| Q | When do I have to file my income taxes? |
| A | As an individual, the deadline is April 30 of the following year. If you are self-employed, however, you have until June 15 to file your tax return. Any balance owing to the government is still due by April 30. |
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| Q | Who can I call to get more information? |
| A | You can either call our offices at (613) 230-1010, or if you need to speak to a government representative directly, you can call 1-800-959-8281. |
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| Q | Can you call the government for me? |
| A | We may contact the government directly if we have a signed authorization form on file, form T1013. Not even a spouse may speak with the government about any of your personal matters without an authorization form.
For a corporation, we must have both a RC59 (federal authorization) and an Ontario Authorization Letter, or similar provincial form signed and on file. |
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| Q | What is the maximum RRSP contribution I can make? |
| A | This information is reflected on the bottom of your Notice of Assessment. It will tell you if you have any room and if you have any undeducted contributions. We will also tell you in the cover letter we enclose with your personal tax return, or you can call the government automated service TIPS at 1-800-267-6999 with your prior year personal tax return in hand. Call us with specific questions should you have any. |
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| Q | What about my RRSP overcontributions? |
| A | You may overcontribute in any year by $2,000 without any adverse tax consequences. If you make excess contributions greater than $2,000, they may be subject to a penalty. We keep records of your RRSP contributions on hand which can be a valuable source of information for you. |
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| Q | When must I pay installments? |
| A | The general rule for determining whether installment payments must be made is whether your current year liability for taxes is over $2,000 and any of the 2 preceding years liabilities are also over $2,000. If they are, then you should be making installment payments to the CRA based on any one of the 3 methods available for calculating installments and remitting them on March 15, June 15, September 15 and December 15. |
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| Q | Will you discount my refund and give it to me immediately? |
| A | Our rules of professional conduct do not permit us to discount a refund and pay you up front. |
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| Q | What is my tax rate going to be? |
| A | As any good professional will tell you, it depends. It depends on the type of income you will have during the year, and of course on how much income you have during the year. Different forms of income have different rates associated with them, and since our tax system is built in tiers, at different levels of income you will pay differing rates of tax. Call us to see what we can do together to take advantage of more favourably taxed forms of income. |
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| Q | Can I claim my house on my personal tax return? |
| A | It depends. If you have a business in the home, you may deduct heat, electricity, water, insurance, mortgage interest, property taxes, maintenance and other relevant expenses prorated based on the size of your dedicated office relative to the total square footage of your entire home. If your employer requires you to have an office in your home, the same deductions are available, with some exceptions. Call us to discuss your specific situation to determine how best to utilize your arrangements and what you need to have in order to be able to deduct your home office. |
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| Q | Can I claim my car on my personal tax return? |
| A | It depends. If you are self-employed you may deduct a portion of your total automobile expenses based on total kilometers driven for business. If you are required to use your automobile for earning employment income, you must have your employer fill out form T2200 indicating such and then you will be able to deduct prorated expenses as mentioned above. CRA requires that you maintain a log to substantiate business kilometers drives. Call us to discuss some of the additional deductions available to you and CRA requirements. |
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| Q | Can I claim my spouses medical expenses / donations? |
| A | Yes – provided you have their permission. Both of these deductions are better utilized when combined for spouses. We can explain to you the thresholds for both medical expenses and donation receipts and the extent to which you can deduct each of them. |
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| Q | Can I claim my child’s / spouses tuition? |
| A | It depends. Your child/spouse must use as much of their tuition as possible first. Only then is it possible to transfer up to $5,000 of current year tuition to your return, provided you have had them fill out and sign the back of their tuition slip designating you as eligible for receipt of the amount. Call us for help with completing that form. |
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| Q | When do I have to file my corporate tax returns? |
| A | You have 6 months after the date of your year end to file your corporate tax return, but any balance owing to the government is due within 3 months of your year end if you qualify as a “smaller CCPC” (Canadian Controlled Private Corporation). Otherwise, you have only 60 days to pay any additional balance owing. Call us to help determine whether you qualify for the 1 month extension. |
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| Q | What is my corporation going to pay in tax? |
| A | As any good professional will tell you, it depends. It depends on the type of income you will have during the year, and of course on how much income you have during the year. Different forms of income have different rates associated with them, and since our tax system is built in tiers, at different levels of income you will pay differing rates of tax. Call us to see what we can do together to take advantage of more favourably taxed forms of income. |
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| Q | When does my corporation have to pay installments? |
| A | If your tax owing at the end of your fiscal year, or from the immediately preceding fiscal year totals more than $1,000, you will have to pay installments to the government. For the federal government and most provinces monthly installments will be required. For the province of Ontario, however, it may be possible to pay only quarterly installments. Call us to check which of the varying methods of installment payment calculations suit your needs, and what the timing should be for them. |
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| Q | What should I do before I close my accounting year? |
| A | Call us for any necessary adjusting journal entries and we can walk you through the process with most software programs. Our team has extensive knowledge in many of the software programs available on the market. |
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| Q | How can I get a business number / GST number / payroll number? |
| A | In order to get any of these numbers, you must file form RC1 with the federal government requesting the appropriate numbers you are seeking. You can download the form from the CRA website, or call us and we can send a copy of the forms to you. |
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| Q | When do I have to file my T4 / T5’s by? |
| A | All T4’s and T5’s and their related summaries must be filed February 28. If you need help with filing them, contact us. |
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