Happy New Tax Year 2014!
Happy new year! With the end of 2013 and the start of 2014, we want to draw your attention to the personal income tax return that has to be completed every year. We understand it’s not something you might want to be reminded about. Nevertheless, it has to be done so let’s face it head on.
On a separate note, we have redesigned our website to be clearer and easier to follow. If you have a chance, please check it out at https://www.apbs.ca! We hope you like it!
Below is a list of tips you may find helpful for preparing your taxes:
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Start gathering today all your medical receipts and donation receipts for the entire 2013 year. This will make it easier to gather it when you need to file your tax return. Be sure to get as many as you can, as they will help to lower your taxes.
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As always, the filing deadline is April 30th but try not to leave it to the last minute to get everything ready. Shortly, we’ll send out a more complete inventory list of items to have ready. Be sure to take a look at it and make sure you have all the information you need.
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If you incur a good amount of medical/prescription expenses, contact your drug store or your dentist to get the annual statements. That way, you will be sure to have the accurate and complete information. Keep in mind each location will only track purchases with that particular pharmacy so if you purchased elsewhere ask them as well.
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If you or your children attended university or post secondary classes, be sure to obtain the T2202 form for the education deduction. The T2202 contains the tuition paid, as well as the months the student attended school for qualifying education amount. This allows for textbook purchases to increase your tax deduction.
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Most educational institutions don’t mail out T2202 anymore, so you should access the institution’s website to retrieve the necessary form or ask your child to do so. Part of the education credit can be transferred to parent, grandparent, or spouse which can often lower your tax.
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RRSP contribution room for 2013 is $24,270.00 and the TFSA contribution room was increased from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 since 2013. TFSA room accumulates just like RRSP room. If you haven’t used it in previous years, you can invest today.
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As always, make sure you collect all T forms, not just T4s, but also T3, T4A, T5 etc. The CRA is matching all T forms with whoever created it and doesn’t take it lightly when any are omitted, even by accident.
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Taxpayers who are receiving benefits or the OAS supplement need to be current in income tax filing. If you’re not current, the CRA will demand benefits be repaid and future credits withheld until the return is filed.
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While you’re organizing all these files, it may also be helpful to start a file for your 2014 tax preparation as well. In it, you can start to collect all your donation receipts, and medical receipts and any other documents that we have mentioned that you may collect throughout the year. This way when your 2014 taxes are due, you won’t be scrambling to locate all of them but can just locate the file you have setup.
This is of course not an exhaustive list. There are other areas which may apply to you. But these are some of the most common things to remember for your tax filings.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your accountant or contact us. We can be reached at info@apbs.ca or 416-495-1098.