Personal Tax

Hey everyone,

It’s everyone’s favorite time of year, personal tax season!

We’ve decided to put together a quick reference guide for things you may or may not know about personal taxes, key dates and some other useful information.

Here is what you should include with your personal taxes:

  • All slips that must be filed with the government (T4, T3, T5, T4E T4A, T4A(P), T4A(OAS), RRSP, etc.
  • Medical expenses – need to be over 3% of net income or roughly $2,300 (whichever is less) – can be claimed as a couple or family on 1 return (married couple and 2 children can claim on the same return)
  • Do you have a rental property? If so, you must include this income and relevant expenses.
  • Split Pension income – if one person in a couple has pension income, they are eligible for pension splitting (this has a HUGE potential savings depending on the couple)
  • Child care expense
    • Can claim:
      • Day care
      • Babysitter
      • Nanny
      • Overnight camps
      • Day camps during the summer
    • Cannot claim
      • Children’s activity receipts
      • Children’s arts amount
        • These used to be a deduction, but can no longer be deducted
  • Moving expenses
    • Did you move at least 40 KM closer to your place of work or school?
    • If yes, there are several items related to this you can claim
  • Did you sell your principal residence during the year?
    • No tax implications for this, but failure to report it can cause penalties with the CRA
  • Do you have any non-registered investments?
    • If yes, ensure anything that was sold gets reported as a capital gain or loss
  • Do you have any business income?
    • If yes, you will need to report all business income and expenses
  • Did you buy a home for the first time?
    • If yes, there’s a $5,000 1st time home buyer credit that can be claimed – if 2 people bought it together, they get to share the claim
  • Have you paid any interest on student loans?
    • If yes, this is claimable
  • Do you have any tuition fees?
    • These are claimable and able to be carried forward
  • Any donations – charitable or political?
    • Both can be claimed

Key Deadlines

  • Feb 28 – deadline to receive all slips required by government
  • Feb 29/Mar 1 (of the following year) – deadline to contribute to RRSP and claim for that tax year (March 1, 2019 to claim on 2018 taxes)
  • April 30 – deadline to file and pay all taxes owing
  • June 30 – deadline for people with business income to file – but taxes still must be paid by April 30

Helpful Suggestion

We recommend registering for the CRA MyAccount.  It is an incredibly useful tool that allows you to submit and view information/correspondence with the CRA.