How to claim the exemption on your annual return

If you are an eligible employer you may claim a tax exemption on your annual return, if your total Ontario remuneration is below the $5 million exemption threshold.

One employer in the group must complete an Associated Employers Exemption Allocation Form form on behalf of the whole group and submit it to the ministry with its annual return. If any associated employer is missing from this form or if the form is not submitted, all of the employers in the associated group will be denied the tax exemption. For 2014 and later years, no exemption can be claimed if the associated group’s combined annual Ontario remuneration (payroll) is over $5 million. Employers are required to complete an annual return for each account that has Taxable Ontario Remuneration.

Visit the Ministry of Finance’s Online Services Page to file and submit your Associated Employers Exemption Allocation Form online.

If you did not receive your employer health tax annual return

If you did not receive a return, and your Ontario payroll for the year exceeds your allowable exemption amount, call us at 1-866-ONT-TAXS (668-8297) (1-866-668-8297 ) to request a copy of your personalized return. To ensure accurate processing, please file an original, preprinted form whenever possible.

You may also use our EHT Annual Return Portal to file your Employer Health Tax annual return only without making a payment. No user login or password is required.

If you sell, close or amalgamate your business

Employers who cease to have a permanent establishment, who have amalgamated, or who no longer have employees in Ontario need to advise the Ministry of Finance.

A final EHT return must be filed, within 40 days of the business closure date or date of amalgamation, for the part of the calendar year that payroll was paid. Final payment of any outstanding liabilities must be remitted with the final return.

A change in shareholders/ownership is not considered a change in legal entity, and does not trigger any change to the EHT account. No final return is necessary in such circumstances.

If you need to file an instalment and you did not receive your employer health tax statement

If you are a monthly EHT filer and you do not receive your statement, you should call the Ministry of Finance at 1-866-668-8297.

You may send your payment with a letter stating the following information:

  • business number (BN), name and address
  • the period covered
  • the amount of taxable total Ontario remuneration, and
  • the amount of tax due.

A replacement instalment remittance form may be faxed to you, but the faxed instalment remittance form cannot be used by financial institutions to process payments. The completed instalment remittance form can be faxed back to the ministry to avoid a late-filing penalty and the payment can be mailed in. However, interest charges will apply if the payment is not received by the due date. If the due date falls on a weekend or holiday, the due date for the instalment is the next business day.

If you did not file EHT annual returns for prior years and should have

You may qualify for the ministry’s voluntary disclosure program. Under the program’s conditions, employers will not be penalized for late filing.

However, you must:

  • initiate the disclosure yourself, prior to any audit or other enforcement action by the ministry
  • pay the tax owing, plus any applicable interest.

If you forgot to report some remuneration when you filed the annual return

To correct financial information reported on your EHT account, you can:

  • call the Ministry of Finance at 1-866-668-8297
  • file an amended return for the period in question, or
  • send a letter to the ministry detailing the required adjustments.

Financial information must be corrected within four years from the return’s due date.