Filing Your Personal Income Tax Return
Filing your return
- Why should I file if I don't have income or have to pay tax?
- How to file your return, and links to get personal income tax return forms or software
- What is the due date for a personal income tax return?
- What if I am late with my return?
- What if I can't afford to pay the tax I owe?
- For which province do I file a tax return, and what if I live in one
province or
territory, and work in another? - Prepare - Make sure you have all your information slips before filing your return.
- Tax refunds
- How long will it take?
- How can I check the status?
- Direct deposit to your bank account
- Can CRA withhold my income tax refund or my GST/HST credit?
- Changing your tax return once you have already filed it.
- Don't agree with your income tax assessment? - Filing a notice of objection
- CRA taking more than 90 days to respond to your notice of objection?
The Tax Return
- Who is eligible to receive a GST/HST credit, and how much is it?
- Should my spouse and I file our tax returns together, or separately? - claiming tax credits and deductions, transferring dividend income, and how to report investment income.
- What is the definition of common-law spouse?
- Minimize taxes of a deceased taxpayer by filing additional optional tax returns.
Income
- Capital losses
- Self-employment losses can be carried back 3 years, and can be used to offset other income.
- Pension splitting
Deductions from income
- Child care expenses
- Private school tuition fees
- Disability supports deduction
- Attendant care expenses
- Moving expenses
- RRSPs - I didn't record my RRSP contributions on my previous year's tax return. What do I do?
- Safety deposit box fees may be deductible.
Non-refundable tax credits
- A non-refundable tax credit can only be used to reduce federal or provincial/territorial taxes payable to zero.
- Amount for an eligible dependent - A single person can claim a tax credit for a dependent child, grandchild, sibling, parent or grandparent.
- Child amount tax credit for children under 18
- Child fitness tax credit, and additional credit for child with disability
- Canada employment amount tax credit
- Public transit tax credit - Keep your public transit pass!
- Caregiver amount tax credit may be available if (dependent or non-dependent) parent or grandparent (over 65) lives with you, or if a dependent relative lives with you.
- Disability amount tax credit
- Students - scholarships and bursaries, deductible and tax-creditable expenses
- Medical expenses:
- Medical expense tax credit
- Claim your medical expenses on the return of the spouse with lower net income.
- Eligible medical expenses
- Attendant care expenses
- Attendant care expenses paid to a retirement home
- Donations:
- Donations tax credit
- Reduce capital gains taxes by donating capital property
- Foreign non-business income tax and foreign tax credit
- Political contribution tax credits - federal and provincial/territorial
Refundable tax credits
A refundable tax credit can generate a payment to taxpayers, even when no income tax has been paid. This is a good reason to file a tax return even if you do not owe any tax
- Refundable medical expense supplement
- Working income tax benefit (WITB) and disability supplement
- Employee and partner GST rebate for those who have deductible employment or partnership expenses
Refund or balance owing
- How to get back a CPP/QPP or EI overpayment
Other Issues
- Make sure you report repayments to RRSP Home Buyer's Plan or Lifelong Learning Plan!