income taxes :-(

[Mia001]

am i the only one that almost puke just thinking about it ????
even though i know i'll get a refund....working with figures is no longer my cup of tea....

[Natalka]

I haven't done ours yet, even though they are very simple.
I use Studio Tax, just plug in the numbers and it's done. No math required (even though I never really minded doing the paper calculation ones).

[SassyAshley]

I hate tax season, I do not do my own our family accountant does but I find there always seems to be surprises so I always get nervous. Last year they changed a bunch of stuff on me and it got me at tax time.

[brunt]

I don't mind the working with the figures so much, but the profligacy of the government really turns my stomach. The amount of my taxes is about three times my annual living expenses.

I am extremely careful about spending my own money, I just wish that the government would return the favour.

[greeny]

Yeah I hate tax time. I remember when we used to do them by hand and mail them in. It's a lot easier now with all the software out there but you still have to check and re-check before submitting them. Even when you know you're going to get a return, you're still nervous you or the software you used miscalculated something.

[tjthemanto]

They need a simplified and easy to understand approach to taxes. It has to be streamlined. Too many confusing rebates and credits etc.

Basically your own money you are getting back, because they cut too much in the first place. The ideal refund should be NO refund, that means whatever they were supposed to cut, they cut that in the first place. They didn't cut more or less.

The gov already has all your info, so you should be able to fill a form directly on the CRA website and the gov does the rest automatically.

[Mia001]

i'm done....yippy !

[Natalka]

Good for you, Mia!

[Ciel]

For those who have determined they are getting refunds, are there any personal finance changes you can make in 2016 so the money stays with you, rather than the government for another year? Obviously a refund situation is preferable to having an amount owing but if there is a recurring refund, there could be something to modify.

Congratulations on getting your income tax return done, @Mia001 !

[tjthemanto]

For those who have determined they are getting refunds, are there any personal finance changes you can make in 2016 so the money stays with you, rather than the government for another year? Obviously a refund situation is preferable to having an amount owing but if there is a recurring refund, there could be something to modify.

Congratulations on getting your income tax return done, @Mia001 !

I think there are certain forms you can fill up and give to your employer ( payroll ) beforehand, letting them know about your tax situation. So that they cut the necessary taxes to begin with and not more. Its not 100 % fool proof, but quite close. TD1 form is one of them.

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/td1/td1-04-16e.pdf

One of my past employer actually cut more CPP than they should have ! So when I filed my return, I actually had a CPP overpayment contribution, which was given back to me by CRA.

I never bothered to check. Who knows what other mistakes they are doing on EI and Income Tax deductions in addition to CPP deductions. Maybe its a human error or a software glitch in their payroll program

[brunt]

One of my past employer actually cut more CPP than they should have ! So when I filed my return, I actually had a CPP overpayment contribution, which was given back to me by CRA.

I never bothered to check. Who knows what other mistakes they are doing on EI and Income Tax deductions in addition to CPP deductions. Maybe its a human error or a software glitch in their payroll program

I caught a doozy when I left my previous employer.

This company made contributions to locked in RRSPs for its employees. I was unaware of this practice due to my unique circumstances. Well, when I left, a red flag went up that I had not received these payments, and they made them to a plan for me in a lump sum. Nice to see companies that are honest.

When I received my T4, it included the payment as income, but did not include anything for a contribution for an RRSP, which struck me as odd.

This would mean that I would pay income tax on the money in the year that the company made the contribution (as it was included as a taxable benefit on my T4). And when I retired and shut down the RRSP, I would pay tax on it again as all withdrawals from RRSPs are subject to income tax. With brackets not too far from 50%, this would mean that I would end up with literally nothing on the contributions made by the company to me.

Well I had to do some research, and after finding a couple university-level tax textbooks, I found the answer. These contributions should not be included on the T4 at all, since they are made directly into sheltered instruments. I did a bunch of photocopying, and dealt with a very nice HR lady and outlined my case. To her credit, she at least considered my argument, and she did some digging herself.

They discovered that I was correct, and that they had been doing the slips wrong for many years. They had to issue multi-year corrections to the T4s to correct the multiple millions of dollars of over payments that were made by about 1,000 employees of their income taxes due to the incorrect inclusion of these payments.

Not that the government ever said anything about it while it was happening, they just agreed with my analysis when it was presented to them.

Not bad considering my employer had a number of accountants working for them, and I am just a nerdy engineer who knows enough about taxes to make sure that I am not overpaying. Or, strike that, not paying more than the law requires me to pay. I am still overpaying, but that is another story...

Too bad there was no finders fee there!

[brunt]

I think there are certain forms you can fill up and give to your employer ( payroll ) beforehand, letting them know about your tax situation. So that they cut the necessary taxes to begin with and not more. Its not 100 % fool proof, but quite close. TD1 form is one of them.

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/td1/td1-04-16e.pdf

That form is good for many cases, but there is also the T1213 (http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/t1213/README.html). This is the one that you would use if you know that you are going to be making RRSP contributions, child care expenses, medical expenses or donations, and you want to have your deductions reduced.

Also make sure that if you have more than one job that your employers are aware of this. In this case, they might not be taking out enough in instalments.

[tjthemanto]

That form is good for many cases, but there is also the T1213 (http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/t1213/README.html). This is the one that you would use if you know that you are going to be making RRSP contributions, child care expenses, medical expenses or donations, and you want to have your deductions reduced.

Also make sure that if you have more than one job that your employers are aware of this. In this case, they might not be taking out enough in instalments.

Yup, that's a better form in addition to the TD1.

Surprisingly very few employers or even CRA advertise it or tell the employees about it.

CRA probably has a vested interest and employers don't want more paperwork.

[Colsgirl]

Ugh, I finally did mine and DH's returns, between us we owe $350 ... the only difference from last year to previous years is the UCCB they now pay us (and it being taxable as income) and the removal of the tax allowance for kids. Thankfully on my spreadsheet I have saved for taxes every month. So this amount is covered.

[barbis9]

I used Ufile this year. It was on sale for $11.99 at Best Buy - fairly easy to do. I was not going to pay someone $79 to complete my return - that is highway robbery.