I hear it all the time – people STRESS about their taxes and getting their taxes done. Here are some tips to get you ready for your 2017 tax returns and reduce your tax preparer fees, as well as reduce your stress levels, knowing you’re prepared:
1 – Gather all your tax slips in one folder (T4’s, T5’s, T3’s, other T-slips, RRSP contributions, donation receipts, medical receipts. Your T-slips should all be available to you by February 28th, except for T3’s and T5013’s which can take a few weeks longer (but by March 31st).
2 – Group like slips together
3 – If you have a lot of investments, keep a list of your accounts and account numbers, and check your T5 and T3 slips against your accounts to see what’s missing
4 – Group medical receipts by patient
5 – Group donations to the same organization together
6 – Gather details of any investment dispositions, including real estate, into a spreadsheet. Include details of the historical cost and other transactions affecting your cost base.
7 – If you are a sole-proprietor or have rental income, use accounting software to capture income and expenses details for each of your business and rental properties (separate books and records for each business or property). Hire a qualified bookkeeper to do your bookkeeping for you (freeing your time to spend on higher-level business matters). At the very least, use a spreadsheet to track your financial transactions.
8 – Don’t delay – start the process early. The sooner you get your information to your tax preparer, the less stressful it will be for both of you. Tax preparers would much rather get your returns done in March than scramble to meet the deadlines in the last final week. If you’re getting a refund, wouldn’t you much rather receive that sooner than later? And if you owe, wouldn’t you like to have peace of mind knowing how much you owe and that you still have time to make that tax payment (due April 30th), rather than waiting until the last minute.
9 – A caveat to #8 – it’s more efficient (and less costly) to get your complete tax information package to your tax preparer at the same time. Sending bits and pieces in dribs and drabs will only add processing and review time to the process, which could result in additional billings by your tax preparer. Having said that, don’t hold up if you’re just waiting for a couple of slips or receipts. Just note what you are missing with as much detail as you can (for example, if you’re missing an RRSP contribution slip, note the amount you contributed and date of contribution).
You must have adequate and reliable records to support your tax filings. Here are some helpful links on keeping records.
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/keeping-records.html
Need help? Send me an email (Linda@visionspire.ca), and I’d be happy to answer your questions.
[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]http://54.82.103.175/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/IMG_0012-resize-square.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Linda Spencer is a CPA, CA, Canadian Tax Specialist and Money Mindfulness Coach. With over 20years of assisting business owners with the business and tax strategies, her mission is to eliminate stress and anxiety people experience around money and taxes, by empowering them with the tools, knowledge, strategies and mindsets that will put them in the driver’s seat of their business success and financial wellness, so they can have more harmony, joy and abundance in their life. [/author_info] [/author]