Self-Employed Mortgages
Your tax return may not show the whole income story. That’s not a problem with your business — it’s a mismatch between how you’re taxed and how a bank reads a file.
The single most useful thing a self-employed borrower can learn: B and alternative lenders assess gross income, not net. Your accountant works hard to reduce your taxable income — right for your tax bill, wrong for a bank that reads the bottom line. Same business, same returns, a completely different number.
The answers in this centre
- I’m self-employed and can’t prove income. Can I still qualify?
- I’ve only been self-employed a year. Is a mortgage impossible?
- I pay myself in dividends. Why does the lender keep asking about it?
- My income is seasonal. Will lenders think I’m too risky?
If you’re buying or refinancing within about two years, the most valuable conversation isn’t with me — it’s between your accountant and me, before you file. How you pay yourself in a given tax year is largely fixed once the return is submitted, and it shapes what a lender can use for the two years after. That’s covered here.
More answers being added — what documents actually get asked for, and how business debt is treated.
Why a good business gets a bank decline
A bank’s process is built around employment income: a T4, a letter, a pay stub. It’s simple to verify and it doesn’t move much.
Self-employed income is neither. It varies year to year, it’s structured for tax efficiency, and the number that lands on line 15000 is deliberately as small as your accountant can legitimately make it.
So the bank isn’t saying your business is weak. It’s saying its form doesn’t have a box for you.
What to do next
If a bank has declined you, send me the details. Often the file simply needs to go to a lender that reads it correctly.
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General information about Ontario mortgages — not financial, legal or mortgage advice. Lender guidelines vary and change. Every file is reviewed individually.