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What Is a Notice of Assessment and T1 General?

Income Documents

Curious about the importance of a Notice of Assessment and T1 General?  Suppose you’re hoping to become one of the 6.08 million homeowners looking to get a mortgage in Canada.

In that case, you may already know how time-consuming and stressful gathering all the necessary income documents can be when applying for a mortgage.

All things considered, this can especially be a very stressful time for anyone buying their very first home. However, it’s possible to make life simpler when collecting all the information needed by lenders, such as a Notice of Assessment (NOA) and T1 General.

Often, there’s lots of confusion surrounding different mortgage qualification documents.

In light of that, we’re taking our microscope to two forms in particular: Notice of Assessment (NOA) and the T1 General to help break things down for you.

There’s a lot to cover, so let’s take a closer look at what these documents are and just how they can help you get a great mortgage.

What’s a Notice of Assessment?

This is a two-page document issued by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). Any Canadian taxpayer will receive it at the end of a tax year. The statement will tell you how much income tax you owe the CRA.

You can also see how much tax you’ve already paid, any tax deductions that have been made, and the amount of tax refund or credit you may be entitled to.

A Notice of Assessment has several sections to it. Here’s a summary:

  • Account summary results of your assessed or reassessed tax return
  • Tax assessment summary
  • Notice of any changes or corrections the CRA has made to your tax return
  • An RRSP deduction limit statement of your Registered Retirement Savings Plan

The Canada Revenue Agency cannot issue the Notice of Assessment until you have filed your tax return, also known as your T1 General:

What’s a T1 General?

This is a form that’s probably familiar to every Canadian. It’s the form you have to complete and file your personal income tax return.

Typically it’s around four pages long, and it’s something your broker will ask to see when making a mortgage application on your behalf.

All Canadians have to file this form every year. It’s a summary of all the income taxes you pay to the Canadian Revenue Agency.

There are slightly different requirements when completing this form depending on which province or territory you resided in for the tax year in question.

You will need to provide information on the following when filing your T1 General:

  • Income earned in the previous year from employment or self-employment
  • Any benefits received, such as COVID-19 benefits
  • Investment income
  • Benefit income

The T1 General can either be completed by you or by someone on your behalf, such as an accountant.

How to Obtain a Notice of Assessment

There are three ways in which you can obtain a Notice of Assessment:

  • Online
  • By regular mail
  • The MyCRA app on your mobile device

Let’s take each one in turn:

Online

You just need to head to the Canada Revenue Agency’s “My Account” service on its website. Here you can see your Notice of Assessment issued by the CRA once it has looked at your T1 General.

If you already have an account, you simply sign-in on the CRA website. If you don’t, you can register for an account and follow the site’s simple steps. You’ll find your NOA under the tab called “tax returns” on the government website.

You can also check your NOA’s status, i.e., if it’s ready or not, and you can edit your details here in the “My Account” section.

For example, if you move home, change your contact details or amend any bank details for direct deposit purposes.

Regular Snail Mail

If, on the other hand, you prefer doing things the old-fashioned way, you can still acquire your Notice of Assessment by regular post.

To do this, you’ll need to call the CRA at 1.800.959.8281 and ask them to mail you a copy to your home address.

The MyCRA App

Suppose you like to multitask and like to complete as many tasks as you can on the go. In that case, a simple way to access this critical piece of information for your mortgage qualifications is to download the MyCRA App.

Like the online account on the CRA website, you can change your personal information and edit other parts of your profile. You can also see any tax balance owing, statements, mail from the CRA, and more.

This app is for individuals filing tax returns, not businesses. You can download the MyCRA app via the CRA website, but you’ll need to have registered for an online account first.

One thing to note: this is not a standalone app that’s available in the usual ways via Google Play or the Apple app store. It’s an internet web-browser-based application.

How to Obtain a T1 General

Given we’ve established that the T1 General and NOA kind of go hand-in-hand, it’ll come as no surprise, you can find your T1 General for the current year (and the past 11 years) on the CRA website.

Just check under the “tax returns view” section of the MYCRA website. If you’re looking past 11 years, you can call the CRA directly on 1.800.959.8281 for a copy.

Why is the Notice of Assessment and T1 General Important?

Without these documents, it will be difficult for you and your broker to calculate the amount of mortgage you can apply for.

Lenders will be unable to have a complete picture of your financial position without these income documents.

Let Us Help with These Income Documents

We hope you’ve found this outline about Notice of Assessment (NOA) and T1 General useful.

Aspiring homeowners needing more information on these topics and other income documents can contact us today and start their journey towards owning a home.

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