Tax Time is Approaching

The deadline for filing your Canadian tax returns (unless you or your spouse owns a small business) is April 30th. The deadline for paying outstanding personal tax bill for everyone is April 30th. Have you started getting ready?

A couple of suggestions:
- Check your tax return for last year to make sure that you have included everything. I had a call from a client last week who did not receive his tax receipt for an RRSP contribution. (We’re assuming that it was lost in the mail.) It is your responsibility to file your taxes with the information from all of your slips.
- Even if you don't owe taxes, you should file your 2010 income tax return by April 30, 2011 to be eligible for some tax credits and benefits, such as the GST / HST tax credit, , the Canada Child Tax Benefit, the Universal Child Care Benefit, and the Children’s Fitness Tax Credit. I have a client (she’s a union employee and last year with all the odds and sods received almost $3000 back from the government. True, most was overpaid contributions.
- You can access your tax information on the Canada Revenue Agency web site using the My Account. This year, you will need a CRA user ID and password to use the service. If you don’t already have one, click on the No button to create one

Canada Revenue Agency lists a number of common ways Canadians can reduce their tax bill. Check it out.

If you have specific questions, perhaps I can help you out – or at the very least, steer you in the right direction.