Hello everyone! 2024 Tax Season will soon be over. Have you filed your tax return? I have and what a relief! This is true even for myself, as someone who has been doing tax returns for more than 11 tax seasons - it is still a chore and it is now off my task list. :) 

If you are thinking of hiring someone to file your taxes, make the booking now and provide your documents as soon as possible. Time is running out. If you have a refund, it's technically ok to file late. If you have balance owing, you should file by the deadline - April 30, 2024.  If you or your spouse are self-employed, your deadline is June 17, 2024 for your 2023 tax return. Remember that balance owing is due April 30, 2024 regardless of your tax filing deadline.

Here are tips for April
1a. Please gather all your receipts before you start working on your tax return. The same applies if you hire someone else to work on your tax return. It would be easier and more efficient to do your tax return in one sitting than to keep re-visiting your tax return because you missed one or two documents.

1b. When you are done with your tax return, don't throw away your receipts and documents. You must keep them for at least 6 years. If you have receipts on thermal paper, scan or photocopy them so they are still legible a few years from now. You can choose to scan and store electronic copy. Remember that CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) has 3 years from the time you file your tax return to assess your tax return. They may ask you to send in receipts to support claims as reported in your tax return. 

2. After you have filed your tax return, you should receive NOA (Notice of Assessment). Keep it in a safe place. If you receive a letter requesting information, please respond within the time period as written in the letter. Do not ignore the letter.

3a. Here is a common question I received this tax season. Can I still claim the $2/day work from home deduction? The answer is no. The $2/day was for Covid time period. We are now back to the detailed home office expense deduction. You would need a T2200 form from your employer in order to claim home office expenses.

3b. New for 2023 tax return: For those who are in BC, renting and have combined annual household income under $80,000, don't forget to claim BC Renter's Tax Credit by filling out form BC479 page 3. Check out this link for other BC tax credits.
For Ontario tax credits, check out ON tax credits.

4. When you login to your My Account, don't forget to check the Uncashed Cheque section. You may have "newly found" money there. :) If you have a tax representative, he/she can check it for you too. To claim the Uncashed Cheque, you would need to login to your My Account, fill out a form, and submit the form directly to CRA. 

5. Beware of fake Prudent Money Coach social media accounts! Earlier this week, a friend asked if my Instagram account was hacked because she received a follow request from a new account. This is the second time I was informed of a fake account. Back in September 2023, one of my clients messaged me asking if my Instagram account was hacked. It wasn't! The fake account claimed that my old account was hacked and asked everyone to follow the "new account." Please be careful.

Lastly, I want to thank everyone who trusted me with their tax filings. A few of you have asked if you could leave me a review. Thank you very much! I have to admit that I'm still searching for the best place to ask clients to leave a review. For now, I have a page on my website to display testimonials, under Services. Also, a few clients and an individual I met at networking events actually left me reviews on my business Facebook page. If you know of the best place where clients can leave reviews for me, please let me know. Thank you. :)

That's all for April. Have a great month!

Hello everyone! 2024 Tax Season has officially begun. Have you received all your tax slips? Do you have all your tax documents? I have lots of tax and money tips for you this month. 

1. First and foremost, there are 2 new filings this year that confuse even tax specialists and tax accountants. They are:
- Underused Housing Tax (UHT)
- New Trust Reporting Requirements
Please be advised that I do not provide any filing of the above. Take time to read CRA pages above and get your own professional advice to determine if you need to file UHT and/or Trust reporting. Let me know if you would like referrals to other professionals who do provide the above services.

2a. Did you know that if your employer has sent your T4 to CRA (Canada Revenue Agency), you can then view your T4 on My Account on CRA website. Here is the login page: CRA My Account 
Your tax representative should be able to view your T4 as well. So don't panic if you can't find your T4 slips. :)

2b. The same applies for other slips such as T3, T4A, T4RSP, T5, T5008, and others. If they were sent to CRA, they would be available online. Note that some slips such as T3 may be issued later (for example end of March). Check with your financial institution. So don't file your taxes too early; wait until you have all your tax slips.

2c. Did you misplace your medical receipts? Did you know that you could ask for duplicate receipts from your medical service providers? You could also request a summary of purchase from pharmacies. If you are covered by extended health care such as Canada Life, Sun Life and others, you may be able to login and generate a summary of claims. You can even dictate the period of time for the report, for example March 1, 2022 to February 28, 2023.
So don't give up if you can't find your receipts. There may be other ways to find them. :)

2d. If you have multiple medical coverages, for example husband and wife both have extended medical coverage, make sure you have tried to claim money back from both insurance companies before claiming it on your tax return. Also, some extended health insurance has a Health Spending Account (HSA). So, if you have any leftover amount that is not paid by your or your spouse's insurance, you can claim the amount from your HSA. If you still have any unpaid amount, then claim it on your tax return. It is better to get full reimbursement back than to claim tax credit. :)

3. Did you know that you could report your RRSP (Registered Retirement Savings Plan) contribution but not deduct it in the same year? You could save it for future deductions, especially if your salary will be higher, or use it to pay back HBP (Home Buyers Plan). Don't let your software automatically claim the RRSP deduction when you have no taxable income. You would be wasting it.
PS: Don't worry, if you accidentally deduct RRSP when you could have saved it for the future, you can still file an adjustment and correct it. :)

4. CRA has a podcast! Search "Taxology" on your favourite platform (Apple podcast, Google podcast, Spotify, etc.). It contains basic information that is good for those who are learning Canadian taxes. 

5. And my final tip: I recently created 2 spreadsheets - one that tracks personal expenses, the other one tracks business expenses. Let me know if you would like a copy. I can send it to you in Excel format, or you can share your Google folder and I will upload them there.

That's all for March. We're gearing up for a busy season. If you're thinking of hiring someone to do your tax return, do the booking now. Many places will be super busy in April.

Have a great month!

PS:  If you would like me to prepare your tax returns by April 30, 2024, I need to have all documents by April 2, 2024.