You should try to do your own income tax
-so you better understand
-so you gather up the right information and put it into the simplist form for your tax preparer to use.

The income tax system is vey complicated and constantly changing so it is practically impossible for a non full time specalist to keep up with the relavent changes and constant changes.
Most people are financially functionally illiterate in all the varrious aspects which affect them. The more you know the better .....except knowing too much can be awfully discouraging as the system(s) are set up for the detriment of individuals.

I have used QuickTax for years for it's convenience. I find it very helpful to be able to enter all the information from the slips then put them to the side (not to mention all the forms) and work in an uncluttered atmosphere on my computer following easily from screen to screen. And, at about $30.00 for the program, it works out to only $7.50 per individual for my family of four.

However, the value of the program has greatly increased for me beginning in the 2008 tax year when pension income splitting became a reality. I can find no easy way of maximizing the benefit of pension splitting without the "auto calculator" built into the program. If you simply split your pension income 50/50 when doing your return manually you are likely to pay significantly more tax dollars than you need to. Due to the nature of that option it would be necessary to undertake dozens of lengthy and time consuming "trial and error" calculations (which impact your entire return - and that of your spouse) to determine the most advantageous split without the ease of the auto calculation by the program.

If you qualify for pension income splitting with your spouse I urge you to investigate this situation for yourself.

I have been preparing personal and business income tax returns for about 20 years. My fees have always been reasonable and my clients have always (well almost always) been extremely satisfied with my services.

Accountants and tax preparers provide a service. How much is YOUR time worth? I am in the business of saving people time and effort. I do a basic tax return for about $35. This includes entering the data, EFiling, and preparing a copy for your records.

For those of you who want to save a few bucks, check out StudioTax.com . It is a free program that allows the preparation of most tax forms. It also includes the ability to submit your return electronically.

Ufile.ca also provides a free service for lower income individuals.

Hope this helps :)

I too think that the cost of purchasing tax softwhare should be tax deductible. If I didn,t have to file my Taxes I wouldn,t have to buy it

I believe that CRA encourages and would like all to use
tax softwares. If it is the case the tax payer should be able to use the cost of his software (i.e. $30.00) as a deduction just like says charitable tax credit. What do you think?

@ Corporate Fiction

ROFL! Go for it buddy. Every year someone comes up with this nonsense about not having to pay taxes. Refuse and see where it gets you.

And if you are the first of dozens to actually succeed, power to you, but I expect to not have to share the roads, schools, hospitals, and the rest of the infrastructure our taxes pay for with you.

My previous post notwithstanding I have always been proud to pay my share, whether I was taxed on nine thousand or one hundred forty. (I've had the range) You suggesting that taxes are unenforceable should be treated as treason, and I do hope you continue to refuse to pay your taxes so you can find out first hand how this goes down in court.

As the tax forms are set out logically, even though they repeat themselves, it takes patience to complete. Side issues like Provincial and Federal calculations on separate forms interfere, but the process is simple. Calculating receipts for a business may take the longest. Completing the draft in pencil and the final in ink allows the catching of mistakes. Any errors WILL be found by the assessors whether for or against so there should not be any fears of mistakes. The Tax office can be surprisingly helpful in pointing out how to benefit from unclaimed expenses and are fair in their decisions. When refunds are calculated I consider the Tax office is helping me to save! Doing them yourself means you know the changes and the process. Professional Tax "experts" DO make mistakes which take a long time to resolve as they delay investigation. Besides.....why pay a fee for something a high school student could do?

I look forward to doing mine manually every year. I do my common-law hubsband's as well. I start to get giddy when it's time to start collecting all the receipts.
I'll prepare them in pencil, then wait a week, fill out a copy in pen and send it in. That way I have time to stew on it in case I think of something I may have missed. Ours are pretty easy, but I really think the trick is just to ease into them. I started out with just income and taxes paid, and as I get older and life changes I find I have to learn a new deduction or calculation every couple of years. The way I figure it by the time I'm in my forties I'll be pretty knowledgeable.
My brother takes his to a tax preparer and his returns are simpler than mine; so I guess it comes down to your comfort level.

I, like others, refuse to buy software for what I can do myself for free. Another filing option is to file on the phone, though this only works with a relatively simple return. Much like efiling, you get your return sooner, but don't have to pay to file. I find that with the software program the prep time (gathering and sorting receipts) is the same as paper filing, and it's the prep time that's the work for me.

Corporate Fiction, income taxes are law. You can go to your local library and look at a copy of the Income Tax Act. You can also order your own copy, if you choose.

Lots of Canadians have tried to "stand up for their rights" and discovered it isn't against your rights to pay taxes. As a Canadian citizen and/or resident, you are required to pay taxes.

Yes, originally taxes were designed to pay for the war but now taxes pay for a number of different valuable services and project the government provides for you.

www.studiotax.com
Free software program - works great

For a number of years I've been asking to see the pre-amble of the tax laws. This is required in order to make paying of taxes a law. I have yet to see this which only brings me to the conclusion that the tax system is most likely illegal.

Have it been ratified into law? Wasn't income tax a temporary measure to help pay for a 75 year old war? Are Canadians too complacent to stand up for their rights?

Roll over and play dead ... I'm not going to

@ Alex - you don't have to pay to file your taxes, you still have the option of doing them by hand for free and paper filing them.

Hi

There is one consideration not listed in the article and I think it bears mentioning.

My wife and I moved across the country a few years ago and consulted with CRA on what expenses we were allowed to deduct. To the best of our ability, we followed the advice of the telephone agent and submitted our considerable deductions.

A year later, we were reviewed and found to owe THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS in "disallowed" deductions. You'll understand that I called CRA immediately to discuss this. CRA has restructured to a call centre format like so many government offices have done, modelling after the private sector. My request to speak directly with the auditor was thus refused. I was told that the expenses were refused because we were not allowed to use the per diem method for calculating meal expenses. I thanked the lady and disconnected before I realized that this was exactly what I had been instructed to do in the first place. I called back and got a completely different reason the second time. After doing the math on the rationale given me the second time, I realized that this could not be it either, as it represented a very small fraction of my reassessment. I called again and was again given a different reason.

THE CRA CAN NO LONGER EVEN TELL YOU what a reassessment means. If you have a very simple tax situation, do it yourself. If you have large deductions or a complex tax scenario, hire a professional who will stand by their work, and take the runaround for you.

We never did get an answer from CRA. After several days of runaround by the call centre in Quebec, we made the decision to declare bankruptcy anyway (unrelated, our household income had plummetted by 60 percent)so I never did have to find out how much begging one has to do to get an honest answer.

I read the post by Kerry and all the comments, but saw no mention of another option - a qualified tax preparer, (not employee of the large national chain.) A person who has been doing personal and small business returns for years, has experience to help you get the most refund, honestly, to suggest areas you could improve your tax return and your financial management. These people are in your community, earning their living without costing what Accountants cost, sometimes no more than a tax program, but their experience is invaluable if you need help. Ask around and someone will know one that has served them well and will be happy to recommend their services.

Here's the lowdown on why the CRA will not and never will provide the facility to enter your tax return on their website. Years ago when 3rd party tax return software became available, the CRA was still in the "middle ages". If the CRA now decides to offer the ability to file your return online, free of charge, they will have a law suit on their hands from the 3rd party providers claiming they are being put out of business as the CRA allowed them to provide this service in the first place. The CRA should have been the first out of the starting blocks. It's shamefull that I should have to pay to file my return. The CRA will not even let you use your own designed Excel spreadsheet (a replica of their own forms) to file a return.

I have been running a home based daycare for 20+ years. I provide tax receipts to my clients and claim my income. I use Quicktax Business. It is about $90 to buy, but it really helps with all the calculations involved for determing which household bills and how much of each are for personal vs business use. It allows me to efile my taxes and everybody elses in my family as well. I can file 7 tax returns using it. I used to do the taxes manually, and with a years worth of household bills plus stacks of receipts for everything from groceries to toys, it was a 2 day exercise that I found really stressful. Now I am done in less than 2 hours. Worth every penny to me. And I can write off the the tax propgram as a business expense!

I think it depends on your situation. I refuse to shell out $30 for software that is essentially just a fancy calculator. Especially since my taxes are very straightforward and simple. I agree with 'Early Retirement' it's just basic math and reading skills. Read each question, follow the instructions if the question applies to you. I also don't e-file my taxes because I don't buy the software. I still send in the paper forms. If the governments really want us all to e-file, they should provide the software free of charge, not make us pay for it.

On the other hand I did use an accountant for my father's estate taxes. It was worth the money to have an expert on tax laws do the final taxes for the estate, especially here in Quebec where we have to deal with 2 different departments. I found the accountants particularly useful when Revenu Quebec lost part of the estate file and came back with question a year later.

So I think it depends on your situation.

I thought I had done mine but decided to pay the $30.00 and e-file yes I had it wrong. Much larger return.

I file my own taxes for many years on paper. I will not pay $30.00 for electronic filling. I alreay pay enough taxes in this country.

I am doing my IC.tax for years. Just small problems over this time. At leasy one understands the way CRA.operates. It is complicated but understandable. Why spend money on accountents or software? Use your head for a day or two and one learns something from this. if I make a mistake the CRA will correct you free of charge. If one is unable or too lazy to do it, so be it. If one is able to use Electronic devises, should still be able to use a pen or pencil and his head. There is nothing wrong with it. give it a try. You will be surprised of what you can do. I do it.

I don't understand why the CRA don't give the option to fill out the same forms online and let a simple spreadsheet/software do the math. We end up U-filing-so make the next logical step. We don't all need the tips and tricks provided by quicktax, some of us can read. Obviously someone at quichtax pays a lot of money to prevent this from happening, at tax payers/consumers expense. This isn't rocket science. Any Investigative journalists out there need a story worth pursuing??

Hi I'm a volunteer tax preparer for seniors and low income canadians, anybody who does their taxes without the software okayed by the cra are not going to get their taxes filed properly there's just too many issues to mention that the ordinary person wouldn't even think to investigate and apply to their files . Even with the software it can get very dicy especially if you put a dot on a line thats not reguired eg. dollars and cents be very careful it could cost you a bundle and may not be corrected by a cra worker.

I do taxes with pen and paper. Knowing what goes into the various calculations rather than hiding the details inside some software or an accountant has been quite helpful in planning how to minimize taxes rather than just pay whatever it says at the end of the year. It is really no more complicated than a 6th grade math test. The only caveat is that you have to ace it. There can not be any mistakes.