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Form T2125: expense categories to track

Form T2125 is the CRA form for business or professional income. Here are the expense lines it lists, so you can set up your records to match.

Not tax advice. This is general information, not advice for your situation. Date checked: October 23, 2026. Rules can change, so read the sources at the bottom.

This guide lists categories only. It does not say what you can deduct. That depends on your facts. Ask a tax professional or the CRA.

What T2125 is

The CRA calls it the Statement of Business or Professional Activities. Part 4 covers expenses and net income before adjustments.

The expense lines the CRA lists

  • Line 8521: Advertising
  • Line 8523: Meals and entertainment
  • Line 8590: Bad debts
  • Line 8690: Insurance
  • Line 8710: Interest and bank charges
  • Line 8760: Business taxes, licences and memberships
  • Line 8810: Office expenses
  • Line 8811: Office stationery and supplies
  • Line 8860: Professional fees, which the CRA says include legal and accounting
  • Line 8871: Management and administration fees
  • Line 8910: Rent
  • Line 8960: Repairs and maintenance
  • Line 9060: Salaries, wages and benefits
  • Line 9180: Property taxes
  • Line 9200: Travel expenses
  • Line 9220: Utilities
  • Line 9224: Fuel costs, except for motor vehicles
  • Line 9275: Delivery, freight and express
  • Line 9281: Motor vehicle expenses
  • Line 9936: Capital cost allowance (CCA)
  • Line 9270: Other expenses
  • Line 9369: Net income (loss) before adjustments, the result

The CRA's separate business expenses page covers business-use-of-home expenses, motor vehicle expenses, and telephone and utilities in their own sections.

A simple way to group them

This grouping is ours. It is only a way to lay out a sheet.

  • People and services: salaries, wages and benefits; professional fees; management and administration fees.
  • Premises and equipment: rent; property taxes; utilities; repairs and maintenance; capital cost allowance.
  • Selling and delivery: advertising; delivery, freight and express; motor vehicle expenses; travel; fuel costs.
  • Office and money: office expenses; stationery and supplies; interest and bank charges; insurance; business taxes, licences and memberships; bad debts.
  • Other: meals and entertainment; other expenses.

Rules the CRA states about the form

  • Enter only the business part of an expense.
  • The CRA lists personal-use items among the things not to include.
  • The CRA says purchases of capital property cannot be claimed as current expenses. CCA applies instead.
  • If you claim GST/HST as an input tax credit, the CRA says to reduce the expense by that amount.
  • Subtract rebates, grants or other assistance from the expense they apply to.

The CRA also lists things that do not belong on these lines. They include salary or drawings paid to yourself, charitable donations, interest and penalties on income tax, most life insurance premiums, and most fines and penalties.

Some lines have extra rules

Meals, motor vehicles and business-use-of-home have extra rules. The CRA's business expenses page covers them. Read it before you record those costs. We do not summarize them here.

How to track so the lines match

  • Give each expense a category from the list above when you record it.
  • Keep the receipt or invoice.
  • Record the date and what it was for.
  • Note the business share of anything you also use personally.
  • Keep GST/HST paid on its own, since the CRA ties it to input tax credits.

Why bother

When your records use the same categories as the form, each line is easier to total. It is also easier to show a professional what you spent. See our guide on the GST/HST $30,000 threshold for the revenue side.

Sources

Date checked: October 23, 2026. Not legal, tax or accounting advice. Rules change, so check the official pages before you act.

Want this in a ready-to-use tool? The tracker is a spreadsheet for logging income and expenses, watching the GST/HST $30,000 total and noting instalment dates. See the Self-Employed Income, Expense and Tax Set-Aside Tracker (Canada, 2026) (CA$24) or buy it now.

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