Learn About Your Taxes: The one about doing your taxes

Transcript

Narrator: Welcome to part two of doing your own taxes! In part one, we went over the information you should have before getting started.

If you have all that, you’re ready to fill out your tax return!

The fastest and easiest way to do your taxes is with certified tax software. It will automatically calculate whether you have a balance owing or if you’ll get a refund.

If you’re doing your taxes on paper, the forms will guide you through these steps and how to make the calculations.

The first step is to enter personal information to identify yourself. This is info like your full name, address, and social insurance number.

The next step is to enter your income. This will be all the slips you should have got in February.

Don’t forget that if you received income in cash like tips or gratuities, they aren’t reported on slips. You will still need to fill in the amounts on your return.

The next step is to enter your deductions and tax credits. These will reduce your balance owing.

Remember! Some credits are refundable, which means not only will they lower your balance owing, but they may also increase your refund amount. That means more money in your pocket! Who doesn't like the sound of that?

The software and paper forms will guide you to enter dollar amounts from the receipts and records you have on hand, to claim these deductions and credits.

After all your deduction and credit amounts are entered, you’ll find your total balance owing or refund amount.

Once you’ve made sure you’ve entered everything you need on your return and double-checked the  information, you’re good to submit your return electronically or mail it to the CRA!

If you owe money to the CRA, make sure you pay by April 30th to avoid any penalties and interest. If you’re receiving a refund, sign up for direct deposit to get your refund faster.

After filing, the CRA will send you a Notice of Assessment, which provides a quick summary of your tax return. Keep this in a safe place, because it has information you may need  to enter when doing your taxes next year, such as:

• your NETFILE access code to help identify you
• your tuition carry forward amount; and
• your RRSP information

And there you go, the basic steps to completing a tax return! That wasn't too hard, EH?

Welcome to the club!  

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