PERSONAL TAX SERVICES AND INFORMATION

COVID work from home deduction provisions are no longer available starting with the 2023 T1 Return.  If you wish to make a claim for work from home expenses you will need to obtain a T2200 from your employer.  You can provide our office with the needed information with our Home Expense Worksheet available here

The Ontario Staycation Tax Credit was only available for the 2022 T1 Return.  To claim please see the conditions and requirements (click here).

There are special new reporting rules for trusts which may affect you and you may not even know it!

Check out our dedicated Trust Reporting page

The penalty for filing your income tax return late is 5% at the stroke of midnight plus an additional 1% for each month it is late.  If you are a "repeat offender" these penalties can double.

Don't be late in filing your tax return.  If you don't feel you can file on time then make arrangements to file an estimated return and adjust it later.

There are separate charges for interest on overdue taxes and there is also interest charged on penalties.  So you can see it adds up!  More information available here

The Disability Tax Credit (DTC) is a very powerful tax credit.  Being approved may also increase various government benefits you could be entitled to.

The application process is easier than ever.  The application process can be completed online for Part A.

The DTC allows the individual to claim (or transfer to another qualified person) significant tax credits and enhanced medical credits and deductions.

If you suspect you may be eligible then apply today.  Even if you are not approved now it does not prevent you from reapplying in the future.  Retroactive benefits may also be available.  More information is available from our office or here.

Even though there may be no taxes on the sale of your house there are special reporting requirements for the sale of your principal residence so you may claim your principal residence capital gains exemption.

Make sure you understand all of the rules and regulations regarding claiming the principal residence exemption on your sale.  There could be some portions of the sale that are taxable.  Even if there's no tax you must perform the reporting or face penalties.

Get more information here

Complete our office paperwork to make the process faster at tax time

If you are waiting for those tax slips remember that their due dates are different. Here's some of the more "popular" slips and the dates they must be sent to you (if applicable):

T4s (and similar slips): End of February
T5: End of February
T3: 90 days following trust year end
T5013: March 31
T5008: End of February
T2202: End of February

Also remember that even though you did not receive your slip you are still responsible to report the income!  Not receiving the tax slip is no excuse in the eyes of CRA.

The Volunteer Firefighter Tax Credit permits eligible individuals to have the option of claiming a $3,000 non-refundable tax credit or $1,000 of associated pay as non-taxable.

You must be ready to confirm that you completed at least 200 hours of eligible volunteer firefighting services or eligible search and rescue volunteer services in the year.  This confirmation is usually obtained by having a signed letter from the local municipality or oganization where the volunteer services were performed.

More information is available here.

In many cases payments you make for spousal support are deductible.  However, CRA has very specific qualifications to allow the claim.

Support payments made as a result of a court order or agreement may be deducted in full or in part depending on the circumstances.  Make sure to provide our offices with copies of any court orders, agreements, or amendments.

You are also advised to complete form T1158 and submit to CRA to register your support payments (please provide our office with a copy).

You are also required to maintain copies of any proof of payment of the support payments.

Full information is available here.

There are special rules for retroactive or lump-sum support payments made in a given year so make sure to identify any such payments when submitting your tax paperwork.

If you received support payments in a given year you should provide us similar information as the above so that the proper income inclusion can be made on your return.

Generally payments for Child Support are not deductible by the payor or claimed as taxable income by the payee.  You should still notify our office of any payments made during the tax year.

In some circumstances individuals may elect to have child support payments treated as taxable to the recipient and deductible by the payer but these circumstances are increasingly rare.

For more information click here

Every year many Canadians have to travel significant distances for medical services.  Depending on the circumstances and distance this travel and associated costs can be claimed on your taxes as a medical expenditure.  The rules on these claims are very specific as to what can be claimed and the proof required.

To claim transportation and travel expenses, all of the following conditions must be met:

• Substantially equivalent medical services were not available near your home.
• You took a reasonably direct travelling route.
• It is reasonable, under the circumstances, for you to have travelled to that place for those medical services.

If a medical practitioner certifies in writing that you were not able to travel alone to get medical services, you can also claim the transportation and travel expenses of an attendant.

Depending on your circumstances you may be able to claim meals, accomodation, travel, parking, and other expenses.  You MUST keep excellent records of the travel including logs.  You may claim certain expenses using either a detailed method or a simplified method.

Check the CRA dedicated medical expense webpage for details by clicking here

In some provinces, such as Ontario, your payments of rent or property taxes can enhance certain benefits paid to you.  In Ontario these are referred to as Trillium Benefits.

Depending on your income and how much you paid in either rent or property taxes you may receive a monthly or quarterly benefit payment.

To substantiate the claim you are required to have proof of payment as well as a supporting receipt such as a property tax bill (FINAL BILL) or a statement from your landlord.

The landlord statement should confirm their name and address, your name, the address of the rental unit, and the amount paid and the year it pertains to.

Property tax bills should be the final property tax bill for the year confirming the property taxes paid/payable.  If you pay your property taxes through your mortgage you should include your year end mortgage statement which confirms the amount paid.  If you pay your property taxes in other ways you need to have verifiable proof of payment which could include copies of cleared cheques, bill payment confirmation from your bank, stamped vouchers from your municipality, or a verification statement from your municipality.

Retirement and Care Homes:

Some portions of what is paid to retirement residences or long term care facilities may be considered rent.  Verify with the statement received at year end as to the portion applicable.  Remember that these facilities must pay property taxes in order for the rent they charge to qualify.  Some other payments to such facilities may qualify if they are a public or non-profit long term care facility.

Similar to rent or property taxes there is a flat benefit available to students who lived in qualifying student residences during the year.  Please remember this is only for student residence operated by an Ontario college or university.  Verification would be through the statement of charges from the college or university.

Any payments for rent for other off-campus accomodation would qualify for the rent claim mentioned earlier on this page.

Anyone attending a qualifying educational institution may claim special tax credits for tuition and education.

To claim such amounts you should have either a T2202A form or a TL11 issued by the institution which verifies the number of months of education (full or part time) as well as the tuition amounts applicable to the tax year.  You MUST have these forms.  Keep in mind that many times the educational institution may require you to download these forms from your online student portal.

These amounts (subject to certain maximums and conditions) may be transferred to a parent or guardian by completing and signing the back of the form.

Make sure these forms are submitted to our office.

If we are not completing the tax return for the student but we are completing the return for the parents to whom the student wishes to transfer the amounts we will require the following:

• Completed and signed T2202A/TL11
• Copy of the student's T1 Return including Schedule 11 and Schedule ONS11 (or other applicable provincial schedules)

Please note that even with the T2202A/TL11 forms there are still some amounts which may not be eligible under rules and regulations.  Click here for details.

Starting with the 2022 T1 Return Ontario residents have been asked if they wish to provide Ontario Health with their contact information regarding organ donations.

By answering yes you are NOT giving permission for organ donations.  You are simply providing your contact information as an interested potential donor.  Ontario Health will consequently follow up with you at a later date about being a possible organ and tissue donor.

You may be required to report foreign holdings and income as part of your tax return.

If you hold foreign holdings (investments, real estate, cash, etc) with a COST of $100,000 or more you may have to include form T1135 in your tax return.

This form is designed to report foreign holdings and income on those holdings.  The income would likely already be in your tax return but this form clarifies certain information.

If you have foreign holdings as part of your investments you likely can obtain details from your investment dealer or you may already receive the information as part of your year end package.  Make sure to include this information with your tax paperwork.

If you have a recreation property located in a foreign country but do not collect any form of rent or other income as a result then this property likely does not have to be included.

There are serious penalties for failure to report this information so make sure you have verified all possible sources of foreign holdings and income.

For more information on this click here.

Many Canadian families pay for child care.  These amounts are deductible on your tax return (if you qualify).

To make the claim and support your deduction you should provide a qualified receipt from the service provider which details the child's name, child care providers name (as well as SIN or Business Number) and full contact information as well as the total amount of child care expenses paid in the applicable tax year.

Remember that there are many different versions of child care that you may pay for that qualifies including:

• Child Care Centres (for profit and non-profit)
• Some babysitting services
• Day Camps and Day Sports Camps
• Some boarding schools and overnight sports schools or camps
• Educational institutions where part of the fees paid relate to child care services

There are various restrictions and exemptions for this claim.  Find out more here