Do you have to claim all your income? Like everything?

For this week’s Reality Cheque, we’re looking at the myth that you don’t have to claim all your income on your tax return. 

Most of us get a T4 form from our employer, upload that to a tax filing program, add our retirement contributions and a few other deductions and claims, hit submit and—boom—taxes are done. But if your income comes from more than one place, tax season stops being a formality and starts feeling like an endless personality test, one that bores you and makes you feel stressed and tired.

Maybe when you clock out of your 9-to-5, you head off to your freelance gigs. Maybe you’re meeting side-hustle deadlines at lunch or between meetings. Or maybe you run a small side biz that lives entirely on your phone. However it looks, part-time work rarely fits into one neat box, and neither do the taxes that come with it. So for the growing number of Canadians that Statistics Canada reports have more than one job, what should you know about filing taxes, apart from maybe getting an accountant?

When Keomi Grad, now a leadership advisor with the Alder Group, based in Edmonton, had just her full-time job, she would get a tax refund of a few hundred dollars. Then she got an additional job. 

“I learned a lesson very quickly after I did my taxes, and I ended up owing about $700, which was a lot of money for me,” she says about her first filing when she started a part-time consultancy. “I just was floored, because I didn’t understand why that would be. I always did my own taxes. Then I found out about the Basic Personal Amount.”

The Basic Personal Amount (BPA) is a non-refundable tax credit. To many Canadians, it’s just a number that’s automatically on the tax form, but it can be important when you have more than one job. Many people don’t realize it only applies once per person, not once per job. Plus, the government may send you a tax bill for payments due before you file, too, if you are self-employed.

When your part-time job gives you a regular T4 

It’s after April 30, so if you recently received a T4 you didn’t include, you will want to refile your taxes.

Having to pay taxes when you have more than one gig is one of the first surprises people with multiple jobs run into, says Oleg Gudkov, a CPA with Starr Celeste-Falconeri, Chartered Professional Accountants in Toronto. 

If the BPA deduction is factored into tax calculations for more than one of your jobs, you may have paid less than you should throughout the year, which can mean a hefty bill when you file. On the other hand, if both companies do withholding at a higher rate, you could end up over-contributing to taxes, the Canadian or Quebec Pension Plans (CPP/QPP) and Employment Insurance (EI). 

Over-contributing is fine, Gudkov says, as you’ll get it back as a refund. But when money is tight between paycheques, you would likely prefer to have that cash in your own savings account, instead of giving it to the government as an interest-free loan. As Gudkov says: “Why over-contribute and get it back? Just tell your part time employer, ‘Hey, I work in another place, and so don’t deduct as if this is my only job.’”

What if you’re a driver for Uber, Lyft and ride-sharing

If your side income does not come from being self-employed or as an independent contractor, the tax rules are different. For self-employed work, the Gudkov says you have to report that income yourself, and for Uber or Lyft, you also have to think about GST (Goods and Services Tax) or, in some provinces, HST (Harmonized Sales Tax). Ride-sharing drivers must register for these taxes when they start driving, and remit them regularly (usually quarterly). That means keeping track of what you earned, what was collected, and what was remitted, so you are not left guessing at the end of the year. 

Set aside 13% of your earnings when you get paid for HST in Ontario—or an appropriate percentage for your province or territory—so you’re not scrambling to find the money when you have to pay the federal government, recommends Gudkov. 

To lower your taxable income, you may claim expenses like meals, gas and mileage. Track these when your car is used for work because they can be deducted on your taxes. “During the year, you have to keep a log of mileage that you drove for Uber or Lyft. You can’t claim 100% of the gas that you bought for the year, because you also used your vehicle for personal use, when you weren’t driving for Uber and Lyft,” he says. 

When you work from home

Say you freelance as a consultant, customer service representative, virtual assistant, developer or writer. The same tax rules apply even if you’re working from home. Your tax deadline, as someone who is self-employed or an independent contractor, is June 15, 2026. You have to claim your income and pay your taxes. Even if you don’t get a T4 slip.

The upside is you may be able to claim a portion of your rent, utilities, heat and internet. Gudkov warns against double-dipping: you cannot claim the same utility bill twice for different jobs, even if both jobs happen in the same place.

“You can claim the full utility bill, prorated for the office,” he says. “You either claim it fully under the nine-to-five or fully under the freelance job or split the two, but you don't claim the same amount under both jobs.”

What’s a hobby? What’s a business?

Are you making money from something you love? Or just doing something you love. Gudkov says the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) does not like Canadians using a hobby as an excuse to claim expenses. If the CRA suspects this to be the case, they will investigate.

“It boils down to your efforts,” he says. The CRA will look at “If you met with clients, and if you went to networking events. The CRA may want meeting dates and names of clients. They may not necessarily contact that client to confirm anything, but you need to show them that proof.”

For people juggling more than one job, doing your taxes for all sources of income isn’t a gig deal. It is that taxes get more complicated the moment your income does (meaning you don’t simply use one T4). 

Once you add income from freelance work side gigs or driving, add on charging HST, claiming home office and business expenses, the return asks for more attention and more documentation. 

That means keeping track of everything, down to an extra kilometre or a last business meeting expense before you click the submit button. 

Read more from this issue of The Get:

1. How to tell if you’re actually living within your means
2. How to handle any situation—from homicide cop Hank Idsinga
3. Gig workers: Got a surprise tax bill? Here’s how to never get one again
4. How to vet a financial advisor in Canada