Canada Revenue Agency announced the prescribed annual interest rates for the third calendar quarter of 2025.
The rates apply from July 1 to September 30, 2025. They determine interest charged on amounts owed to CRA and interest paid by CRA on certain overpayments.
For income tax, overdue taxes, Canada Pension Plan contributions, and Employment Insurance premiums bear interest at 7%. CRA pays 3% on corporate taxpayer overpayments and 5% on non-corporate taxpayer overpayments.
The taxable-benefit rate for employee and shareholder interest-free or low-interest loans is 3%. That rate matters when employers or corporations provide below-market loans that create taxable benefits.
CRA also listed a 6.62% rate for corporate taxpayers' pertinent loans or indebtedness.
For GST, HST, the Air Travellers Security Charge, the fuel charge, most excise tax, the softwood lumber products export charge, the Underused Housing Tax, luxury tax, and digital services tax, overdue remittances carry a 7% rate. Overpaid remittances generally earn 3% for corporate taxpayers and 5% for non-corporate taxpayers, with some exceptions.
These rates are administrative but financially important. A delayed remittance or overdue balance can become more expensive quickly, while overpayment interest is usually lower than the cost taxpayers face on amounts owing.
For businesses, the practical lesson is cash-flow discipline: payroll, GST/HST, excise, UHT, luxury-tax, and other remittance deadlines carry real interest consequences even when the underlying tax rule has not changed.