Thanks to my friends at TurboTax I have a few online codes to giveaway this tax season. Thanks TurboTax Canada! I’ll draw the winners of this giveaway at random later this month. If you’re one of the lucky winners I will email you so make sure you enter a valid email address.
I had the pleasure of receiving a few great tax tips from tax expert and personal finance consultant Robin Taub. You can follow Robin on Twitter @RobinTaub. Here are some of her tax tips:
Know what’s new: There are some new tax credits as well as increased deductions this year, which may mean even more money back when you file! From the Family Tax Cut to the Small Business Job Credit, this year’s new credits have implications for Canadians from all walks of life.
Check out the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) website for more information.
Be prepared: Doing your taxes can seem overwhelming and time consuming – but it really doesn’t have to be. The key is being prepared in advance so you can quickly plug in your information. Here are a few easy steps you can take before filing:
- Sign up for MyAccount and ensure the CRA has your correct information (mailing address, etc.)
- Sign up for direct deposit so your tax refund goes straight to your bank account
- Organize your receipts and slips
- Make a list of your income sources and eligible expenses
- Have your Social Insurance Number handy
- Find your Notice of Assessment from last year (or find it online using MyAccount).
Though it’s good to have as much information on hand as possible when you get started, you don’t need all of your paperwork together beforehand. When filing with TurboTax online you can always jump in where you left off.
Take taxes into your own hands: Many people think that they don’t know enough to prepare and file their own taxes. But with intuitive software, all you need to know is yourself. Products like TurboTax translate taxes into simple questions about your life and year, like “Did you get married?” or “Did you buy a house?”, and put the information in the right place. In fact, 4.5 million Canadians filed with TurboTax last year and know just how easy filing their own taxes can be.
Thanks Robin.
My advice for this tax year – don’t leave money on the table! Take advantage of my TurboTax Canada giveaway to help you learn about all the available tax deductions and credits available you. Enter my giveaway below and good luck to you!
<giveaway closed and over – thanks for participating!>
Mark
Because it simply makes doing taxes easy and stress free
I have been using UFile but would love to give turbotax a try!
ilove turbo tax its so easy to use ..you cant go wrong
Is this the home and office version? Hope so – would be great to win it this year
I’ve been doing our taxes for the past few years but have never used a tax package before so it would be interesting to check out. Thanks for the contest.
Good luck to you Mr. CBB!
At 55 and mostly retired I am in the de-accumulation phase so drawing my investments in a tax efficient manner is important to me.
I love Turbo Tax because it makes life so much easier! I’ve been using it for a few years now and would never change or go back to paper! Thanks for the chance to win
I love it because it’s easy to use and guides me through the entire process so I don’t overlook anything.
I’m fairly convinced TurboTax pays people to comment on articles like this. Just look at the number of comments that start with “I love turbo”. These aren’t real users.
Of course, I can’t substantiate this, but it is pretty scuzzy marketing.
I love turbo tax because it is convenient and reliable!
I used to go and get my taxes done, but the guy gave us really bad advice a few years in a row so I’ve been doing it myself online ever since! It takes some time, but it’s actually really simple.
Thanks for the great info on your blog. Looking forward to reading more.
I can’t wait to try out TurboTax’s new Family Tax Credit tool. It may be the one and only year we get to use it if the Liberals win the election in 2015 and scrap it. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
I LOVE Turbotax because it makes doing my own taxes a breeze!
I love TurboTax because it is simple, affordable and secure. Can’t ask for much more when it comes to doing taxes!
I cannot wait till I get my tax refund so that I can just have all of it to be invested in solid ETFs and great dividend companies.
Cheers,
BeSmartRich
For the large majority of people a simple tax software program will do the trick. It’s where you start getting into more complicated areas like rentals, capital gains, investment income etc where you’d want to seek help. I’m swamped lately with tax returns but none of them are what I’d call ‘simple’
That’s why you get paid the big bucks Dan! Yes, things can get tricky when it comes to RE, gains, etc. Good luck this tax season and thanks for the comment!
I love TurboTax because I don’t have to do taxes by hand.
I have never actually filed my own taxes. Each year, I hire an accountant and each year I feel like this is something I should just be doing myself. My finances are fairly straightforward (nothing complicated), so I would like to try this year. I guess the Turbo Tax software walks you through everything step by step? I guess my biggest fear is making mistakes that cost me later.
Correct Jess. Step-by-step is an option in TurboTax. Heck, if you win, you can try it out for free! Good luck.
I have been using “Studio Tax” here in Canada since 2006 and I’m very happy with it. It may be a little less user friendly than Turbo Tax but it gets the job done and there is no charge but they accept donations so I send them $10 each year to keep them operational. You can use one downloaded copy to do your whole families individual taxes. You can mail in a hard copy or do e-file with Studio Tax.
Oh, I don’t receive any compensation from them for writing this but I hope to keep them afloat as an inexpensive option here in Canada.
Thanks.
I’ve heard good things about Studio Tax as well but I’m a fan of TurboTax myself, just used to the software and online system now; they make it easy.
I have used TurboTax in the past and I love it because I have a disability and I can do my taxes in the comfort of my home 😉
Mark,
Completing my taxes is one area, I have yet to venture and explore. In the next couple years I plan on learning how to do my own taxes. As it is a little more expensive to have my accountant complete it. But right now with my schedule and tax knowledge it is money will spent to have it completed correctly.
Thanks for sharing,
Mr. Captain Cash
No doubt many accountants are needed and they can provide an invaluable service to many Canadians. Tax management and understanding is a body of knowledge I want to get better at. Thanks for the comment Captain Cash!
I have been using it for years for my parents and I. It is super user friendly and can do taxes for up to a whole family!
I used to do my taxes by hand a few years back, and I’m sure I’d still find it fun to do (I’m weird that way). But using TurboTax makes it so much simpler and quicker!
I love turbo tax because it really makes doing my taxes easy
I’ve used TurboTax before and plan on using it this year. It’s an easy way to get all the deductions.
I used to do my own taxes, but now with dividends, capital gains and losses, HSAs, work related 1099s, and some other distributions, I raised the white flag of surrender and got a CPA.
Hopefully within a couple of years my taxes will be far less complex and I will resume preparing them myself.
MDP
I think this is where asset location is important, you can minimize the “tax headaches” to a degree if you put the right assets in the right accounts/locations. There are huge advantages of doing your own taxes, a big one is, you learn. Thanks for the comment!
Taxes is the one area I still need to learn about. I have a copy of Evelyn Jacks book but I haven’t finished reading it yet.
Same Barry, trying to be more fluent in tax management myself. Thanks for the comment my friend.