The deadline for filing your personal tax return, April 30, is fast approaching. Tax Return Preparation can be confusing and you don’t want to miss out on many new tax credits available to Canadian taxpayers.
By reading this article, Tax Return Preparation in Mississauga, you’ll find about the 5 most popular tax credits:
1. Home Buyers Plan
If you’re a first time home buyer, you can withdraw up to $25,000 tax-free from your RRSP to put toward the purchase of your first home.
However, you must contribute the amount withdrawn back to your RRSP over a period of 15 years. Therefore, if you withdrew $20,000 from your RRSP under the home buyers plan, then $1,333.33 would be repayable each year for 15 years.
The CRA offers a grace period, such that no repayment is required to your RRSP in the year of withdrawal or the subsequent year. In other words, you don’t have to pay anything back to your RRSP for the first 2 years.
The home buyers plan is an important part of Tax Return Preparation in Mississauga.
2. Children’s Fitness Amount
If you’ve enrolled your child in a physical activity program, you claim the Children’s Fitness Tax Credit, for up a maximum of $500 per child.
Physical activity programs include, but are not limited to:
- Swimming
- Sports (e.g. hockey, basketball, baseball),
- Exercise classes
- Skating
The receipt you received upon payment for the physical activity program should indicate whether the program qualifies for the Children’s Fitness Tax Credit.
3. Medical Expenses
Amounts paid for medical expenses qualify for the medical expense tax credit. Medical expenses include amounts paid to a doctor and for prescription drugs. For a complete list of medical expenses, please see the CRA’s website Medical Expenses
When preparing your personal tax return, make sure you tally all of your medical expenses, as this is an important part of tax return preparation in Mississauga.
4. Tax Return Preparation Fees in Mississauga
Tax return preparation fees paid to an accountant for preparing your personal tax return can be deducted in the following situations:
- If you earned investment income, such as interest or dividends
- If you have a business
5. Canada Employment Tax Credit
If you were employed in 2009, you’ll be eligible for the Canada Employment Tax Credit. The amount of the credit is equal to the lesser of $1,000 and the amount of your employment income. For example, if you earned employment income of $20,000 in 2009, then the Canada Employment Tax Credit is $1,000.
Speak with your personal tax return accountant in Mississauga for further information on the Canada Employment Tax Credit. At a minimum, please consider claiming this credit as part of the Personal Tax Return Preparation process in Mississauga.
About the Author, Allan Madan
Allan Madan is a personal tax return accountant in Mississauga who has a great deal of experience and expertise in personal tax return preparation.
In addition to preparing tax returns, he advises his clients on tax minimization strategies.
For further tax tips, please visit http://madanca.com
Tags: tax tips
A quick question for Allan – do the same rules apply in all the provinces of Canada?
The Canadian Income Tax Act is the legislation that governs federal tax law for all Canadians, regardless of the province. While most provinces have harmonized their tax legislation with that of the federal government, some of the tax laws vary by province.