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.

If you did not receive your employer health tax annual return

If you do not receive your annual return and you are required to file one, you should call the Ministry of Finance at 1-866-668-8297 to request one. A replacement annual return will be mailed to you.

If you have not yet received your return by the time you should have received it, you may send your payment with a letter stating the following information:

  • business number (BN), name and address,
  • the taxation period,
  • the total Ontario remuneration,
  • the exemption amount you are claiming for eligible employers,
  • the taxable Ontario remuneration and the tax rate used,
  • the total tax payable,
  • the total instalments paid to date and
  • the balance due.

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.