Refunds

You can have a refund if you:

• had too much tax withheld;
  
• paid more instalments than necessary; or
  
• claimed more credits than the total taxes you owed.

If your total payable on line 435 of your tax return is less than your total credits (line 482), the difference is your refund on line 484. Generally, if the difference is $2 or less, you will not receive a refund.

Your refund cannot be transferred to pay another person's balance owing.

Although you may be entitled to a refund for 2005, we might keep some or all of it to:

• apply against any amount you owe us or are about to owe us;
  
  
• satisfy a garnishment order under the Family Orders and Agreements Enforcement Assistance Act; or
  
  
• apply against certain other outstanding federal, provincial, or territorial government debts, such as student loans, Employment Insurance and social assistance benefit overpayments, Immigration loans, and training allowance overpayments.

If you pay your taxes by instalments, you can attach a note to your paper return to ask us to transfer your refund to your instalment account for 2006. We will transfer your full refund and consider such a payment to have been received on the date that we assess your return.

You may choose to have your tax refund deposited directly into your bank account. For more information, see How to arrange for direct deposit or change your information.

To learn about our normal processing period, see When to expect your refund and for information about the status of your refund, see My Account.

When will we pay interest?

We will pay you compound daily interest on your tax refund for 2005. The calculation will start on whichever of the following three dates is latest:

• May 31, 2006;
  
• the 31st day after you file your return; or
  
• the day after you overpaid your taxes.

Forms and publications

• General Income Tax and Benefit Guide