

Contracts support your GST/HST treatment (especially zero-rating for non-resident clients), confirm the nature of services provided, and establish independent contractor status. Contracts managed through DocuSign or similar platforms should be downloaded as PDFs and stored outside the platform.

☐ Business-use evidence for AI and API tools retained

For AI and API expenses claimed as a business deduction, retain documentation that separates client work from personal experimentation. Examples: project notes, commit history, client deliverables, deployment logs, or a written record noting which client engagement each usage period relates to.

The deductible portion is the business-use portion only. A usage export from the provider showing total spend is not sufficient on its own if the account covers both client work and personal use. Establish the business connection for each billing period when the work was done, not reconstructed at tax time.

☐ All 2025 records organised in a dedicated tax folder

Organise all 2025 tax records into a single cloud folder with subfolders by category: income, GST/HST, shared expenses, direct expenses, year-end position, prior year. Store a local backup copy.

CRA review requests typically give 30 days to produce documentation. A well-organised folder reduces that exercise from several weeks of archaeology to a single export. The folder structure should mirror the sections of this checklist so records can be located and produced by category without searching across multiple tools, platforms, and email threads.