It’s that time of year again.  As one of two things that are certain in life, taxes are due for filing no later than April 30, 2018.

To get you ready to complete the task, here are some tips that can ease the effort and put you in a position to prepare, or have someone prepare, your tax return for this year.

1. Get a copy of your tax return and Notice of Assessment from last year. The latter is the summary you would have received in the mail from Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) after filing your taxes last year.
2. If you have not already done so, go to https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/e-services-individuals/account-individuals.html and register with CRA for a service called My Account. This service allows you to track your refund, view or change your return, view your RRSP limit, set up a direct deposit, receive online mail, and a lot more.
3. Make sure you have all your information slips from 2017 income. These include T4 (income from employment); T4RSP (withdrawals from RRSPs); T5 (interest and dividend income); T4A for pensions, Canada Pension and Old Age amounts;income from alimony payments and trusts; rental income and any other income you may have earned or received for which formal slips may or may not have been issued.
4. Identify deductible expenses like charitable donations, tuition expenses, RRSP contributions, union dues, medical expenses, political contributions, certain expenses related to dependants and other qualifying amounts.
5. If you are self-employed, you’ll want to have details on business income earned and a summary of eligible personal and business expenses.
6. Tax returns can also be mailed to CRA, but for greater efficiency and speedy processing of refunds, you will want to NETFILE your return electronically.
7. File returns on time. If you file after April 30, 2018, deadline, you will be subject to a penalty that will be assessed on the amount of tax owing.

Some people are able to process and file tax returns without help.  This is mostly the case if there are only a few slips and deductions are simple.  If you are not comfortable with doing your own taxes, or in the event of investment income, capital gains, rental income, and self-employment, complications can arise, and you may want to hire a professional to not only complete your return but also to analyze and provide recommendations for saving taxes and planning for future years.

Summa Financial has tax professionals with experience in all levels of personal and business tax matters.  Pricing is very competitive and completion times are fast.  If you’re looking to have your taxes done accurately and on time, we invite you to call us at 902-453-4677 or visit us at https://www.summafinancial.ca/contact-summa/.