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CRA , Netfile opens on Monday - February 22, 2021.
My Timeline for this year - 2020 TAX year -
February 22, 2021 (Monday) - Netfiled
March 4, 2021 (Thursday) - NOA available online and Direct Deposit of tax Refund in the bank.
NOA - Notice Of Assessment
Used TURBO TAX to netfile the return.
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If you have a Simple return, you can even do it over the phone.
No need for Netfile or Paper return. Just automated IVR system, where you Press 1, Press 2 etc and Key in return.
I'm still waiting for the CRA to mail my paper package. Rather late this year.
350 Canada Post employees quarantined at the Mississauga CP facility. Major Covid outbreak there.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ciel
That's the LARGEST Canada Post processing facility in entire Canada, not just Ontario.
The Dixie and Eglinton one, close to Pearson airport in Toronto.
That could be the reason for the mail delay.
Mailed Packages probably come from Sudbury, Ottawa or something to GTHA. Might be stuck at Mississauga CP facility!
Doesn't SDM - Canada Post locations or Service Canada locations carry CRA IT mail in packages anymore?
Or have they stopped it? I remember even public Libraries used to carry them.
Ty
Sent from my SM-A705W using Tapatalk
Lot of these Covid benefits like CERB and others if you took them they are taxable.
I think even EI is taxable & you get a T4 type tax slip for it.
So you will get tax slips like T4 for them from the federal government, so wait for them. Usually first week of February they are available online.
Lot of people are going to be surprised this year as they are probably taking Government benefits for the First time in their life and that too TAXABLE benefits!
From CRA:
If you filed a paper return last year, we will mail you the 2020 income tax package by February 19, 2021. The package has everything you need to file your taxes on time without having to leave the comfort of your home.
Last year, we received over 90% of tax returns electronically.
You can view and download copies of the income tax forms and schedules at canada.ca/taxes-general-package as of January 18, 2021.
Also, starting February 22, 2021, you can call the CRA at 1-855-330-3305 to order a copy. Your Social Insurance Number will be required.
Other ways you can file:
- The Community Volunteer Income Tax Program.If you have a modest income and a simple tax situation, a volunteer may be able to do your taxes for free. This year, volunteers may be able to complete and file your taxes virtually by videoconference, by phone, or through a document drop-off arrangement. For more information, go to canada.ca/taxes-help.
- File my Return. If you have a low or fixed income, you may be able to use File my Return. It's a service that lets you file your return by answering a series of short questions through a secure, dedicated, and automated telephone service. If you filed a paper return last year and are eligible to use File my Return, you will receive your personalized invitation letter with the 2020 Income tax package we will mail to you.
- Starting February 22, 2021, you can use File my Return to quickly file your return by phone.
@tjthemanto Last year, my local Shoppers Post office had a poster saying it would not have copies in its branch but that paper copies would be mailed by CRA if used the prior year or upon request. In the few larger Shoppers that might have had copies, it was a blink and you miss their going out the door scenario (late January appearance-there was a delay) and no restocks as far as I knew. I remember seeing empty spaces in those tax return boxes.
Thanks for the mailed package mailout dates.
Sadly, someone from the affected Canada Post facility in Mississauga has passed away from COVID-19.
I don't know which is the worse income tax bill shock-for those on EI who might have a little but not full amount of income taxes deducted from their cheques or the CERB recipients who did not have any income tax deducted at source from their benefit payments last year.
:eek:
If you have a Simple return, you can even do it over the phone.
No need for Netfile or Paper return. Just automated IVR system, where you Press 1, Press 2 etc and Key in return.
All the forms & packages are already available online in PDF Fill able format.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ciel
You need not print them, to save ink & paper.
Just fill them in PDF format and save them on your desktop, laptop or tablet to get a head start.
So when your mail in CRA package does arrive, you are ready to go.
You can just copy the figures with a Pen from the PDF fill able forms saved on your computer to the physical CRA mailed in forms and package.
Thanks for the tips, @tjthemanto ! I probably will take a turn trying out the forms and see what's new or the same!
CRA & COVID-19
(How to Report Covid related benefits on your Tax return.)
T4A slips for 2020 tax year:
You will get a T4A slip from the CRA, if you received any of the COVID-19 emergency or recovery benefits from the CRA before December 31, 2020:
- Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) with the CRA
- Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CERB)
- Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB)
- Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB)
- Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB)
Quebec residents will get both a T4A and RL-1 slip.
The CRA will provide T4A slips starting in January 2021. You should receive your T4A slip before March 10, 2021.
The COVID-19 benefit payment amounts on your T4A slip are taxable and must be reported as income on line 13000 of your 2020 income tax and benefit return.
You did not receive a T4A slip
If you received COVID-19 benefit payments in 2020, you should receive your T4A slip before March 10, 2021. You may also get your T4A information from CRA My Account.
After March 10, 2021, if you still do not have your T4A slip information, contact the CRA.
Situations where you would not get a T4A slip:
- If you applied for the CERB with Service Canada or any Employment Insurance (EI) benefit payments, you will receive a T4E slip.
- If your employer received the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) to cover part of your wages, the income you earned will appear on your regular T4 slip.
Issues with your T4A slip
Each COVID-19 benefit will have its own box number (Box 197 to 204) on your T4A slip. If you received more than one benefit with the CRA in 2020, check that each amount you received or repaid is correct.
To confirm the COVID-19 benefit amounts you received, you can review COVID-19 Support Payment Application Details in CRA My Account.
Call the CRA right away if:How to report T4A amounts on your tax return
- Your T4A slip shows incorrect amounts
- You repaid benefit amounts before December 31, 2020, but the repayments are not reflected
- Your T4A slip shows incorrect personal information
- You did not apply for a COVID-19 benefit, but received a T4A slip
Telephone number: 1-800-959-8281(opens up phone application)
You will need to enter all COVID-19 benefit amounts you received (Box 197 to 204) from your T4A slip and provide the total amount on line 13000 - Other income of your 2020 income tax and benefit return.
If you received a CRB, CRCB or CRSB, the CRA withheld a 10% tax at source on each payment. In addition to reporting the amounts on line 13000, you need to report the income tax deducted.
You can find the income tax deducted at source in Box 022 of your T4A slip. Enter this amount on line 43700 - Total income tax deducted on your 2020 income tax .
You can use lot of Free tax software just to check your returns, need not netfile with them. Just use them and download the PDF return they generate on your desktop and copy the figures from them.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ciel
No need to Netfile or print and mail them.
Even paid software you can do that. They only charge you if you actually try to netfile with them. Otherwise the PDF return can be
downloaded on your computer with a SAMPLE wording on it. Usually a watermark. So you can't mail that to CRA, but with hand you can copy numbers and figures from it.
If anyone gets CERB or CRB - T4 slip in mail or in Online CRA My account - please let us know.
The Covid government related T4A slip will be like this:
The T4A will have specific boxes for the various benefits which needs to be reported on line 13000 - Other Income in the tax return.
- Box 197 Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB)
- Box 198 Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB)
- Box 199 Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB) for eligible students with disabilities or those with children or other dependents
- Box 200 Provincial/Territorial COVID-19 financial assistance payments
- Box 202 Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB)
- Box 203 Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB)
- Box 204 Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB)
NETFILE:
NETFILE service will re-open on Monday, February 22, 2021.
You can file your tax returns directly through a NETFILE-certified tax software, which is more accurate with fewer chances of errors
You get immediate confirmation that we have received your tax return
You dont have to send in receipts, unless we ask for them at a later date
You get your refund faster through NETFILE; with direct deposit, you may receive your refund in 2 weeks
Hours of service:
The services are available 21 hours a day. Due to daily maintenance activities, the services are not available for three hours a day from 3 am to 6 am (Eastern time).
I will probably file in first week of March.
Sometimes there are glitches the first week NETFILE opens. So I won't file in February.😁
Opens coming Monday.
Lot of people who have never filed taxes before will be filing this year due to CERB, CRB and other Covid related taxable benefits.Quote:
Originally Posted by tjthemanto
15 year olds who had never filed taxes before and had no income have received $ 14,000 in CERB last year!
Not sure how many of them were eligible or qualified for it! But they will get T4 slips this year.
NETFILED my IT Return today. Went through smoothly. No glitches.
Used TURBO TAX free version.
My Timeline for this year - 2020 TAX year -
February 22, 2021 (Monday) - Netfiled
March 4, 2021 (Thursday) - NOA available online and Direct Deposit of tax Refund in the bank.
NOA - Notice Of Assessment
Used TURBO TAX to netfile the return.
If indeed there are 15 yr olds who got CERB money, then their parent(s) will likely not get a cent for dependents in that case on their own personal income tax returns! Might also impact any GST or other tax credit that parents claim as well. But if the 15 yr olds put some money into TFSAs or RESPs, that might be a good thing!Quote:
Originally Posted by tjthemanto
@tjthemanto Something must have changed to prompt you to Netfile on the first day. Were you able to get into your CRA account this weekend or today?
Bummer for me. JUST found out that Studio tax ( which I've used for years and was free ) is now charging, so I went with the free Turbo Tax.
Got about 3/4 done and then got a screen come up " Oops! this almost never happens...bla,bla,bla. " Then asking me to try again later. Well at least they claim to have all my data saved, grateful for that.
Yes. I was able to get in today as well as yesterday.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ciel
But with all the hacks, errors, CRA randomly locking account - I just figured I might as well finish my taxes on first day itself, since my account is fine.
Didn't want to take chances that my account might be locked too in the future.:eek:
Impossible to get through to CRA agent on the phone once your account is locked.
4-5 hrs hold before they just hang up on you and kick you out.
So if your accounts are fine might as well get it done ASAP!
On Twitter, it seems CRA posted 3 tweets related to prioritizing callers who need their pandemic payments.
And there was something about locked accounts. I have not attempted to enter MyAccount yet.
Did my tax return. Noticed that the Digital Subscription tax credit is non-refundable as is another one for journalism. However, the Canada Learning Credit is a refundable tax credit.
Saw on the Ontario Childcare Access and Relief from Expenses (CARE) Tax credit form that an eligible child that is dependant on an adult cannot have a net income of $13229 or more. That number is what the Basic personal amount is for adults before the 15% rate is applied to get your non-refundable tax credit. So when someone on SC posted that youth on CERB made over $14000, the youth may have impacted any tax credits NRTC or otherwise their parents could claim for dependants.
I had to make a second copy of the Climate Action Incentive form and the Ontario Trillium Benefit form. I like my working copy of the income tax return to have the same number of forms as the ones accompanying the return going to the CRA. I then decided to print off two tax returns and sets of forms Mom may need for her return. I will help her do her tax return plus review what adjustments are needed for past years' returns due to something that needs correcting via CRA. The return will be in the mailbox before Canada Post does the first pickup of the day tomorrow!
Isn't electronic one faster and easier? Also cheaper if you use the Free ones. Any reason you still do it the old fashioned way?Quote:
Originally Posted by Ciel
Especially since CRA has stopped drop boxes for returns, now you have to mail it in - so additional postage cost and chances of it getting lost in mail!
CRA agents I am told are all working from home. They are all answering calls from their home phones due to the pandemic.
The transition hasn't gone smoothly, hence it has become a gong show, when it comes to calling them. The wait times, volume etc has increased a lot.
In a call center environment, if you don't know something - you can ask a colleague or supervisor immediately. Kind of hard to do when you are Working From Home and answering calls etc.
I netfiled today
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I used Studio tax for years now. Too bad it's no longer free. I'll try the free Turbo tax. Thanks for the heads up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by walkonby