Trying to qualify for a $450k mortgage, but my husband hasn’t filed taxes since 2022 after working for a family business. What should we do first?
My husband (22M) and I (21F) are currently trying to buy our first home in Alberta.
We found a house we absolutely love that’s listed at $490,000. We have about $40,000 saved for a down payment and are hoping to qualify for a mortgage of around $450,000.
Unfortunately, we’ve run into a major obstacle.
My husband hasn’t filed his income taxes since 2022.
The situation is a bit complicated.
Throughout most of 2025, he drove truck for his parents’ trucking business. His dad paid him by e-transfer, but there wasn’t a normal payroll system. As far as we know, CPP, EI, and income tax weren’t deducted, and he wasn’t issued the tax slips you’d normally expect from an employer.
Toward the end of the 2025 winter season, the company his dad was subcontracting for hired my husband directly as an employee to drive one of their trucks, so he does have proper employment records for that portion of the year. Winter is also when he earns the majority of his income.
Based on what he remembers, he earned somewhere around $60,000–70,000 that year, although we’ll know the exact amount once everything is sorted out.
For my side, I earn about $25,000/year, my taxes are completely up to date, and I have no debt. I don’t have an established credit history because I’ve never had a credit card or loan before. My husband’s credit score is around 635.
Before anyone asks, yes-he knows he should have filed. He takes responsibility for that. I also think he grew up seeing his parents run their business differently than a typical employer, so he genuinely didn’t realize how much this would affect something like qualifying for a mortgage.
We’re trying to fix everything now and do things properly.
My questions are:
Should our very first step be hiring an accountant and getting all of his outstanding tax returns filed?
Since he was primarily paid by e-transfer, is that enough documentation for an accountant to prepare his tax returns if bank records are available?
Once his taxes are caught up, how much will the previous late filings affect our ability to qualify for a mortgage?
Will the documented employment from the trucking company he worked for at the end of the winter help lenders?
Has anyone else dealt with buying a home after working for a family business where payroll wasn’t handled properly?
We’re not trying to avoid paying taxes or blame anyone. We just want to get everything corrected and put ourselves in the best position to buy our first home.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Edit/Clarification: I realized I wasn’t very clear in my original post. My husband has worked consistently over the years and has had T4 employment in previous years. The biggest issue is that he hasn’t filed his tax returns, and 2025 became more complicated because most of his winter income from working for his dad was paid by e-transfer instead of regular payroll before he later became an employee with the company his dad was subcontracting for. We’re still gathering all of the paperwork, so I’m learning more as we go. Sorry for any confusion.