10 things to know before you file your tax return this year

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Tax season is in full swing. Digital submitting began on Feb. 21 and the Canada Income Company thus far has already acquired a little bit greater than 2.4 million returns, 95 per cent of them filed electronically. Simply over two-thirds of tax filers have claimed a refund on their 2021 returns, with the typical refund coming in at $2,145.

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Listed below are 10 issues to bear in mind as you’re employed your means by way of this tax season.

The deadline

The conventional tax-filing deadline for most people is normally April 30, however you’ve till Could 2 this yr to file as a result of April 30 falls on a Saturday. If you happen to or your partner or common-law accomplice had self-employment revenue in 2021, you’ve till June 15 to file your return(s). In both case, if in case you have a steadiness owing, it should be acquired or processed at a Canadian monetary establishment on or earlier than Could 2, 2022 to be thought-about paid on time.

COVID-19 advantages

If you happen to acquired COVID-19 advantages, such because the Canada Restoration Profit, administered by the CRA in 2021, it is best to have acquired a T4A tax slip from the federal government in February. (Quebec residents would even have acquired an RL-1.)

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It’s essential to remember the fact that some tax was withheld at supply when the COVID-19 advantages have been paid, however you may end up owing additional tax on top of that. The CRA has acknowledged this might current important monetary hardship for some taxpayers. Affected people could want to reap the benefits of the CRA’s expanded cost preparations, which gives you extra time and suppleness to pay the tax owing, primarily based in your monetary scenario.

One-time cost for seniors

Seniors who have been eligible for the Outdated Age Safety pension in June 2021 and have been born on or earlier than June 30, 1947, (which means they are going to flip 75 by July 1, 2022) acquired a one-time $500 payment in August 2021. All eligible seniors, no matter revenue stage, bought the $500 cost, which was meant to “help older seniors’ larger bills,” and was estimated to use to three.3 million folks.

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Most eligible seniors can have by now acquired a T4A slip from Service Canada for this quantity, however some slips could have been delayed and can exit through the week of March 14, 2022. A small quantity acquired an incorrect slip, with duplicate quantities in bins 018 and 205. Amended slips have been issued to those people, so be sure you use the right slip when finishing your return.

Local weather motion incentive cost

If you happen to’re a resident of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba or Ontario, you now not declare your climate-action incentive (CAI) in your tax return. As a substitute, you’ll routinely obtain your CAI funds 4 instances a yr, beginning in July 2022, supplied you file a 2021 return and qualify for funds. The July cost will embody a retroactive quantity for April 2022, and future funds will probably be made on the fifteenth of April, July, October and January.

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Dwelling-office bills

If you happen to worked from home in 2021 due to COVID-19, chances are you’ll be eligible to assert a deduction of as much as $500 yearly for home-office bills in 2021 utilizing the short-term flat fee technique. Or, you might be able to declare your precise bills underneath the detailed technique.

Eligible Educator College Provide Tax Credit score

This tax credit score was expanded and enriched for 2021 to permit lecturers to assert a 25-per-cent refundable tax credit score for purchases as much as $1,000 on eligible instructing provides purchased in 2021. The federal government additionally expanded the checklist of eligible instructing provides to incorporate digital units, similar to calculators, digital timers and instruments for distant studying.

Add your e mail deal with for My Account

As a fraud prevention initiative, it’s obligatory as of Feb. 7, 2022, to supply the CRA with an e mail deal with to entry the online My Account portal. This enables the CRA to tell taxpayers, in actual time, of any modifications made to their account to assist guarantee such modifications are licensed. The CRA has additionally added multi-factor authentication for all customers and also you’re now required to enter a one-time passcode every time you signal into the CRA’s digital companies.

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Taxpayers have the choice to obtain both paper mail or e mail notifications when CRA correspondence is accessible for viewing electronically in My Account. However be forewarned: if you choose the digital notification choice and miss an essential CRA e-mail, you could possibly in the end be on the hook for interest and penalties, as a 2021 case has shown.

Auto-fill my return

This CRA service has been expanded for 2022, and might now present downloaded tax slip data, together with registered retirement financial savings plan (RRSP) contribution receipts, for 2021 and the earlier 5 tax years (as a substitute of 4), which may assist when submitting older returns.

Automated callback service

If you happen to get annoyed ready on maintain to talk to a CRA agent, a brand new service (“when obtainable”) could assist you to request a callback. The service could also be obtainable to callers on the person tax, advantages and enterprise enquiry traces, however solely at sure instances of the day and solely when wait instances attain a sure (unspecified) size.

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Digital information subscription tax credit score

Lastly, for those who’re studying this text on-line and also you’ve paid for the digital newspaper app or web site, you might be able to declare the digital information subscription tax credit score, value 15 per cent on qualifying bills as much as $500 for quantities you paid in 2021. You could have paid the quantities to a certified Canadian journalism group for a digital information subscription with content material that’s primarily written information. A list of qualifying digital news subscriptions can be found online.

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In case your subscription consists of each print copies of the paper in addition to on-line digital entry, solely the price of a standalone digital subscription (or a comparable one) is an eligible expense. If there’s no standalone or comparable subscription, you may solely declare 50 per cent of the associated fee as an eligible expense.

Jamie Golombek, CPA, CA, CFP, CLU, TEP is the managing director, Tax & Property Planning with CIBC Non-public Wealth in Toronto. [email protected] 

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