As we draw closer to April, the tax deadline for Canadians draws closer and closer and accountants are reminding those filing their papers to remember some shake ups with the C.R.A. Patrick Sanders is a partner with Givens L.L.P, a professional accounting firm in the Lakeland, and he says doing your homework about some of the changes in claiming might be able to save you some money.
“There’s some tax credits that have been phased out. The children and arts credits have been phased out for this year, that’s a big one. A lot of people forget medical receipts. You can claim medical expenses for Celiac for example. You can claim it on the premium. So if it costs you three dollars to buy a loaf of bread (as opposed to a regular one dollar loaf), you can claim that difference.”
As for common mistakes made during tax season, Sanders says telling the government you put more in your R.S.P than you actually did can be a big no-no with consequences and he’s seen it happen.
“Over-claiming you R.S.P happens. The C.R.A is starting to hunt down on that now. If you over claim your R.S.P by more than $2000, you could be pushed into a penalty position where you’ll be taxed on the over contribution. I’ve seen returns from 2008 that have been re-assessed on the over-claiming of R.S.P’s.”
The deadline for filing your taxes is set for April 30th. More information on tax season can be found here.